Ceder bedding is bad?

Question

Okay this is news to me. I feel dumb now cause I just got some for my hamster and two guineas. I already put it un the hamster cage... should I take it out tomorrow and put something new in???? What should I do... I'm broke right now so I can't buy new bedding. I have a little bit left of the stuff I was using before. I don't know what it is but it's not as hard as the ceder..

What do I do?

Answer 1

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Don't remove the bedding until you clean their cage out. It won't hurt them to be in it for a week or so, only after a long time does it have any effect on their health. Alternatively if this doesn't reassure you, you can always use something else as bedding. Anything found around the house like shredded paper (just get pieces of paper of rip it into medium to small sized pieces), or some rags or cut some grass in the backyard. Anyway, those are some ideas. Hope they help.

Answer 2

It's not that bad, so don't panic.

Just leave it in there until you do a cage clean out, okay?

Don't worry yourself.

Living on it forever is bad for them- once is fine.

Answer 3

Cedar is dangerous to the hamsters due to the following reasons -

1. Hamster urine can react with compounds in cedar shavings to give rise to phenols which can be toxic to hamsters in the long term and shorten their life span

2. Cedar shavings have high quantity of dust in them and hamsters can get respiratory infections or allergy by inhaling the dust

Aspen shavings and Carefresh are tried and tested as hamster safe.A very economical but great bedding for hamsters is ripped toilet paper. Make sure that the toilet paper is untreated, unbleached and non fragrant. Don't throw away the empty toilet roll tubes, give them to your hamster as they make good toys for the hamsters to play and gnaw.

So you can use ripped toilet paper as bedding for your hamster until you have the money to buy something better like Carefresh or aspen shavings but do not use cedar, pine or any other wood shavings.

And yes, remove the cedar bedding at the next cage cleaning and substitute with safer bedding.

Answer 4

Very bad. The phenols in pine and cedar (especially cedar) bedding damage the respiratory system and liver.

You can use torn up paper towels until you can get better bedding, do not use the cedar.

Answer 5

Yes, Cedar bedding is really bad.  I don't even know why they sell it.  The oils in that bedding are so strong and they are bad for their respiratory system and can make them really sick or kill them.  Change the bedding to either Carefresh or Aspen shavings.

Answer 6

It is crazy that pet stores still sell this stuff, knowing it is so dangerous.

Softwoods - including cedar (the worst) and pine - contain high levels of phenols. These chemicals are known to cause respiratory and liver disease in all rodent species, which may be fatal. They are also known to cause allergies quite often.

I would suggest changing the bedding as soon as you can. A day or two might not be so bad, but really you should change it the sooner the better. Throw out whatever you have left.

You need to look for either a hardwood bedding, like aspen, or a paper based product such as carefresh or megazorb.