What's the best hamster bedding? Is paper, pine, or cedar safe?

Generally you want to avoid pine and cedar shavings as they tend to have a higher dust concentration. Carefresh or aspen pellets are the best bedding for rodents in general. If possible, try to avoid the pine. You can always lay down a towel to wash daily or paper until you can get to the store and pick up more of your usual bedding. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Paper bedding such as Carefresh bedding or this type is currently recommended. There would be no greater issue with them ingesting the paper bedding versus the wood shavings bedding, as the paper bedding would actually be more easily digested (as paper is actually a product made from broken down wood!). The paper is more expensive but has less risk of causing wounds (occasionally the wood shavings can have sharp pieces and cause injury to the skin or eyes or mouth) and less risk of dust or other irritants to the respiratory tract.

You will find negative reviews of almost every product if you look long enough. Aspen, CareFresh or kiln dried pine shavings are all acceptable choices for bedding. Use what works best for you and your chin and is easy to buy.

It would be safest to avoid all types of pine bedding. There are other options that are safer such as aspen shavings or any one of the recycled paper type bedding materials. The current bedding is fine to use as well.

Softwood litters i.e. pine shavings or sawdust newspaper, paper pulp bedding, wood pellets, paper pellets, shredded cardboard, straw and hay all make good bedding. The best is probably a combination of newspaper and hay since you feed hay anyway. Newspaper is also easily cleaned out.

You want to make sure to use a dust free bedding. The two that I recommend are Carefresh and Aspen pellets. Good ventilation and low dust are very important for the health of guinea pig lungs. Please feel free to post any additional questions.

According to the Purdue University Veterinary school handout on hamsters, Timothy Hay can be used as bedding for hamsters. It will absorb some urine, but it does not control odors and will mold when wet. You can use it as a top dressing over a paper-like bedding, and change the hay every one to two days. The bedding underneath will have to be changed once a week. Fresh Timothy hay is best, as pre-packed hay bought in the pet store is dried to prevent molding, which makes it harder and less suitable for bedding. Marie can also nibble on the hay as a supplement.