Is cotton fluff good for your hamster?

[MuffinTheRobo]

I know a lot of people have used this in the past but, the question is why do they keep selling it even though they know not many people will buy it. Here's the answer, people have big businesses and "need" money so they put up ads, sell it in pet stores and sell it in Walmart even though it is unsafe and can hurt and even kill your hamster, but people buy it anyway and their hamsters die about a week or so later. Its @hamsterluvr63 signing out!

 

[Member ID2]

Sadly, a lot of hamster products are unsafe and still on the shelves of petshops because they make money.
It's the responsibility of the individual to find out what is safe and what is not.
That's where forums like this one are a valuable and reliable source of information to help us keep our hamsters safe and well.

 

[MuffinTheRobo]

Yeah like scented bedding that creates respiratory problem in your hamster.

 

[Tulsi]

Exactly. Like teeny cages and wheels ...

 

[Jim]

I know a lot of people have used this in the past but, the question is why do they keep selling it even though they know not many people will buy it.

Because Living World sells hundreds of thousands of boxes of Fluff a year and people keep buying it. Without any harm to their hamsters.

The online belief that it's dangerous and shouldn't be used doesn't make up the majority of hamster owners.

Myself I've had over a dozen hamsters in about 3 decades. They all used it without issue.

Interestingly enough, Living World Green Naturals Kenaf Fibre, their newer alternative, it remains to be seen if it catches on.

 

[Socks Mum]

Without independent research, Fluff cannot be recommended by hamster welfare orgs and charities. The research would depend on autopsies and would be questionable in itself

 

[Maz]

Because Living World sells hundreds of thousands of boxes of Fluff a year and people keep buying it. Without any harm to their hamsters.

The online belief that it's dangerous and shouldn't be used doesn't make up the majority of hamster owners.

Myself I've had over a dozen hamsters in about 3 decades. They all used it without issue.

Interestingly enough, Living World Green Naturals Kenaf Fibre, their newer alternative, it remains to be seen if it catches on.

It's a real world belief rather than an online belief. So many hamsters have died from ingesting synthetic fluffy bedding and there have been many campaigns to ban it over the years because it's so dangerous. @Mark Diner from Hamster Welfare had a hamster who died from ingesting it and has full autopsy reports on the Hamster Welfare website I believe.

Natural doesn't necessarily mean safe either. Kenaf Fibre may or may not be safe but it's totally unnecessary! Hamsters don't need help building nests - they can build their own, dig burrows in deep bedding, or build a nest out of strips of plain white toilet paper (which is possibly the only guaranteed safe nesting material, cheap and easy to find).

Kenaf fibre appears to be similar to hemp or jute. I use hemp mats sometimes. However, I still keep an eye on them. Because a hamster's natural instinct is to forage for nesting material, pouch it and take it back to their nest to build or refurbish it. Which is why you see them pouching strips of toilet paper. Anything they pouch could be swallowed or become wrapped around their teeth.

There may be owners who have used it and not had issues but that is taking an unnecessary risk. Hamsters rely on us to use safe products.

 

[Jim]

It's a real world belief rather than an online belief. So many hamsters have died from ingesting synthetic fluffy bedding and there have been many campaigns to ban it over the years because it's so dangerous.

Living World Fluff (1oz) has 284 reviews on Amazon with 91% of them are 4 or 5 stars

While virtually every laboratory experiment in scientific journals when laying out the habitat for the hamsters use some sort of wood or paper bedding along with cotton balls or cotton pads for nesting material.

While his hamster had a blockage. It's the exception rather then the rule. Hamster nests in the wild are found with cotton, feathers, fur, wool, and other soft fluffy items. Including scavenged man made textiles. They have a natural desire for soft bedding material.

 

[Maz]

Agreed they do have a natural desire for soft nesting material and like moss and hay and paper as well. But that is why it's risky - they will chew anything soft like fabric and could ingest some or it get wrapped around their teeth.

You don't see as many stories now of hamsters dying as a result of fluffy bedding, mainly because there has been huge awareness, for a long time, that it's unsafe. And many many stores have removed it from their shelves due to a campaign (primarily by Hamster Welfare).

Wood and paper are ok. Pure Cotton (as in kapok or cotton balls) is a bit of an unkown but as it's not easily biodegradable in liquid it's also classed as fluffy bedding. The worst types are the ones that separate into strands. It isn't just digestion either, it can get tangled round feet or teeth.

There have been big warnings about fluffy bedding for as long as I've been keeping hamsters - which is 10 years - and it's probably been a warning for longer than that.

I think to say one owner is unlucky maybe isn't helpful as other hamsters have died the same way. More like some owners are lucky they haven't had issues but it could happen.

I don't really see why there is a need for it anyway when they are quite happy with paper.

 

[Socks Mum]

That is the charities' dilemma. What we advise is often disputed by other sources for various reasons. I hope we are not going to use laboratory animals as a measure for our standards. Nor Amazon sales reviews. And what is available to wild animals in the face of habitat loss might not be ideal either

 

[Maz]

Yes just about every animal charity advises to avoid fluffy bedding. RSCPA, Blue Cross, PDSA, Wood Green.