Millies Pets
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Nesting Material And Bedding
It is important that nesting material is safe, as hamsters pouch their nesting material and sometimes they can accidently swallow it. If the nesting material is cotton/fluff, it can cause an internal blockage.
The safest type of bedding is shredded up toilet paper.
In petshops in the UK, I usually see lots of fluff beddings labelled as safe for your pet. It angers me because this is not true!
Fluff bedding is probably the worst type of nesting material on the market today. It can get caught around your hamsters' limbs, and cut off blood circulation. Also, as I mentioned before, if swallowed it can cause an internal blockage.
This happened to my past hamster, Rosie.
I thought that the fluff bedding would be safe, as it stated it was on the package. Rosie pouched the fluff, and accidently swallowed it. The fluff got caught up inside her intestines making her unable to go to the toilet. It was very painful for her.
We took poor Rosie to the vets, and they said there was nothing they could do apart from feeding her liquid food to try and help the blockage pass through. (At the time, we didn't know what was the cause of the blockage.)
My Mum and I could see that Rosie was in pain, so we took her back to the vets. They said there was nothing that they could do to help her, as operating would not be successeful as hamsters are so small.
We sadly had to put her to sleep.
The vets offered to see what was the cause of the problem, so we agreed.
They found that the cause of the blockage was infact, the fluff bedding.
How does the fluff cause blockages?
Because hamsters' intestines are so small, it gets caught up inside if swallowed. This is very painful for hamsters and can cause death.
How does the fluff get caught around the hamsters' limbs?
Whilest the hamster is sleeping, they move around. Because the fluff is quite 'stringy' it can wind its way around the limbs and cut off circulation. This is very dangerous, as it can get caught around the hamsters' neck and cut off air circulation.
What nesting material can I use instead?
You can use shredded toilet paper. This is the most easiest, safest and cheapest way to supply your hamster with nesting material. If the hamster does swallow the toilet paper, it will just break up.
How can I make the shredded toilet paper?
It is very easy to make so dont fret! But make sure the toilet paper is fresh
and not scented.
1. Roll off a section of fresh toilet paper.
2. Fold the toilet paper up three or five times.
3. Start to tear the toilet paper in a downwards motion.
4. After tearing, ahred the toilet paper outwards.
5. All done! Repeat this process until you have enough nesting material.
Alternative Options
If you, for some reason, cannot make nesting material out of toilet paper, then you can always use some plain printer paper or soy based newspaper and put it through a paper shredder.