cats litter substrate

[QiQi]

Hi,
I wanted to ask if you could also use cat litter substrate to replace the sand in a hamster potty
Are there any harmfull ingredients in cat litter substrate thats harmful to hamsters?
Because it absorbs liquid and smell allot better than sand

 

[RainbowBrite]

Unfortunately not. It would be dangerous for a hamster.

If your hamster toilets in the sand that is great as it is easy to find and sieve out.

 

[Maz]

As Rainbow says, it's dangerous for hamsters. It's clay based and can swell up inside and cause blockages. Hamsters pouch things and can swallow them. Once you have lots of substrate in the cage and a biggish sand bath, you won't notice smells, the sand will soak it up . Also the more substrate, the less noticeable any pee and you can just spot clean it out. The cage base then stays clean and dry.

They also sell hamster potty litter which is similar to cat litter and that's not safe either. Sand is safest.

 

[QiQi]

Ok thanks guys
Better safe than sorry

 

[Maz]

You're welcome