Cage

What can I use as bedding for my hamster cage?

Hello all. I ran out of bedding for my hamster's cage, and I won't be able to get to the store for a few more days to get more. Until then, is there anything I can use for bedding? I really need to get the dirty stuff out of there. I read online that newspaper is okay, then I read it's bad, so I'm confused as to whether or not I can use it. So far I found that it's bad because of the ink and that she could eat it. Feedback would really be appreciated, and I'd like to find an at-home bedding solution tonight. Thank you!

Public Comments

1. Hampsters are disposable anyway... use anything it can chew up and you'll be fine...
2. try several sheets of paper towel, and I think clean, black and white news papers will not hurt your pet with a relatively short contact time of a few days.
3. Most owners use wood shavings to line the cage, but avoid cedar shavings - aspen or other hardwood shaving are the preferred choice as even pine shavings may emit irritating aromatic oils. Other bedding options are available Cedar and Pine." The bedding should be changed weekly, but most hamsters use an area of the cage for a toilet and this area can be cleaned more frequently to help keep the cage clean. Hamsters like to burrow, so provide a good depth of shavings for them to dig in.
4. Newspaper isnt good for it. Your best bet would be alphalpha, grass, even dirt. Natural things are best.
5. Newspaper is harmful because of the inks. Use shredded UNUSED paper towels or unscented toilet paper and clean out the bedding everyday until you get the proper bedding. The reason why you should change paper towels/toilet paper is because they get dirty and old after a short amount of time. So hope I helped you. Have a dwarf hamster and he and his buddy (R.I.P. Coca!) LOVED TOILET PAPER!
6. u can temporarily use shredded paper or cloth
7. The best possible bedding in general for hamsters is ripped up plain toilet tissue (or thicker kitchen towling in the winter) Hamsters LOVE it!! If digested accidently it is harmless. However newspaper contains ink which could be poisounous for hamsters if digested or licked off their paws. Rip up lots of unbleached plain tissue around the cage and watch your hamster racing around, grabbing loads of it and dragging it off to his nest area and making a cosy bed out of it! Its fun to watch.
8. Hmm I dont think newspapers are a good idea. The hamsters could chew and eat up the newspapers and it might get ill due to the ink. Mostly we use wood shavings but if you don't really have time to buy it, I suggest trying clean cloth or tissue (this is not the best solution, your hamsters might eat it all up) or just don't line the cage. Sometimes i run out of wood shavings I just leave the plastic cage bottom un-bedded and it doesn't really make any difference (:
9. do not use newspaper beacuase of he print once when i didnt have any beeding i putwhole paper and he ripped them up and he used that
10. just about anything, but NOT pine or cedar