8 Best Bedding Options for Hamsters

One of the most important aspects of hamster ownership is keeping a clean cage. Your pets depend on you to give them a hygienic and healthy environment so they can live their best lives. This is why it’s important to regularly change your hamster’s bedding.

Hamsters do best with soft bedding that allows them to burrow and rummage without making their paws rough and raw. And because hamsters heavily rely on their sense of smell, wood shavings could lead them to feel disoriented or irritate their lungs.

Bedding Options for Hamsters

Below, we’ve included some of the top-rated Amazon options for paper hamster bedding. Read on to learn more about great bedding options for your fluffy buddies!

Kaytee Clean & Cozy White Small Animal Bedding

This is one of the most popular hamster-bedding products available on Amazon. Made of recycled materials, the Kaytee Clean ; Cozy is dust-free paper bedding, which helps your hamster’s cage stay neat and tidy.

In the absorption category, this bedding is one of the best. It absorbs 6 times its weight in fluids, about twice as much as wood shavings do. More absorption means changing your hamster’s bedding less frequently, without doing so at the expense of your pet’s wellbeing.

Kaytee Clean ; Cozy products come in a number of varieties to explore, such as Scented and Natural.

  • Dust-free: 99%
  • Odor control: Yes
  • Country of manufacturing: Made in USA
  • Eco friendly: Made of recycled materials
  • Dyes, bleaches, additives: None
  • Baking soda: No
See also  Can You Keep a Hamster in a Fish Tank?

Check the price of Kaytee Clean & Cozy bedding on Amazon.

Carefresh Small Pet Bedding

Carefresh offers similar value at a similar price to the Kaytee Clean ; Cozy White bedding. This brand promises effective odor control for up to 10 days, giving you more quality time with your hamster and less time stressing out your pet by having to clean its cage too frequently.

This bedding is made from dust-free paper fibers. Dust-free bedding means fewer respiratory for hamsters, who have quite sensitive lungs.

This eco-friendly bedding offers a great texture and dryness so your hamster can burrow and play at will.

  • Dust-free: 99%
  • Odor control: Up to 10 days
  • Eco friendly: Biodegradable and compostable
  • Dyes, bleaches, inks, additives: None
  • Baking soda: No

Check the price of Carefresh bedding on Amazon.

PetsPick Über Soft Paper Pet Bedding for Small Animals

Another winner in the absorption category, PetsPick Über Soft paper bedding is only a few cents more expensive than our featured Kaytee Clean ; Cozy and Carefresh products. It comparatively absorbs 6 time its weight and expands to 3 times its size.

PetsPick promises 99.9% dust-free bedding, as good as you can get. Plus, there is the added bonus of sustainable manufacturing practices. Check out the manufacturer’s website for details on their waste reduction and total waste utilization programs.

  • Dust-free: 99.9%
  • Odor control: Up to 2 weeks
  • Country of manufacturing: Made in USA
  • Eco friendly: Made of all-natural materials, total waste utilization manufacturing
  • Dyes, bleaches, additives: None, food-grade paper
  • Baking soda: No

Check the price of PetsPick bedding on Amazon.

Small Pet Select Natural Paper Bedding

This bedding absolutely takes the cake in the “best value” category. It is available in large bulk quantities, which means that it’s much more affordable per liter than any other products on our list. Plus, if you order by shipping, it’s quite a convenience to be able to reorder less frequently.

See also  Hamster Body Language

With good price comes a little trade-off in features. There is no guaranteed odor control, so you may end up changing the bedding more often — good thing the product comes in larger amounts than its odor-controlling competitors.

Small Pet Select has a fantastic and informative website, where you can see the details of their product sourcing and the individual farmers and veterinarians they work with.

  • Dust-free: 99.9%
  • Odor control: None guaranteed
  • Country of manufacturing: Made in USA
  • Eco friendly: Locally sourced
  • Dyes, bleaches, inks, additives: None
  • Baking soda: No

Check the price of Small Pet Select bedding on Amazon.

Vitakraft Fresh World Strength Crumble Bedding for Small Animals

If your main goal is to find something eco-friendly, Vitakraft bedding is a great option for you. It’s totally made with recycled paper, sourced through PaperGator. PaperGator is a program that supports schools and community organizations, where nonprofits get compensated for collecting and recycling paper.

For its total value, Vitakraft is on the expensive side of bedding, averaging $0.75 per liter at list price. It absorbs just 3 times its weight, but does still promise good odor and dust control.

  • Dust-free: 99.5%
  • Odor control: Up to 2 weeks with regular spot cleaning
  • Country of manufacturing: Made in USA
  • Eco friendly: Made with 100% recycled paper, biodegradable and compostable
  • Dyes, bleaches, additives: None
  • Baking soda: No

Check the price of Vitakraft bedding on Amazon.

Fresh News Paper Small Animal Bedding

Similar to Vitakraft in terms of price per liter, Fresh News is another good option for sustainable bedding. It also uses recycled paper sourced through PaperGator.

See also  What is the Best Cage for a Dwarf Hamster?

Fresh News bedding contains baking soda. While baking soda can control odor and has potential to be used safely, be aware that ingesting large amounts of baking soda can cause serious health problems in small rodents. It may not be the best option if your hamster frequently hides food in its bedding.

  • Country of manufacturing: Made in USA
  • Eco friendly: Made with 100% recycled paper, biodegradable and compostable
  • Dyes, bleaches, inks: None
  • Baking soda: Yes

Check the price of Fresh News bedding on Amazon.

Arm ; Hammer Natural Paper Bedding

While this is a relatively popular product on Amazon, it is by far the most expensive per liter, at a whopping $1.65. However, this bedding also knocks our absorption category out of the park, absorbing fluids up to 8 times its weight.

As you may guess from the brand, this bedding also contains odor-busting baking soda.

  • Dust-free: 99.9%
  • Odor control: Yes
  • Toxins, sludges, inks: None, food-grade paper
  • Baking soda: Yes

Check the price of Arm ; Hammer bedding on Amazon.

Oxbow Animal Health Pure Comfort Bedding, Natural

Middle-of-the-road in terms of price per liter, Oxbow offers a nice combination of all the above product features but does not specifically claim any eco-friendly manufacturing practices on their Amazon page.

  • Dust-free: 99.9%
  • Odor control: Yes
  • Dyes, bleaches, inks, additives: None
  • Baking soda: No

Check the price of Oxbow bedding on Amazon.

Summary of Price Per Liter

There are always new details to be found on Amazon, which is why you should routinely price-check these products. However, here is a quick summary of each brand we’ve featured above with a quick breakdown based on their original list prices.

Table of Hamster Bedding Prices Versus Volumes

Bedding Brand and ProductVolume in LitersPricePrice per Liter
Arm ; Hammer Natural Paper Bedding12.5 L$20.62$1.65
Carefresh Small Pet Bedding56 L$16.99$0.30
Fresh News Paper Small Animal Bedding40 L$28.93$0.72
Kaytee Clean ; Cozy White Small Pet Bedding49.2 L$16.48$0.33
Oxbow Animal Health Pure Comfort Bedding, Natural56 L$21.27$0.38
PetsPick Über Soft Paper Pet Bedding for Small Animals36 L$12.99$0.36
Small Pet Select Natural Paper Bedding178 L$39.99$0.22
Vitakraft Fresh World Strength Crumble Bedding16 L$11.99$0.75