Your hamster requires bedding they can burrow into to remain happy and healthy. Bedding also absorbs your pet's urine. Wood shavings are the most popular and easily accessible bedding for small animals. Shavings make excellent, affordable hamster bedding, but using safe shavings is crucial. Shavings from pine and cedar are harmful to hamsters. These shavings might hurt your pet or irritate its lungs. Shavings from aspen are safer.
Paper scraps are suitable for creating safer hamster bedding. Ensure the paper is ink-free if you're planning to use it because inks might contain hazardous chemicals. For example, shredded newsprint can be dangerous. Use plain paper, commercial paper bedding, or paper towels as an alternative. Many hamsters take pleasure in burrowing into plush paper towel shreds. But because traditional paper can develop odour faster, you'll have to clean their cage frequently.