Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My female hamster is pregnant. She is supposed to give birth end of the month. According to the pet website, I ought to change the bedding two days before her labour. But then, now she is making her nest already. Shall I destroy her nest later when I change her bedding? By the way, what are the materials she need to build her nest? She is using her pine shaving bedding and shredded tissue paper now.

Pine bedding has been proven to cause respiratory blockage and death by suffocation in hamsters, as well as many other small animals. The reason for this is that the oils that make pine smell so good, known as phenols, actually float through the air. That is how they get to our olfactory senses, and hamsters have such small respiratory systems that the phenols can quickly block them up. Please switch to either aspen or Care Fresh as soon as possible. At least the babies will get off to a good start. Clean out all the bedding, rinse out the cage, dry it, and fill it with 2-3 inches of bedding. Please don't use cedar, or that green pine bedding, as these do the same things. The mother will rebuild her nest.