This article discusses the best hamster bedding you can get for your pet.

Traditionally, wood shavings are a popular option for hamster bedding. However, some types of shavings sold in pet stores are actually harmful to hamsters. For example, bedding made from pine or cedar contain chemicals that can damage your hamster’s lungs in the long run.

Unlabeled wood shavings are also frequently made from these two materials and should be avoided. Always check the labels on the product to make sure that there isn’t any pine or cedar in it.

Other than pine and cedar shavings, scented bedding may contain harmful chemicals and are not that great for your pet hamster’s sensitive nose even if they smell great to you.

Your hamster spends literally all the time in their bedding so it’s important to get something safe and healthy for it. Here are some of the best bedding you can use for your hamsters and other small pets.

Carefresh Ultra and Carefresh Colors

Carefresh Ultra is the first bedding I got for my hamsters and the one I like best. If you look at some of our earlier hamster pictures, they all have Carefresh Ultra bedding in them! This bedding is also pretty popular among other hamster owners.

Carefresh Ultra is made with white cellulose fiber and free from dyes, ink, and other chemicals. Because it’s white, it’s also easy to spot any soiled bedding which you can then remove (a.k.a spot-cleaning). By spot-cleaning, you can go longer between bedding changes/cage cleaning before the cage starts smelling bad or looking dirty.

In my opinion, this bedding absorbs odor very well. And according to the manufacturer, it’s absorbs odor three times more than traditional bedding.

The only downside to this is probably the cost since Carefresh Ultra is quite expensive compared to other types of bedding like Aspen. Some hamster owners get around this by mixing the more expensive Carefresh with other cheaper (but still safe) alternatives.

Carefresh Colors is another bedding that I like a lot and my robo dwarf hamsters are using this at the moment. It comes in many colors and looks really attractive in a hamster cage or tank, especially if you get matching colors with your cage or accessories. Although Carefresh Colors has dyes in them, the dyes are pet-safe and the bedding absorbs odors just as well as the Ultra.

However, with Carefresh Colors, you won’t be able to see soiled bedding as easily as the white Ultra so it’s not as easy to spot-clean the cage. Similarly, it’s a little pricier compared to other beddings.

Some owners have mentioned that both Carefresh bedding can be quite dusty but I haven’t really observed the same thing. If this is a problem for you, the next bedding (below) might be a better choice.

Kaytee Clean and Cozy

Kaytee Clean and Cozy is another bedding that’s popular with hamster owners. This is supposedly fluffier and softer than Carefresh but I haven’t actually used it myself.

According to other owners, this is highly absorbent and less dusty than Carefresh. It’s also cheaper if you compare the amount of bedding you get for the price.

If you decide to get Kaytee Clean and Cozy, make sure it’s the unscented version because they also sell scented ones under a similar name.

Although I’m not using this right now, it’s one of the bedding I’m going to try next when my existing stock runs out.

Update 20 September 2013: I’ve just switched to Kaytee Clean and Cozy and it really is as soft and fluffy as everyone says. It looks like shredded tissue and feels like it too except it controls odour (although not as well as Carefresh). It’s also completely dust-free and expands a lot from it’s original compressed packaging. I’ll probably be using a combination of this and Aspen from now on!

Aspen Bedding

If price is a concern, aspen bedding would probably be your best option. Aspen is one of the few wood shavings that are not harmful for hamsters. Compared to the other bedding, this is much cheaper for the amount of bedding you can get.

However, Aspen bedding is not as soft or absorbant as Carefresh or Kaytee Clean and Cozy.

There are many brands of Aspen bedding and Kaytee has it as well.  Because it looks very similar to Pine, Cedar, and other wood shavings, be sure to check the label if you’re getting it from a pet store.

PS: I found a great video that reviews and compares Carefresh Ultra, Aspen bedding and Kaytee Clean and Cozy. (Note: Prices mentioned in the video may not be accurate because of differences in location)

Yes! Dog treats or biscuits are pretty hard and are usually given to hamsters to help them wear down their teeth. Although wooden chews do a fine job of that, some hamsters simply refuse to use them. In that case, getting a plain dog treat (no additional flavors) for the hamster can help encourage it to bite on the treat and prevent their teeth from being overgrown.

It’s important to get a plain dog treat because not all of them are safe for hamsters. For example, dog biscuits with garlic or onion in them should not be given to hamsters as these food can be harmful to your pet hammy.

Many experienced owners milk bones which you can get online or in major pet stores. It’s quite big so a single piece should last a long time (the entire box would probably last forever in hamster-years) These are not available where I am so I got my hamster another type. You can see my winter white dwarf hamster, Flaxseed, chewing on a dog treat in the photo. That was taken weeks ago and right now, it’s still a whole piece with lots of bite marks on it (:

Dog treats may also be a good source of protein although I would not recommend anyone giving it to their hamster as food. Some hamsters may enjoy the treat so much that they eat the treat instead of their regular food. If you notice your hamster going through the biscuit really quickly and not touching their food, it might be wise to remove the treat for a while. This is important because the treats do not contain all the nutrients that hamsters require to be healthy.

That said, it’s rare for a hamster to eat only the dog treat instead of their regular food mix (I’ve only heard it happen once). All four of my dwarf hamsters enjoy chewing on dog biscuits, but never as their main source of food.

Not all dwarf hamster food is equal

Dwarf hamster food usually comes in the form of hamster mixes but the occasional fresh food is also fine. However, not all fresh food can be fed to dwarf hamsters as they may be toxic. Different species of dwarf hamsters also have different food requirements. For example, Russian dwarf hamsters such as Winter Whites and Campbells are not able to eat many fresh fruit because fruit are mostly high sugar and these hamsters get diabetes easily. Some people prefer not to feed their Russian dwarves fruit because they think it may cause diabetes. Roborovskis, on the other hand, can enjoy a seedless grape now and then (like my hamster in the photo ^_^)

Some food is toxic for hamsters and pets

And then there are the foods that are toxic or unhealthy for all types of hamsters. The obvious ones are human junk food like potato chips, chocolate, and candy. But there are also food that are seemingly harmless but are still very bad for your hamster. For example, Avocadoes contain a substance that can cause heart failure in pets when eaten in large quantities. Bitter almonds contain cyanide which can be highly toxic to small pets.

Dwarf hamster safe food list

To help you pick the right dwarf hamster food, here’s a list of food for dwarf hamsters that are safe. Unlike other lists on the internet, I have 1) checked that they are safe from various sources 2) given these food to my hamsters and can confirm that they are safe. I will update the list as I find more food. If a food is not on the list and you would like me to check, please leave a comment below!

Important: Please feed these food in moderation. They should never be used to replace a hamster food mix or pellet

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Grains, seeds and nuts:

• Barley
• Cashew
• Flaxseed
• Millet
• Oats
• Peanut
• Pumpkin seed
• Quinoa
• Sesame seed
• Sunflower seed
• Walnut

Vegetables:

• Asparagus
• Basil
• Bean sprouts
• Bell pepper
• Broccoli
• Carrot
• Celery
• Choy sum
• Cooked potato
• Corn
• Cucumber
• Green bean
• Kale
• Okra (a.k.a ladies’ fingers)
• Spinach
• Watercress
• Wheatgrass

Others:

• Brown rice pasta
• Boiled egg
• Mealworm (yikes, but they love it)
• Grasshopper
• Crickets
• Cooked plain salmon
• Cooked plain chicken
• Tofu
• Yogurt

Fruits

You may notice that I didn’t include any fruit. That’s because most fruit is high in sugar and bad for Russian dwarves which get diabetes easily. This is why I think some fruits are okay for diabetic or diabetes-prone hamsters. Don’t give these to your winter white, campbell’s, hybrid, or Chinese hamsters if you’re worried.

• Apple (without seeds)
• Banana
• Blackberry
• Blueberry
• Cantaloupe
• Coconut
• Cherry
• Grape (without seeds)
• Guava
• Honeydew
• Lychee
• Papaya
• Peach (without pit)
• Pear
• Plum (without pit)
• Starfruit
• Strawberry

Once again, if there is anything that’s not on the list but you would like me to check, please leave a comment below. Thank you for reading!