Like all pet rodents, hamsters have to be supplied with good high quality, protected beddings and substrates. Nevertheless, when selecting the perfect bedding kind to present our pets, we have to keep in mind the actual wants of the species.
This text was co-written with Beri Instone, small rodent wrangler extraordinaire (and custodian of many hamsters).
What Are the Greatest Burrowing Substrate Choices?
Substrate is the bedding materials we put within the base of the cage for our pets to reside on and dig in. For a lot of frequent pet rodents like mice, rats and guinea pigs, the primary factor we’ve got to consider is absorbency of urine. Nevertheless, within the wild, hamsters are tailored to reside in dry, desert areas which implies their our bodies use water very effectively; they don’t make a variety of pee, and their poos are dry pellets.
For hamster substrates a very powerful factor to contemplate is how the fabric will enrich the pet’s life, and supply them with the chance to get pleasure from pure behaviours. Within the wild hamsters create complicated burrow programs underground, and so offering a set-up full of supplies that allow them mimic that, with out the burrows collapsing, is vital.
Animals that don’t pee a lot have one other benefit, and that’s that their bedding doesn’t want altering each week. That implies that bedding varieties that may be too costly for giant and enthusiastically peeing animals like rats could be a sensible and inexpensive choice for a hamster cage, regardless of the deep depths of substrate required for burrowing.
Good burrowing substrate choices for hamsters embrace…
Paper and Cardboard Bedding
Paper bedding choices are very inexpensive for hamsters, and are good and comfortable for them to work together with (they’re extra delicate to texture than different rodents). The drawback is as a result of paper is so comfortable, any tunnels a hamster makes are more likely to collapse. So, it’s best to combine it with one other kind of substrate with a special texture.
You will need to select a paper bedding that’s not dusty, and is unscented. A complementary bedding is cardboard squares or strips. These are heavier than paper, however have higher construction for holding tunnels – if Beri had to decide on a single bedding for her hamsters, she’d select cardboard strips.
Aspen Wooden Shavings
Wooden shavings have a nasty status in rodent maintaining, as a result of uncooked softwood shavings might be dusty and include chemical compounds that irritate rodents’ delicate respiratory programs. Nevertheless, mud extracted aspen wooden shavings are protected and might make an excellent substrate choice. Aspen is a hardwood tree so it doesn’t include probably dangerous fragrant oils that softwood incorporates.
Longhaired Syrian hamsters can typically have points with the coarse edges of shavings getting caught of their coats, however for almost all of hamsters, protected shavings are lightweight for the animal to dig in, however maintain collectively structurally, permitting burrows and tunnels to be created.
Coco Fiber / Coir
That is turning into a extra standard substrate choice, because it permits for a extra naturalistic set-up. Nevertheless, it is very important be aware that the majority coir (which is offered for gardening and reptile-keeping) is moist within the bag, which is detrimental to hamster well being. Subsequently, if utilizing this, it is very important dry the fabric out correctly earlier than placing it within the cage. A combination of dry coir and protected shavings can work nicely to create a substrate with numerous engagement for the hamster.
Utilizing multiple substrate is one of the best ways to create a digging setting that can present good construction for burrows and textural curiosity for enrichment.
Digging
Hamsters like to dig – it is a vital behaviour for them and it’s important that their cage set-up permits them loads of digging alternatives. Ideally, they need to be capable of dig wherever of their cage base, but when it isn’t potential to make that substrate deep sufficient, then they’ll additionally want a particular digging space.
How do you inform if the substrate is deep sufficient? Think about three hamsters stacked on prime of one another. May you bury them within the substrate? In that case, it’s deep sufficient. If the highest imaginary hamster would stick out, you want a digging space.
There are three totally different choices for making a digging space. What all of them have in frequent is that they want a good-sized footprint, so the hamster can tunnel horizontally in addition to vertically.
- Present a deeper digging field within the cage, just like a rat digging field, however with hamster acceptable depth and substrate.
- Sectioning off among the base of the habitat and have it very full at one finish. That is best to do in a tank, however if in case you have a barred cage with no deep sufficient base, it’s potential to repair vinyl flooring or corrugated plastic onto the bars to include the substrate.
- Offering a ‘booster’ on prime of the primary substrate within the type of long-strand dust-free hay/ straw.
After all, there is no such thing as a motive to not go to city and do all three. An excellent sized cage can have a most important base with areas of various substrate thickness, boosters of hay, straw, paper strips, and likewise a digging field larger up within the cage.
Nesting Materials
Hamsters create 3D nests, usually with a correct tunnel entrance (think about a heat igloo). Some folks choose to present hamsters inflexible beds full of bedding in the best way you may with different species. Nevertheless, it’s truly higher and extra pure to give your hamster an enormous pile of nesting materials to create their very own nest. Having that management over their nest house makes them really feel safer of their environment. Offering some synthetic mattress choices is ok, however don’t be shocked if the hamster doesn’t use them for sleeping in.
Hamsters are very clear and customarily can retain the identical nesting materials for months as they don’t wee and poo in it. Whenever you do change their bedding materials, or if you’ll deconstruct the nest to examine for meals that’s been hoarded, then save among the outdated nesting materials and return it to the cage with the brand new. Their mattress/nest is essential for hamster psychological wellbeing so don’t disturb their beds too usually as it’s going to stress them out.
What are the perfect supplies for hamster nesting?
We would like substances that can enable huge igloo/volcano nests to be constructed. Which means lengthy strips of bedding slightly than brief/closely chopped up fragments. Beri likes utilizing lengthy newspaper strips, hay, and safebed for hamsters.
Utilizing a combination of nesting supplies is healthier than only one, because it gives extra enrichment for the hamster, permitting them to make selections and assemble extra complicated constructions.
Litter
Hamsters are clear animals and can pee and poo in a single nook of their cage. Some hamsters might be litter skilled to your selection of location, however the majority choose to select their very own place. As hamsters don’t pee or poo of their mattress, it’s doubtless that they’ll select a location close to to their nest (nobody needs to go far when getting off the bed to wee!). Many hamsters choose to bathroom in a semi-enclosed location so slightly home with no ground may give them emotions of privateness whereas nonetheless being simple for the proprietor to wash.
It’s vital to bear in mind the place your hamster likes to bathroom while you clear and structure the cage in order that one space is constantly the bathroom. That makes spot cleansing the realm a lot simpler and reduces the general cage cleansing wanted.
Probably the most absorbent litter is paper cat litter, which is really useful for species like rats and mice. Nevertheless, some hamsters will keep away from it as a result of it’s too onerous and blocky. One choice is to place the paper litter underneath a layer of their regular substrate, however they might choose a special materials altogether. Choices embrace sand, comfortable paper substrates, or possibly a little bit of positive chopped straw. These are clearly much less absorbent than paper cat litters, however that is much less of a problem with hamsters as they solely produce slightly urine.
Sand Baths!
Hamsters don’t wash by licking themselves as this wastes valuable water (that is certainly one of their variations to being a desert species). As an alternative, to wash their fur and pores and skin they’ve sand baths. This stops pores and skin oils (each their very own, and any human ones from dealing with) making their coats greasy and retains them fluffy and wholesome. You’ll be able to inform hamsters that don’t have entry to sand simply from pictures and preliminary dealing with. Offering entry to a sand tub is vitally vital to hamster welfare, however it’s one thing that’s continuously neglected.
Some folks don’t like to present sand baths within the cage as a result of hamsters will typically use them as litter trays. In case your hamster will get common free vary you may give each day entry to a sand tub of their free-range space as an alternative, but it surely’s finest care observe to supply 24/7 entry to sand within the cage. Exterior entry must be for a minimum of half-hour day-after-day, so offering this will grow to be fairly labour intensive.
The only choice is to supply two sand baths in several elements of the cage. That manner if the hamster does determine to pee and poo in a single, it’s going to preserve the opposite for bathing. Hamsters have good hygiene and gained’t combine the 2 up.
It’s vital to make use of precise sand and never mud. The most affordable manner to do that is to purchase sand offered as youngsters’s play sand, and bake some in a bread tin within the oven to evaporate water however watch out, sizzling sand could be very sizzling – don’t contact it! For an easier however costlier choice, many petshops now promote chinchilla sand.
To offer the sand within the cage, there are numerous choices, together with sand tub containers offered in pet outlets. The easiest way is to part off a little bit of the cage base and have a sandy space for strolling in. Excessive sided baking trays might help include the sand and cease it getting dispersed by means of the remainder of the substrate. If that’s not sensible then large canine bowls can work. For one thing extra enclosed, a aspect opening glass cookie jar is sweet, though some species of hamsters might have a wood bridge within the entrance to assist them get out and in.
How Typically Ought to You Clear a Hamster Cage?
Hamsters don’t have to be cleaned out fairly often. An moral minimal cage dimension of 4000 cm sq (620 sq inches) might be simply left for a month, if bathroom areas are spot cleaned as wanted. Setups which are larger nonetheless can final 3-6 months between cleanouts relying on particulars of the scale and structure. Nevertheless, if a cage is to be left that lengthy between cleans, it is very important often examine it to verify it’s okay (e.g. there is no such thing as a rotting meals, any damp corners are eliminated, that there are not any issues with stashes/caching behaviour and so forth.).
When the cage is totally cleaned, it’s vital to go away a minimum of ¼ of outdated substrate to sprinkle again across the cage. This retains the hamster’s dwelling smelling acquainted to them, and stops them getting harassed.
When cleansing the cage, and even checking it over, ensure you first take away the hamster to a safe provider to verify they don’t get harassed or escape.
So, there are our preferences for hamster substrates, based mostly on Beri’s analysis and years of expertise. When you’ve got a query, tell us within the feedback!
