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Why is there still a major misconception about what is acceptable hamster bedding2007-11-24 22:19:31

We adopted our first hamster from the humane society. She came with an information sheet and a recomendation of 2 local exotic vets with a free check up if done within 48 hours. It turns out it only covered the office visit, not the vet herself, but we still took her in for 2 reasons:

1- It was best for her to be checked out to make sure nothing was wrong

2- We didn't know anything except what we had read in preparation so we wanted the advice.

We took the whole cage in for best effect and less stress on our hamster. We were using paper based bedding at the time and she told us this was fine but gave the advice that aspen shavings was the best bedding for the hamster.

Why do I keep seeing recomendations here to avoid aspen? Pine and cedar definately stay away from. If you check your websites, they also recommend aspen. Every source I can find says stay away from everything except aspen. Except for here.

Why?

Answers:

it depends on the animal i had a hamster do fine in aspen, another was allergic to it and i used the paper based litter.

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Get the pellet type bedding. Or the recylce newapaper. Never get the pine shaving. That could result in major respiratory infections due to the dust.

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Aspen is fine to use for small animals. I use it in my hedgehog's cage. Or, Yesterday's News are pellets made from old news paper. I use that in her litter box. Both are safe and fine.