California Hamster Association (2024)

Pet hamsters spend most of their life in their cage. Besides having the right amount of space, it's important to provide your hamster with mental and physical stimulation. This prevents them from getting bored and helps keep undesirable behaviours at bay.

You can use any or all of these materials in your cage!

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Paper crinkles are a fun and easy to find material for your hamster to enjoy! They work best as a nesting material, but you can put a handful anywhere in the cage and see where your hamster decides to take them!

Paper crinkles for pets are available from Petco, and available in fun colours in the gift wrap section of Dollar Tree.

Basically, what we're talking about here is coconut fiber. It is sold as different names depending on the packaging--you can find it as a loose soil-like substrate, or as a compact brick that can be reconstituted as needed.

Coconut fiber is a cleaner alternative to providing dirt or soil for digging. It is soft, inexpensive, and endlessly entertaining for hamsters.

Look for this product in the reptile section of most pet shops.

Kaytee Soft Granules is a very unique material. It's really unlike anything else! The granules are essentially small paper balls of varying sizes.

Kaytee Soft Granules provide a great substrate for digging. It's a very absorbent bedding, making it very useful in litterboxes and under the water bottle. Like hemp, it also makes a great base layer for a softer top layer.

*Avoid scented versions*

Moss is a beautiful and natural material that adds a lovely touch of greenery to the cage. It's easy to care for, and hamsters truly enjoy having a bit of the outdoors in their home.

If you choose to use sphagnum moss in your cage, be sure it is safe for animals.