Product Review: Lifemate Hemp Bedding for Small Animals

Last August, after visiting with my little sister and falling in love with her adorable pet hamster Snowflake, my brother (who is also my roommate) and I decided that we could also provide a good home for a hamster. Since I'm an animal rights activist, going out and buying a hamster was not an option, but we found a small animal rescue organization and adopted a cute little hamster named Peter. We had never had a small animal before, so we had to go out and buy all new supplies, including a cage, water bottles, and bedding for the cage.

The rescue organization had warned us about the dangers of cedar and pine-based bedding, as both of these woods are very aromatic and would irritate our hamster's sensitive respiratory system. They recommended using recycled newspaper-based bedding, however the bidding was gray and clumpy and just looked dirty and unattractive. I set out to do some research on alternate bedding materials that could be used in small animal cages, and I came across a product called Lifemate Hemp Bedding for Small Animals.

The Lifemate Bedding is made from hemp, which is a plant in the same category at the marijuana plant, but without the THC content which is what makes people get high when they smoke pot. Hemp is an extremely environmentally material...it is completely renewable, takes very little water or fertilizer to grow, and biodegrades very quickly once it is thrown away. The Lifemate Hemp bedding has been treated to remove the aromatic oils so it is fragrance-free, and it has a very similar appearance to small wood chips, which is much better than clumps of dirty, gray recycled newspaper.

We decided to pick up a couple of bags of Lifemate Hemp Bedding for Small Animals to see how our hamster would like it. Each bag cost us $8.99, which was a couple dollars more than the other bedding products that were available, but not expensive by any means. As soon as we put the new hemp bedding in Peter's cage, he went crazy...burrowing through it and piling it into the corner to make his nest more comfortable. It was quite clear that he really liked the Lifemate Bedding.

On the down side, the small pieces of the Lifemate Bedding were much easier for the hamster to kick out of the cage than the recycled newspaper bedding, so more time cleaning around Peter's cage was required. Also, although the Lifemate Hemp Bedding definitely absorbed some of the hamster urine, it had a tendency to form soggy clumps so we had to change the bedding in the hamster cage more often than with other bedding products.

Overall, we have been very pleased with Lifemate Hemp Bedding for Small Animals. We have a large hamster cage that we clean regularly, and one bag of Lifemate Bedding will last for several months. We like the fact that it is environmentally friendly and won't harm our hamster like pine and cedar shavings might. We have occasionally been able to find the Lifemate Bedding at our local pet store, however it is much easier to find online so we usually end up ordering it on the internet. The Lifemate Bedding keeps our hamster cage looking nice and is a very affordable option. If you have a hamster, mouse, rat, rabbit, or other small animal, you may want to give Lifemate Hemp Bedding for Small Animals a try...it really is a great product!