Hello! I recently got a hamster and am wondering which bedding to use. She is currently on paper based bedding but I’m wanting to switch to aspen although I don’t like its texture, I like the look of it. Which do you prefer?
Which Bedding Do You Prefer?
Mirai 10/01/22
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From Mirai
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I use a mixture of both Aspen and Paper bedding, along with Orchid Grass, in layers, to provide them with a variety of textures, if that gives you any ideas!
Aspen is scientifically proven to be more healthy because it is better at absorbing ammonia. Paper bedding looks and feels better but you need to change it significantly more often to prevent dangerous ammonia build ups in rodent's such as mice and hamsters. I personally would not use paper at all and I believe even though it's cute and soft it's dangerous. Look up "evaluation of cage micro environments of mice housed on various types of bedding materials" for a study on the topic!
good reads from my friend as well
References:
(1) "Induction of Drug-Metabolizing Enzymes in Liver Microsomes of Mice and Rats by Softwod Bedding" Vesell 1967, Science.
(2)"Hepatic Drug Metabolism in Rats: Impairment in a dirty Environment" 1973 Vesell, Lang, White, ananti, Tripp, Science
(3) "Barbiturate Sleeptime in Mice Exposed to Autoclaved or Unautoclaved Wood Beddings." Cunliffe-Beamer, Freeman, Myers 1981, Laboratory Animal Science
(4)"Environmental and Genetic Factors Affecting the Response of Laboratory animals to Drugs" Vesell, Lang, White, ananti, Hill, Clemens, Liu, Johnson. 1976, Federation Proceedings Vol 35 #5.
(5)Bacterial counts associated with recycled newspaper bedding. 1990 Hogan, Smith, Todhunter, Schoenberger
(6) From the"Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals" formerly called the NIH Guide
(7) Harkness & Wagner Biology and Medicine of Rabbits and Rodents 4th ed 1995.
(8)TBLR 2nd Ed, Manning, Ringler, Newcomer 1994
(9) Rabbit Production 7th ed., McNitt, Patton, Lukefahr, Cheeke 1996
(10) Ferrets, Rabbits, and Rodents: Clinical Medicine and Surgery; Hillyer and Quesenberry 1997
(11) Possible Carcinogenic effects of cedar shavings in bedding of C3H-Avy fB mice. Vlahakis G, J Natl Cancer Inst. 1977
(12) Spontaneous hepatomas in mice inbred from Ha:ICR Swiss stock: effects of sex, cedar shavings in bedding, and immunization with fetal liver or hepatoma cells. Jacobs BB, Dieter DK. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1978
(13) Testing for possible effects of cedar wood shavings and diet on occurence of mammary gland tumors and hepatomas in C3H-A-vy and C3H-Avy-fB mice. Heston WE, J Natl Cancer Inst, 1975
(14)Bacterial counts associated with recycled newspaper bedding, Hogan JS, Smith KL, Todhunter DA, Schoenberger PS. J Dairy Science 1990
(15) Comparison of in vitro drug metabolism by lung, liver, and kidney of several common laboratory species. Litterst CL, Mimnaugh EG, Reagan RL, Gram TE, Drug Metab Dispos, 1975
(16) The effect of praziqunatel on the activities of some drug-metabolizing hepatic enzymes in rabbits. Kheir WM, Elsheikh HA, Hapke HJ, DTW Dtsch Tierarztl Wochenschr, 1995
(17) Dose related effect of aflatoxin B1 on liver drug metaboling enzymes in rabbit. Guerre P, Eeckhoutte C, Larrieu G, Burgat V, Galtier P, Toxicology 1996
(18) Comparison of hepatic and extrahepatic drug metabolizing enzyme activities in rats given single or multiple challenge infections with Fasciola hepatica. Biro-Sauveur B, Eeckhoutte C, Baeza E, Boulard C, Galtier P. Int J Parasitol 1995
"If all the phenols do is to induce some of the microsomal enzymes, that's nothing to be concerned about." - Carol Green has a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology, her area of research is drug metabolizing enzymes and she has more than 80 publications in the field.
My friend found studies on kiln dried pine as well
Reply to: Yes I'm Water
Oh wow! Thank you for all the references. I’ll be sure to change out the paper bedding to aspen, but I’ll leave some paper bedding for different texture (totally not because I still have a lot left). This is my first hamster and so I will continue researching on what works best for us. Thank you!
Reply to: Mirai
Not a problem! Generally up to 30% paper is fine from what I've heard in different groups