Are pine and cedar beddings okay?

Question

What do you think?

My opinion is... NO. Pine and cedar are a wood shaving type bedding commonly sold cheaply in pet stores. Both pine and cedar are softwoods that contain oils/phenols proven to damage the respiratory system and liver of the animals kept on them over time. Pine has less of these phenols, but still has them.

Pet stores sell these beddings because they are cheap and profitable and there are still so many people who don't know their dangers.

The only wood shaving type bedding that is safe is aspen, which usually isn't much more expensive than the dangerous pine and cedar beddings. Aspen is safe because it is a hardwood and does not contain the phenols that pine and cedar do.

What about kiln dried pine? Kiln dried pine, supposedly, has had the phenols baked out of it, making it safe to use as a bedding. Personally, I don't buy it. Are ALL the phenols really gone? Why even risk it when there are so many safe alternatives?

Thoughts?

Answer 1

No, like you said they have oils and chemicals your hamster can breathe in. Aspen wood shavings are best, no oils or fumes. I have also heard carefresh is good, but personally I don't like it, it is mamade so you don't know what chemicals are in it. Also do NOT but something called fluff or fluffy, something like that, it is FULL of harmful chemicals. I would stick with just plain aspen, who knows what might be added or altered when the shavings are dried, especially knowing aspen is there and like you said just a bit more money. You can also put some toliet paper, cut up stripes, in their cage, they will make a nice soft bed. You can also do research on the net.

Answer 2

You are right, pine and cedar bedding is not at all good for hamsters. They have dust particles in them which when inhaled by hamsters can give rise to very bad respiratory infections.

Also these bedding can have sharp shavings that can hurt the little one's feet and cause feet infections.

As per the site hamsterific.com, phenols are not present in pine or cedar bedding but when the bedding comes in contact with the hamster's urine, it can give rise to phenols and ammonia which are dangerous for the hamsters' health.

I am not aware if kiln dried pine can be used, so do not use it unless you have friends who has used it in hamster cages with no side effects. Maybe you can check with your vet on this.

The following site gives you a list of bedding materials that can be used for hamsters -

http://www.hamsterific.com/BeddingGuide....

Personally my hamsters love toilet paper. Make sure that the toilet paper you give them is untreated / unbleached and does not have any fragrance in them. Also if you are using toilet paper for the first time, closely observe the hamsters for a day or two to rule out any itching or allergy that the papers might be causing them.

Don't throw away the empty tubes after using the toilet roll. Give them to your hamsters and watch them have great fun playing with it. I once put a whole roll of toilet paper inside and both my hammies had great fun ripping them off and spreading them all over the nest and using the tube for their games.

Answer 3

you are right, both pine and cedar have oils and chemicals in the wood which can cause problems and respiratory infections.

also, like you said people dont realize the dangers in using it and buy it because it covers up smell better than some other types of bedding.

even kiln dried pine has phenols in it but just not as much and it will take longer for the symptons to show. it will still cause problems so dont use it.

Answer 4

yes

Answer 5

Get Aspen fresh bedding. Those have chemicals which can harm your pet. Causes upper respitory problems! GO ASPEN FRESH!

my birthdays in a week and I think Im geting a hammy!

Answer 6

No, pine and cedar are NOT ok. The only 100% good bedding is carefresh. It's more expensive, but it's well worth the money. Please use carefresh.

Answer 7

I'd stick to aspen. My rats thrive on it, I've tried pine but they started to sneeze. I've heard good things about shredded recycled paper but it's not available where I live. Paper dust can also irritate some rats' lungs, so it's trial and error with that kind of stuff.

Answer 8

Wow, you know a lot about this stuff. kiln dried pine is defiantly SAFER, but certainly not SAFE.