Is Using Newspaper as Bedding for Hamsters Poisonous?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve heard from several people that the ink in newspapers never fully dries. This makes sense because whenever I read a newspaper, my hands are covered in black afterward.

Supposedly this ink, if ingested by hamsters in large quantities, is poisonous. The ink is injested when my hamster chews on the newspaper. She chews the already small pieces of newspaper into tiny shreds to make a nest of sorts.

Is it true that the ink is poisonous or is this another unfounded rumour?

I ran out to the pet store today to buy bedding that is made out of recycled wood. It has a consistency similar to restroom paper towels (the brown ones). It’s really cheap and is much softer than newspaper, so regardless of the answer to my question, I’ll most likely just stick with that.

Another rumour of a similar nature is that cedar chips cause cancer in hamsters. But then again, my friend heard this from the same vet that told her newspaper is the safest bedding for a hamster…

2

Here are three sites which all recommend against using printed newspaper for hamster bedding. While the ink may not be strictly poisonous, it certainly isn’t healthy.

And, according to this site, cedar bedding may cause skin irritation, allergies, or lung problems, but there is no mention of it causing cancer.

3

Finch summed it up much better than I could have. On a personal basis, I’ve found that the pine shaving type bedding is the best. Cheap, easy to clean, and covers odors pretty well. And since my last hamster was almost 4 before heading to the great big wheel in the sky, I’m sticking with it.

4

Actually, the last site I linked to mentions that pine shavings, while not as bad as cedar, can still be bad news. They recommend aspen or other hardwoods.

5

This page from the aforementioned site goes into more detail regarding the problems with cedar and pine beddings.

6

And this site deals specifically with pine (while also mentioning in passing that one should avoid cedar shavings because of “increased incidence of respiratory problems, including pneumonia, and suspected links to various forms of cancer.”

So, there may be something to the cedar -> cancer thing after all.

7

Note, however, that many newspapers have switched to soy-based inks, which are claimed to be non-toxic (to humans, anyway).

8

I’m askin’ Finch next time I have a question. :smiley:

I can only speak from my own experience about the pine bedding. I’ve had some very long lived hammies, with little to no health problems. Take it as you will.