Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK, so I new to this part of "town"...

I just bought 3 Russian Dwarf Hamsters today (after researching some care sheets). I'm pretty sure I've got all the basics down.. They're all from the same store.. 2 were in the same cage, and the 3rd, which is a bit bigger than the others, were introduced to them after their scent was all over. They're all females - lol I don't want to get into breeding them at the moment - too many leopard geckos to watch over!

Anyhoo.. I read on several caresheets that you should Not use cedar bedding - but use Pine bedding instead. Which is what I have. The guy at the pet store (one of the very few pet store people I would Ever trust - it's an Excellent place!!!) said that Pine bedding isn't very good for them, either, but it's okay for temporary. He said it had too many oils in it, too, and that they will do the best on Aspen bedding - which is what he keeps all of his on.

What do y'all say???

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So many alleles, so little time!

~~Dusty
@
The Gecko Barn

When I said "too many leopard geckos to watch over," I meant to say "I am about to have too many leopard geckos to watch over..." A bunch of our leos are gravid, and 2 of them have already laid and are gravid again YAY!!!

~~Dusty

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So many alleles, so little time!

~~Dusty
@
The Gecko Barn

*Feeling So.. Soo... Unacknowledged...!!*

Since no one's answering me, do I assume that I'm okay with Pine bedding??!??

~~Dusty

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So many alleles, so little time!

~~Dusty
@
The Gecko Barn

Aspen is better than pine and carefresh is better than aspen. Pine is ok sometimes if aired out but it still has a good chance of causing problems. There are also several other beddings such as corncob but it's about like keeping them on gravel. I've only had one small animal allergic to aspen and i breed gerbils and dwarf hamsters so there are probably 40 animals on it right now. You can give them bits of unscented toilet paper or paper towel to shred for nests although gerbils make better use out of this than hamsters. I also just have a paper shredder with a fine cut and shred alot of my own bedding.

So, basically, until I run out of pine bedding, I should sift through what they have everyday to keep it aired out? Would that help?

Unfortunately, I don't have a paper shredder to make my own bedding, although I do usually have several weeks' worth of newspaper (we give them to our neighbor who has a million cats living in and out of her house...)

~~Dusty

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So many alleles, so little time!

~~Dusty
@
The Gecko Barn

Pine and cedar can both cause respiratory problems in small animals. Aspen would be a better choice or you could try yesterday's news or carefresh also. Aspen would probably be the most cost effective but carefresh may have better odor control. I've heard you can buy carefresh out of the cat section much cheaper than the rodent section at the petstore even though its the same stuff
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Heather
1.1 leopard geckos: Geico and Tiny
0.1 husky/hound mix: Savannah
0.2 pet rats: Faith and Zelda

LoL that's kind of like certain medicines for dogs. We had a vet who told us that our dogs needed some sort of medicine. But she told us to get the human version, over the counter, because it's the exact same thing and about $70 cheaper!! I'm like OOOH MAN!!!
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So many alleles, so little time!

~~Dusty
@
The Gecko Barn