Natacha Bouchart

Maire de Calais Senateur du Pas-de-Clalais

What type of wood is best hamster chew?

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Chewing is an important part of a hamster’s overall well-being. It helps to keep hamster teeth ground down to a safe length, eases boredom. It’s critical to the health of your hamsters to provide them with best hamster chew. However, not all chew toys are the greatest for these animals.

Especially if you want to give them wooden toys. You need to carefully select wood for your hamster to chew on. Ensure that the wood you give them is hamster-safe, and non-toxic for your pets.

#1 Wooden chew sticks products

Most pet stores offer a variety of chew sticks designed for hamster consumption. These chew sticks are the ideal chew toys for your hamster as they are free of dangerous chemicals and additives, these products generally are made out of balsa wood or pre-cut twigs,

Besides, wooden chew sticks are cheap and come in bundles, which make them the easiest solution for providing your hamster with a safe chew toy. If you worry about the quality of products, you should check on the manufacturer or check a holistic pet store for organic chew sticks.

#2 Natural woods safe for hamster

If you want to give your hamster a more natural gnawing experience, you also can give home some freshly cut wood from your backyard garden. Small twigs from fruit trees are an excellent option. Hamsters often prefer to chew wooden sticks that are made of apple or pear wood.

However, you have to carefully choose the freshly cut wood for your pets. Avoid any trees that have been treated with pesticides or chemicals. These trees can cause serious health problems for your hamster.

#3 Unsafe wood

Avoid woods that contain naturally-occurring oils that can cause respiratory upset in hamsters, such as cedar. Poisonous trees, such as the yew and oleander, also are unsafe for consumption. Moreover, any wood from tree that has been treated chemically also bad for hamster’s health. Never pick up sticks from the yard, especially dead wood as they could carry parasites.

When choosing wooden chew toys for hamster, carefully check the label to ensure that they are unpainted and untreated. Chew toys that made in China also may contain toxic chemicals that could kill your hamster and should be advoided.

Related to Hamster Chews

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Kaytee Small Animal Ceramic Critter Bath, Ideal for Dwarf Hamsters and Gerbils, Color May Vary from $6.97
BWOGUE Pet Small Animal Hideout Hamster House Deluxe Two Layers Wooden Hut Play Toys Chews from $13.99
Petzilla Hamster Wooden House as Bedding Dining Room Sand Bath Hideout Hideaway for Dwarf Robo Syrian Gerbils Teddy Bear… from $7.99
Wood Playground for Pet Dwarf Hamster Gerbil Rat Mouse Small Animal Cage Chew Toy (Wood Playground) from $11.26
Rainbow Play Bridge – Hamster & Small Animal Toy from $9.72
Kaytee Dwarf Hamster Mini Run-About Exercise Ball from $2.99
Niteangel Wooden Ladder Bridge, Hamster Mouse Rat Rodents Toy, Small Animal Chew Toy from $6.99

Why you should use metal wire dog cage for puppies?

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Once you decide starting out with a new puppy, the best dog cage for puppies will be an essential purchase that can serve multiple purpose. It can either be made of metal, wire mesh, plastic, or fabric. I’ve used and owned most all these types of puppy cages.

But if someone ask me which type do I prefer the most for my puppies, then I will be pleased to answer that it is wire cage. Although they are come with a few disadvantages, wire cages are helpful for a variety of reasons. You will likely find that they instantly make it easier to care for y our puppies.

#1 Easily stored

In the case if you want to move the cage and carry it with you or if you decide you do not want to use the cage anymore you might need to disassemble and store your cage. Wire cages are collapsible that means they are easy to flatten and carry with you. Most cages can be disassembled to some degree, but not all types of cages are collapsible.

The plastic cages I’ve owned can be made into two half shells that you can take them apart for storage  but they still take up more space then the wire crates. This doesn’t really save you much space.

 

#2 Visibility

In the wire cages, your pup can see everything going on around him  and you also can observe youe dog all the time, interact with him. If your pet like the cage is more dark and den-like, then you can throw a blanket over the top to cover it so he can’t see out, which can be good for quiet time. The cage will become dark, cozy, snig place for your puppy to hind inside.

Unfortunately, you do not have this options with a plastic, fabric, and wooden molded cage since they are mostly all closed up with limited visibility for your puppy.

#3 Dividers

Not all but most wire cage will come with a metal divider, which allow you to adjust the size of the cage. That means it allows you to either increase or decrease the inside space. In this way, puppy owners do not need to buy another cage when your puppy grows into a big dog. It is a good long term investment and help you save your money.

Besides, It is even more helpful for reducing the size of a puppy’s cage. By this way, you can buy a larger or smaller cage than your puppies need and then adjust it.

#4 Removeable litter tray

Many wire cages come with a plastic tray that is easy to slide in and out. If your puppies go to toilet in their cage, you can easily slide the tray out and clean up. In the case if your puppies spill their water dish, the removeable tray also come to handle.

Is paper pellet bedding good for hedgehogs?

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Paper pellet bedding is one of the most common material for hedgehogs bedding that you can easy find at any pet stores. Hedgehogs spend most of the time playing in the cage, so it is important to provide the best bedding for hedgehogs that safe for them and totally soft and comfortable.

All substrates have pros and cons and paper pellet bedding is no exception. Choosing the best bedding for your hedgehog is more complicated than it should be especially for new owners. In order to make the choose easier for you, here are the pros and cons of paper pellet bedding.

#1 Pros of paper pellet bedding

Paper pellets do a very great job for absorbing odor and liquids. That makes this bedding a good choice for the toilet area if you managed to litter train your hedgehogs. If your hedgehog is fairly messy, pellets will surely do a great job in masking the smell.

The best paper pellet bedding for hedgehogs is also unscented so doesn’t irritate the hedgehog’s sense of smell. It is excellent at keeping dust levels low and allows the hedgehog to burrow through it they forage.

#2 Will the paper pellets get eaten?

Hedgehogs are inquisitive by nature and will invariably chew on new things. Unfortunately, in some cases, hedgehogs may decide to eat the paper pellets, affecting their digestion, leading to diarrhoea or constipation. It is even worse if they chew on paper pallet which gets wet and sticky, ending up getting stuck in their mouth or worse still their throat.

In order to prevent it, you have to keep an eye on your hedgehog when introducing new paper pellet bedding, to make sure they are not suffering from reacting to the bedding or from eating the bedding.

#3 Scented

I used to see some of the paper pellet bedding that is lightly scented, but they are generally marketed as odour-control. They are not a good ideal because hedgehogs have a very strong sense of smell and I’m always conscious of using something I feel could cause distress to our pet.

#4 Costly

Paper pellet bedding is not cheaper than other bedding materials. It is also not reusable and this means it needs to be regularly purchased. This can be a costly regular exercise in compare with reusable fabric-based bedding.

#5 Sticky

I do not recommend this type of bedding for the whole habitat of hedgehogs. This is because the issue with the pellets is that they might stick in between the quills of your hedgehog and you still need to keep a close eye on the pellets or this can be quite painful for your little friend.

What I can use as DIY Hedgehog bedding?

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Looking for the best bedding for hedgehogs, I found that many reviews just show the products they can find, without no disadvantages. If you are get confuse about many different bedding products for hedgehog out there, whether the material is natural or not and whether it contains additives or harmful chemicals. Then you can make best bedding for hedgehogs by your own.

To have an idea of how to hand made DIY hedgehog bedding, scroll down to follow my post. I list here some material that you can use to hand made hedgehog beddings.

#1 Newspaper Bedding

It may surprise you since newspaper is not a common material for hedgehog bedding such as pine shavings, cedar shavings, etc. But the newspaper is an excellent material. Especially if you are in the budget, it is a great money-saving solution for the bedding.

Another advantage is that you can find newspaper anywhere around your house and reuse it, this make the use of shredded paper for hedgehog bedding is a smart and efficient choice. It can be placed at the bottom of the cage that soft enough that not hurt the sensitive limbs of hedgehogs.

Although newspaper’s absorbent qualities are no really good as other high-quality materials on the market, it can still work find to absorb urine or water bottle leaks to a certain extent.

One more pro is that it is not messy, arranging it inside the cage is effortless, and It is also easy for you to change the bedding frequently to ensure the best living quality.

If you’re going to choose newspaper bedding, ensure that they’re unprinted. Bedding made of printed newspapers may contain toxic ink, which might affect your hedgehog. You also have to ensure that the newspaper shaving doesn’t have any chemical smell on it.

#2 Shredded cardboard

It seem to be not a good bedding for hedgehog as shredded cardboard is  quite tough, not comfortable enough for your pets to lie on. However, you may find this DIY material useful and handy in some cases.

Cardboard is thicker than paper, and it is clean to be used as bedding. You can use as an alternative choice when you ran out of bedding material. You should take the cardboard from some shipping boxes in your house.

You can totally rest your mind as the cardboard is not harmful as long as that the ink from which it is processed is safe for health.

#3 Fleece Bedding

Fleece hedgehog bedding is a popular material to think of when it comes to buy hedgehog bedding. One of the biggest advantage of fleece materials is that it is a high-quality and soft material, which will make a completely comfortable and safe enclosure for hedgehog.

Although it catches dust quickly, this only downside cannot tarnish the overall perfection of the fleece material.

Blade cheese slicer vs wire cheese slicer: Which one is better?

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Instead of wasting your time, energy and efforts cutting your cheese manually, you can get the perfect cuts with less efforts by using a cheese slicer. Nowadays, cheese slicers become a great tool to have in your kitchen with varied shapes and colors and incorporate diverse improvements.

However, there are two basic type of cheese slicer are blade cheese slicer and wire cheese slicer. The slicing cheese is either performed by a strong, thin wire or a solid blade. This post will helps you consider whether you want the best wire cheese slicer or the one with blade.

#1 Durability

Blade slicers is performed by a solid blade and their effective is depends on the sharpness of the blade’s edge. Due to this, they last for quite long time. Since the blades are very sharp to slice the cheese and also can be used to slice vegetables and other foods, this makes safety a big concern. Be careful and pay attention on your finger when using Blade cheese slicers, especially if you own a cutting board unit.

Wire slicers are safer to operate. But the downside of wire cheese slicer is that over a period time using, wires tend to lose tension or even break more often than blades require sharpening. This means that you will have to tighten your cheese wire and sometime replace it.

Luckily, some manufacturers offer easy-to-install wire replacements for their products, some wire slicers even offer the second wire with the purchase. But if they are not, you can easy buy replacement wires in the marketplace with low prices.

#2 The type of cheeses

Not all cheeses are the same. The type of chees also determines the type of cheese slices you should get. What is your favourite cheese? Do you like thin slices or thick chunks? Although they are both allow to adjust the slice thickness, each type of cheese slicers will work greater on certain cheese.

Wire cheese slicers are great for thin and even slicing of most cheeses around the soft to middle hard cheese such as Camembert and Munster. While blade slicers designs are versatile and suitable for exploring the tough realm of hard cheeses.

#3 Versatility

I appreciate blade slicer higher than wire slicers in this aspect. A cheese slicer with a cutting wire may not be able to slice through a hard meat such as salami. Wire slicers are specialized tools that are designed for slicing cheese only.

While a model with a metal blade should be able to cut through other types of foods. With higher quality blade cheese slicers, you can slice other foods, such as meats or breads or vegetables.

What is the most suitable type of heater for turtles?

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If you are you planning to keep an aquatic turtle in your aquarium, you have to know that Turtles are cold-blooded animals and they cannot internally regulate their body temperature. This is why the heater is an important addition to your aquarium set up.
With the best aquarium heater for turtle you can easily adjust and efficiently maintain the temperature of the tank. But if you have a quick look at all the types pf aquarium heating options out there you might get overwhelmed. We’ll discuss three types of heaters that can be used and work well in your turtle tank.

#1 Submersible Heaters

This is the most popular heater for every fish keepers, you can easy get the heater models of this type in the pet shop. They usually are stick-shaped and placed entirely beneath the water, usually vertically or horizontally. They include a heating elements that be covered with glass of plastic case and a knob to control the temperature range.
They are the most common type that many people prefer to use for their aquarium is because of their cheap price and availability. Not only that, they are also very efficient and heat up the water very quickly. One more advantage of them is that they can be moved to a variety of places inside the tank.
However, remember to place them far away from the substrate. Also, ensure that your turtles can easy access the heaters or your turtles can break down the heaters and being burned.

#2 External in-filter aquarium heater

If you do not want to place a heater directly inside the tank, then External in-filter aquarium heater is great for you. They seem to be less popular than submersible because they require you to use canister filter. External in-filter aquarium heaters are designed to be placed inside the canister filter and works by heating up the water when the water being cleaned and pull back into the tank.
As it is placed outside the tank, it also reduces the possibility of any accident. Since external heater are not waterproof, they will burn out if they being touched with water. So, after mounting the heater, you have to fill the filter with water and run the pump before turn on the heater.
However, the major drawback is that external in-filter heaters are much more expensive than submersible heaters. The cheap models are usually very poor quality.

#3 Aquarium Substrate Heaters

To install this heater, you place it under your aquarium substrate such as sand, gravel or fluorite. The most attractive feature is that it saves much more space inside your tank than submersible heaters. As it is placed under the substrate, it is not visible.
However, the downside is they are cost much more than submersible heaters but working less effective. It is very inefficient heating method that only should be used for larger tanks with lots of gravel and plants.

#4 What type of heater is my favorite?

Personally, a submersible water heater is probably my best choice. They are produce very accurate readings of water temperature with a reasonable price. You do not need to spend a lot of money to have the effective device.
They are also easy to set-up, clean and being moved to any position you want in the tank. Submersible heaters are available in a large range of wattage power and you can easy get them from any pet shop.