Bobi!!

[dwarfhamstermom]

Yes that kind of thing. You can get shredders fairly inexpensively but then you can only use them for about 5 minutes at a time and a 30 minute rest! Which is annoying. I burned our last one out by getting impatient . But you can shred quite a lot in 3 to 5 minutes- especially if it's a roll of kitchen paper as you don't need to keep stopping to pick up paper!

Actually paper bedding is better for holding burrows than wood shavings Although I'm not sure about shredded paper which would be longer pieces.

Kaytee is very good for holding burrows. I noticed Zooplus sell 3 packs of 49.2 litres for 73.49 euros. It says equivalent to 6.3kg. I would think that would fill a 100cm cage when decompressed. Based on the fact I used to get 10kg of Fitch (when they sold it in kg) and used about 2/3 of the bag to fill a 100cm cage. Which is about 6.6kg.

It's not cheap! But - Once you've filled the cage, you would mainly only spot clean for quite some time. I usually go about 4 to 6 months before doing a substrate change, and then only change about half of it and put the clean half back on top (so it still smells familiar). That top half eventually gets spot cleaned out. They have it in white or natural

Kaytee Clean & Cozy Bedding lecho para roedores en zooplus

Kaytee Clean & Cozy Bedding lecho para roedores en zooplus. Superprecios y entrega a domicilio en toda España ► ¡Compra ahora!

www.zooplus.es

Might be better to spend money on bedding rather than a shredder, if you don't have one, maybe. On the other hand if that 6.4kg isn't quite enough, it could work out expensive!

My family has a shredder and it’s available for us The thing is that idk if that “large shredded paper from kitchen towels” is good enough for her burrows. We actually don’t mind expending the money once. But if she has mites, we would have to buy the bedding again

What would you do?

 

[Maz]

If it's going to be an expensive option, changing all the bedding first, then you could maybe do it the other way round and rule out mites first - by going to the vet and asking for a skin scraping (they look under the microscope). The trouble is some vets will just prescribe mite treatment "just in case" it's mites, without doing the test, then the hamster might get an unnecessary dose of Invermectin (which is strong) and if it doesn't do the trick because it's allergy then it's going to be difficult to know what it is.

So if your vet would actually do a skin scraping to get a definitive diagnosis of mites, you could try that route first. Then if it is mites you can keep to the Chipsi bedding. However you would still need to do a full cage clean then! If it's mites. Maybe you could phone the vets and ask if they would do a skin scraping and look under the microscope. If they won't then try a different vet.

 

[Maz]

My family has a shredder and it’s available for us The thing is that idk if that “large shredded paper from kitchen towels” is good enough for her burrows. We actually don’t mind expending the money once. But if she has mites, we would have to buy the bedding again

What would you do?

Just posted above. Yes I just realised it's difficult to work out which way round. If you changed all the bedding to Kaytee and it turned out to be mites, you'd have to change it all again!

 

[Maz]

What would I do? I would try changing the bedding first and see if it clears up - but then that's because I can get bedding cheaper than you can! If I couldn't, as in your situation, I would probably have a vet check for mites, but only if they actually properly diagnose mites and don't just "guess".

 

[dwarfhamstermom]

If it's going to be an expensive option, changing all the bedding first, then you could maybe do it the other way round and rule out mites first - by going to the vet and asking for a skin scraping (they look under the microscope). The trouble is some vets will just prescribe mite treatment "just in case" it's mites, without doing the test, then the hamster might get an unnecessary dose of Invermectin (which is strong) and if it doesn't do the trick because it's allergy then it's going to be difficult to know what it is.

So if your vet would actually do a skin scraping to get a definitive diagnosis of mites, you could try that route first. Then if it is mites you can keep to the Chipsi bedding. However you would still need to do a full cage clean then! If it's mites. Maybe you could phone the vets and ask if they would do a skin scraping and look under the microscope. If they won't then try a different vet.

Yeah… I think the best option is taking her to the vet and insist in making her a skin scraping. And act depending on the results.

 

[Maz]

I would phone the vets first and say you want a skin scraping to be sure if it's mites or not. And see if they will do that.

 

[dwarfhamstermom]

Hey,
After observing Bobi very carefully she’s not scratching as much and a friend of my who’s a vet (not exotic tho) said that her hair is pretty normal. Anyways, we are still thinking about changing the bedding. But we try to “avoid” this option since we don’t want to stress her.

Btw, she’s been two days a bit “angry”, she bites us, and she didn’t use to bite before (of course we wash our hands with soap before putting the hand in her enclosure), she licks us and then she bites (me and my partner, we are both very used to touch and hold her). We will be checking her and trying to hold her without getting bitten.

 

[Socks' Mum]

Good that she is healthy, but sad she's biting. Perhaps she's on heat and grumpy

 

[dwarfhamstermom]

Hey!

I didn’t thought we should had varnished the new wheel platform but Bobi did it again… She urinated on it and wood and urine aren’t friends so fortunately we got two identical platforms and I’m varnishing the new one. We were so naive thinking she wouldn’t urinate on it just because the wheel has the most of the space

 

[Socks' Mum]

Hey!

I didn’t thought we should had varnished the new wheel platform but Bobi did it again… She urinated on it and wood and urine aren’t friends so fortunately we got two identical platforms and I’m varnishing the new one. We were so naive thinking she wouldn’t urinate on it just because the wheel has the most of the space

It's her stamp of approval It's a nice platform, good idea to take care of it

 

[Maz]

Aw sorry it got pee on it Actually if you clean it quick enough, I've found giving the wood a scrub under hot water with a nail brush and maybe a drop of fairy liquid, then rinse well, and it does remove any odour. It might leave a slight stain. I've done that before and then when it's dry, plastikoted it after. Which then seals it as you know

Just in case you want to salvage the other one as a spare.

 

[dwarfhamstermom]

We’re back here!!
Some Bobi’s update: my partner and I are getting married on Saturday and we’ll be 15 days away in our honeymoon! My mother in law will take care of her. I hope she misses us!

 

[Maz]

Lovely photo of Bobi! And congratulations - for your wedding on Saturday! I'm sure Bobi will be very pleased to see you when you get back from your Honeymoon By the way, there's a new photo competition

Photo competition May/June

This month's competition is for a favourite photo of your hamster, or one of your hamsters again :) Looking forward to seeing lots of lovely hammy photos :) Competition rules: Only one entry per member It needs to be your own photograph All members can enter The competition runs until...

www.thehamsterforum.com

 

[Socks' Mum]

Congratulations Wishing you a lovely day on Saturday

 

[Hank]

Congratulations

 

[dwarfhamstermom]

Thank you guys!!

 

[ilguy]

Great to see Bobi on here, and congratulations!

 

[Coco61]

All the very best for a happy day on Saturday

 

[dwarfhamstermom]

Thank you all! I’ve just remembered we don’t actually know Bobi’s birthday but when we adopted her they said she was might born in April or May 2024, so I guess It’s been her birthday recently. We will “celebrate” just the gotcha day anyways. But here’s a picture of the girl! She’s not a baby anymore

 

[Maz]

Happy birthday Bobi! And it'll be nice to celebrate a gotcha day as well