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Budget Hamster set up 2025

Maz said:
No apology needed, it's always good to check out alternative paper beddings that might be cheaper. As you say it's a shame as it would have been nice to support them.

When you say Chipsi classic, do you mean the wood bedding, not the Chipsi version of Carefresh? Some people do use Chipsi classic, but we had some research into that on here last year, and they don't guarantee (or commit to telling you) what percentage is spruce and what percentage is fir (AKA pine).

While it is definitely better than any other kiln dried pine beddings, quite a lot of people use it, and don't seem to have issues, I prefer paper as the safer option personally. We also tried to find out if there was a 100% spruce option, but it seems not. I'll see if I can find the thread. It was quite interesting.

The teabag bedding sounds good though - do you get that from rat rations?
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Chipsi classic specified that the phenols it may contain are way too low to make a difference to hammies. I have only recently started using it,as only used Kaytee before,and I wanted to find a cheaper way of filling five enclosures . On this first deep clean however,I have used more paper than chipsi . Robin seems to love sculpting very intricate burrows. The chipsi allows them to hold better. I will look into the one you mentioned though ,it sounds like a better option .The teabag bedding is available from many different shops,but the cheapest I saw was 20 quid for two massive bales.
 
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I know views on Chipsi vary :-) And in Germany they seem adamant that all German pine shavings are fine anyway as they say the German standards are so high for kiln drying. It's one of those debatable topics. I did have email contact with Chipsi (mentioned in the thread linked above) and they wouldn't confirm how much was pine and how much was spruce. So it could be anything really. Mostly pine or varying depending on batches. However it is likely to have less phenols than most pine bedding due to containing some spruce (without them saying how much), and the fact German kiln drying is supposed to be good.

I think some people like to use it, and if mixed with paper then even less of it :-)

Does it work out much cheaper? It's so annoying that Fitch went up in price so much. It used to be £23 for 10kg which was good value. Mind you it stayed at £23 for many years! So was probably due to go up but it did go up rather a lot and you get less in the bag as well!

I can't use wood beddings as they affect my asthma anyway! Although I haven't tried Chipsi - does it have that woody smell?
 
Maz said:
I know views on Chipsi vary :-) And in Germany they seem adamant that all German pine shavings are fine anyway as they say the German standards are so high for kiln drying. It's one of those debatable topics. I did have email contact with Chipsi (mentioned in the thread linked above) and they wouldn't confirm how much was pine and how much was spruce. So it could be anything really. Mostly pine or varying depending on batches. However it is likely to have less phenols than most pine bedding due to containing some spruce (without them saying how much), and the fact German kiln drying is supposed to be good.

I think some people like to use it, and if mixed with paper then even less of it :-)

Does it work out much cheaper? It's so annoying that Fitch went up in price so much. It used to be £23 for 10kg which was good value. Mind you it stayed at £23 for many years! So was probably due to go up but it did go up rather a lot and you get less in the bag as well!

I can't use wood beddings as they affect my asthma anyway! Although I haven't tried Chipsi - does it have that woody smell?
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Well,the German standards were one of my deciding factors,and "Robos r us" lol was my guinea pig for any issues as she is incredibly allergic to most wood also,.. it affects her asthma etc. she agreed to keep an open bag of chipsi by her whilst she worked and had no issues all day,and has even used it with the Robos. I paid 18 pound for 350litre and I still have almost half of that bag left.
 
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Yorkie said:
Well,the German standards were one of my deciding factors,and "Robos r us" lol was my guinea pig for any issues as she is incredibly allergic to most wood also,.. it affects her asthma etc. she agreed to keep an open bag of chipsi by her whilst she worked and had no issues all day,and has even used it with the Robos. I paid 18 pound for 350litre and I still have almost half of that bag left.
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It has a very faint woody smell,that goes away.
 
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Maz said:
I know views on Chipsi vary :-) And in Germany they seem adamant that all German pine shavings are fine anyway as they say the German standards are so high for kiln drying. It's one of those debatable topics. I did have email contact with Chipsi (mentioned in the thread linked above) and they wouldn't confirm how much was pine and how much was spruce. So it could be anything really. Mostly pine or varying depending on batches. However it is likely to have less phenols than most pine bedding due to containing some spruce (without them saying how much), and the fact German kiln drying is supposed to be good.

I think some people like to use it, and if mixed with paper then even less of it :-)

Does it work out much cheaper? It's so annoying that Fitch went up in price so much. It used to be £23 for 10kg which was good value. Mind you it stayed at £23 for many years! So was probably due to go up but it did go up rather a lot and you get less in the bag as well!

I can't use wood beddings as they affect my asthma anyway! Although I haven't tried Chipsi - does it have that woody smell?
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https://ebay.us/m/AAu2mL. Take a look at this,it reminds me of fitch,but I think you get more for your money. I figured a link lol
 
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Thank you so much for that find :-) It does look good! 20kg for £41. I did try googling it but could only find the strips of paper version. Are they all strips like that or are some just pieces? Either way it sounds good value. I just wouldn't get on with strips though!
 
Maz said:
Thank you so much for that find :-) It does look good! 20kg for £41. I did try googling it but could only find the strips of paper version. Are they all strips like that or are some just pieces? Either way it sounds good value. I just wouldn't get on with strips though!
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I have seen a variety,some strips,some pieces . I just thought that these would help with your budget friendly options. When you came up with this idea ,it just reminded me of all the things that I had seen on my search for budget friendly. You can probably tell,I just thought I would pass it on. I chose what works best for us in the end,for the pocket and convenience.
 
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Yorkie said:
I have seen a variety,some strips,some pieces . I just thought that these would help with your budget friendly options. When you came up with this idea ,it just reminded me of all the things that I had seen on my search for budget friendly. You can probably tell,I just thought I would pass it on. I chose what works best for us in the end,for the pocket and convenience.
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They are wonderful suggestions, thank you :-) So did you say you are using the teabag bedding mixed with Chipsi classic? Are yours strips of paper or pieces? It's great there are other options. I'm probably just a fitch fan as I've been using it for years but it's annoying they don't sell a bigger bag any more and the price has gone up so much :-)

We did a comparison on here once to see if Kaytee Clean and Cozy worked out cheaper. Because on paper you could buy the same amount slightly cheaper than fitch. But in reality it didn't seem to bulk out as much for the equivalent litres.

I'm sure others could also propose a budget set up, maybe they have managed to work other options cheaper. Bedding seems to be such a big cost now, in addition to a cage. Bales of hemp bedding might be cheaper as well but I haven't looked into that for this budget set up.
 
Maz said:
They are wonderful suggestions, thank you :-) So did you say you are using the teabag bedding mixed with Chipsi classic? Are yours strips of paper or pieces? It's great there are other options. I'm probably just a fitch fan as I've been using it for years but it's annoying they don't sell a bigger bag any more and the price has gone up so much :-)

We did a comparison on here once to see if Kaytee Clean and Cozy worked out cheaper. Because on paper you could buy the same amount slightly cheaper than fitch. But in reality it didn't seem to bulk out as much for the equivalent litres.

I'm sure others could also propose a budget set up, maybe they have managed to work other options cheaper. Bedding seems to be such a big cost now, in addition to a cage. Bales of hemp bedding might be cheaper as well but I haven't looked into that for this budget set up.
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I have settled on the white kaytee 85litre mixed with chipsi,but more kaytee than chipsi ratio . Robin seems to love it,and from what I can see through the plexi strips,builds good burrows . All of the robos but Holly seems to enjoy it too
 
I used to mix Fitch with some finacard - until they stopped making. There was an alternative shredded cardboard option I sent for but don't like it ha ha. It has a weird smell. So that's just sitting there - probably end up binning it.
 
Maz said:
I used to mix Fitch with some finacard - until they stopped making. There was an alternative shredded cardboard option I sent for but don't like it ha ha. It has a weird smell. So that's just sitting there - probably end up binning it.
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Yes it's all about personal preference too,form some reason I had an allergy to carefresh and figured that if I did,my hammy could also,so I went experimenting. Then when we ended up with five,and all the Facebook groups were raving about it,I thought I would put chipsi in the mix.
 
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I didn't like Carefresh at all. It had really fine dust in the air when I tried it, but that was a long time ago now and it might have improved. I'm aware some hamsters have had an allergy to it though.
 
Megazorb seems to be one of the cheapest - £10.95 for 85 litres - it doesn't seem so popular these days though. Some people love it, some hate it!

The tea bag bedding would definitely bring down the budget set up cost a bit - for the article though I just stuck to ones I had used and could recommend. ie Fitch and Kaytee.

For anyone on here, this thread has raised a few more options :-)
 
Maz said:
Megazorb seems to be one of the cheapest - £10.95 for 85 litres - it doesn't seem so popular these days though. Some people love it, some hate it!

The tea bag bedding would definitely bring down the budget set up cost a bit - for the article though I just stuck to ones I had used and could recommend. ie Fitch and Kaytee.

For anyone on here, this thread has raised a few more options :-)
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Yes,I hope someone sees this and maybe think it's an option in keeping the costs down further .
 
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Maz said:
They are wonderful suggestions, thank you :-) So did you say you are using the teabag bedding mixed with Chipsi classic? Are yours strips of paper or pieces? It's great there are other options. I'm probably just a fitch fan as I've been using it for years but it's annoying they don't sell a bigger bag any more and the price has gone up so much :-)

We did a comparison on here once to see if Kaytee Clean and Cozy worked out cheaper. Because on paper you could buy the same amount slightly cheaper than fitch. But in reality it didn't seem to bulk out as much for the equivalent litres.

I'm sure others could also propose a budget set up, maybe they have managed to work other options cheaper. Bedding seems to be such a big cost now, in addition to a cage. Bales of hemp bedding might be cheaper as well but I haven't looked into that for this budget set up.
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I tried hemp for my guinea pigs, but it is quite rough and spiky and very dusty. It holds wee in pockets and I thought it started to smell quickly. I use wood shavings in their cage, and some fleece or a bath mat with noodle shaped fabric. Socks gets Fitch in his cage 🏡
 
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