Hamster Bedding...?

Question

I have a couple hamsters (separate cages of course). Bedding is pretty expensive and I was wondering if it would be harmful to the hamsters to use paper from my shredder ( i.e. junk mail) as bedding? Is there anything in the paper that could harm them?

Answer 1

It sould be ok as long as there is no ik that will run when it gets wet

Answer 2

DO NOT use paper that has anything printed in ink in it. Hamsters tend to chew their bedding and the ink can hurt their little stomachs.

Instead I would suggest to you to use toilet rolls.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.My hamsters love toilet paper as bedding material!

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

Is it shredded newspaper? Most newspaper these days uses soy ink which is okay for small animals. If you shred used paper from a laser printer, then this is also safe. If you have an ink printer, then DO NOT give this to the hamsters. There are harmful inks in ink printers.

We use newspaper for ours (only when we run out) which works well as long as there is an absorbent material under the newspaper (towels and carefresh work well to absorb liquid).

Using newspaper is fine. Newspaper can dye their fur.

DO NOT ever use pine or cedar even though it is cheaper than Carefresh. The oils in it harm their skin.

Answer 4

I wouldn't. My cousin had a hammy that she did the same thing and it thought that the ink smelled good so it tried to eat it and choked. :(((

Answer 5

No, their could be harmful chemicals ing the paper, I wouldn' t use the shreddings. Do not use pine or cedar bedding( what you buy from the store, use aspen, the others have harmful cheemicalsaswell as bedding called fluff . I dont't think carefresh is bad, but I would stick with natural aspen wood shavings.

Answer 6

I don't think it's harmful. But if you want your hamster's to have no chance of harm you could use paper towels or tissues, even you can use toilet paper!!

Answer 7

I use it for my guinea pigs but i rip up value kitchen roll from the supermarket for my extra little friends! x

Answer 8

Now that is a really good idea, I used shredded newspaper for a little while, so it shouldn't hurt your hamster.

Answer 9

Shredded Paper Should Be Fine But Don't Use It With Ink Because If They Put It In There Mouth The Ink Can Kill Them..

Answer 10

No, its not harmful.  I think it's a good idea

Answer 11

If you are actually using junk mail, be sure the little plastic address windows on some envelopes are not shredded as part of the bedding.

Answer 12

no lol i used news paper shreds and stuff from our shredder as bedding for my hamster and she lived a healthy 2 and a half yr life =]