6 Best Hamster Bedding Products in 2025, Recommended by Vets

If they lead a healthy life, hamsters can live for up to 36 months. For the best overall bedding to help your hamster live a long and happy life, our vets recommend Oxbow Eco-Straw Pelleted Wheat Straw Small Animal Litter.

Made using high-fiber wheat straw that has been compressed into a pellet, this all-natural bedding is safe when eaten and can clump easily to make it easier to clean up and change.

Our vets like that this bedding is dust-free, which means it shouldn’t irritate a hamster’s respiratory tract and eyes, and it’s twice as absorbent as newspaper-based litter. It’s also mixable with other bedding that can create a warm and comfortable surrounding to promote burrowing.

Kaytee has been making animal products since 1866, which is one of the reasons our vets have named Kaytee Clean & Cozy Small Animal Bedding as their pick for the best budget bedding option for hamster parents.

Paper for hamster bedding is one of the best bedding options because it’s soft and provides a great setting for a warm nap. Our vets consider this bedding a great choice for people wanting to save money because it is fluffy enough for a deep and satisfying burrow, and it can absorb twice as much liquid as traditional wood shavings.

This popular product is also made from ingredients that don’t contain harmful chemicals or byproducts.

Wood shavings are a popular choice among pet parents because they’re super absorbent, they control odor well, and they are biodegradable. However, you’ll want to avoid cedar or pine shavings, as they contain aromatic oils that are very irritating to hamster skin and mucous membranes. With this in mind, our vets have selected Small Pet Select Small Pet Aspen Bedding as their top pick for the best wood-based bedding on the market.

The main ingredient of this bedding is sustainably sourced kiln-dried log shavings from aspen trees, which our vets suggest are one of only two different types of wood, the other being spruce, that allows for proper cushion, comfort, and absorption because it’s free from additives, irritants, and toxins. Pet parents who like to recycle will be pleased to know that this product is compostable.

Pet parents checking off items from their hamster care sheet will be aware their little bundles of joy don’t create as many bad smells as some other household pets, but that doesn’t mean they’re odor-free.

If your hamster starts to smell, bathe them in a sand bath or warm Tupperware bath and be sure to select a bedding that helps eliminate ammonia from your hamster’s cage, which can be bad for your hamster’s respiratory tract if they breathe it in over time.

Our vets landed on Kaytee Clean & Cozy Extreme Odor Control Small Animal Bedding as the best hamster bedding for odor control. The second offering from the trusted pet brand on our list is the best bedding for hamster smell because it holds in moisture and locks in the smell. This bedding has a high absorbency and Kaytee guarantees 14 days of odor control.

Hamsters are nocturnal, which means they’ll be burrowing into bedding to snooze for around 8 hours every day.

A controlled study on mice, another burrowing pet, showed a preference for bedding material that was soft and good for burrowing. According to our team of vets, the best hamster bedding for burrowing is Oxbow Pure Comfort Small Animal Bedding, Oxbow Blend.

Made with paper that has never been printed on, so your hamster won’t be exposed to any chemicals from ink, printing by-products, or glue, it’s a low-density choice that is designed to be ultra-soft. Our vets selected it as the best burrowing bedding because it can help your hamster’s burrows be stable enough to hold their shape.

Hamsters can suffer from allergies to certain types of bedding, which usually displays in skin, nasal, or respiratory tract reactions.

When selecting the best bedding for a hamster cage, it’s important for pet parents to avoid ingredients like aromatic oils, phenols, dust, additives, plant-based fibers, and recycled paper products. Carefresh Small Animal Bedding is free from all of these common allergens, which is why our vets have selected it as the best bedding for allergies.

Carefresh Small Animal Bedding is considered a good choice for hamsters with respiratory issues or skin issues by our vets because it’s 99% dust-free and can prevent your hamster from inhaling unnecessary amounts of dust.