"Jill Tardivel" wrote in message
...
shaun wrote:
Hello all

I'm new to the forum! I have a question - Every week when I clean out
the kid's hamster, I wonder if there is any reason why I shouldn't put
the wood shavings etc on the compost heap.

Your thoughts?

Regards

Shaun



I asked this a few years ago - about Guinea pig bedding. We had a lot
of it. (If only our sexing of guinea pigs had been more accurate ...)

After reading the responses I set up a 'darlek' type compost bin mainly
for guinea pig bedding. I used to water it when it got dry and add
ammonium nitrate regularly. Took about two years for the bedding
(mainly wood shavings) to rot down to a nice light compost. I had to set
up a second bin as we had so much waste bedding.

We're now down to one guinea pig. The darlek compost is again about
ready to use. Because the stuff rots down in the darlek faster than in
the second, open bin, I plan to transfer all the second heap to the
darlek as soon as it becomes available.

Unless you've oodles of hampsters though, I'd just stir their bedding
into the general heap and throw in the odd handful of ammonium nitrate
if the heap begins to look as if it is mainly hampster bedding.

Jill T.
psst, there is no pee in hamster :-)