New rescue hamster... is this normal behavior?

[ross1010]

I haven't heard of any white bacteria. If something is damp and warm I guess white mould could form but I've never had an issue even with a load of soggy bedding at the bottom of the cage! Paper bedding does breathe.

At some point, I was looking for ground corn cob as a medium, and ran across a post on justanswer.com, where the responder indicated that aspergillus fungus (condition known as aspergillosis) can result from damp shavings, esp corn cob, etc. Actually not a bacteria, but a fungus. Sounds real.

 

[Maz]

Corn cob isn't recommended as a bedding - and yes it can cause issues. Beech chips, cork granules or coco fibre are all safe ones, although you have to ensure cocofibre isn't too moist.