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Pebbles82 · 09-20-2018, 03:39 AM

It's all been said really and I am so very sorry you have had such an awful time. Get a bottle of Beaphar deep clean disinfectant for Rodents (it was recommended to my by our vet when needing to do a thorough clean). It is safe for pets. Pet shops usually sell it or it's on Amazon (link below). It smells quite pleasant. However generally you wouldn't want to use this or any other disinfectant or cleaner regularly- because it can affect hamsters respiratory tracts and stress them plus the scent is too strong for them (their sense of smell is much more powerful than ours). For general cleans just a warm damp cloth is fine or washing up liquid in water and a good rinse. But also generally, cleanouts should be minimal and not weekly. Spot cleaning for a number of weeks is fine - and don't clean everything at the same time or nothing is left smelling familiar to the hamster of their own scent, which causes stress. They are really quite clean little creatures and choose a spot as a toilet and will use a litter tray.

Anyway in this case, you have had illness on more than one occasion so as Souffle says you need to give everything a good clean and I can recommend the Beaphar. I did my cage in the bath so I could spray every little nook and cranny and make sure all the bars are covered by wiping them with a cloth after spraying it on them. Leave it for half an hour or so and then rinse it all off thoroughly (I did that with the shower hose in the bath or you can fill the bath up with water to rinse it all off. You might need to do the base and the bars separately, one at a time depending on the size of the cage and how easily it fits in the bath!

Any plastic or ceramic cage contents can also be disinfected and rinsed well with the beaphar. But I would throw away anything wood as Souffle said, and also the water bottle. Also any chews etc should be thrown away. I would even get a new bag of food (you may have transferred something on your hands from the cage to the food bag). And a new bag of bedding.

I think they usually recommend two or three weeks after cage disinfection before putting another hamster in - if you have a sunny day you could also leave the cage outside to air after disinfecting. Fresh air also helps disinfect and will speed up the removal of any scent left behind.

Give the area the cage was in a good clean as well - but just hoovering and a wipe with a cleaning wipe should be fine (detox wipes kill most things).

You would have a lovely healthy well bred hamster from Tristar! They are very good breeders. If they haven't any available in the next month you could maybe adopt a hamster from a rescue where they'll have been looked after well and any illnesses will have been treated.

Water bottles aren't easy to disinfect - the plastic is thin and there are lots of little moving parts and metal that could go funny wiht the disinfectant so it is better to get a new one - I'd get a 75ml mouse bottle - a Ferplast Drinky one if you can - I find they're the ones that work best andthe Ferplast drinky comes with a little holder to attach to the bars.

While you're at it, it's a good idea to see if your cage is suitable! A lot of the time pet shops sell a cage that is too small or not suitable for a Syrian. So if your cage isn't quite right and you also got that from Pets at home I would take that back to them and ask for a refund after it's disinfected.

Zooplus have a good range of Hamster cages that are suitable for a Syrian and the Alaska cage is a good basic cage for a Syrian (and cheaper than a lot of the unsuitable ones!) That or the Barney and Alexander cages, if you have space. I'll add the link for those too. You would also need a Syrian sized wheel if you don't have one - most cages come with a tiny wheel only good for small dwarf hamsters. Zooplus also sell the 28cm Trixie wheel which is a good basic wheel.

You can buy bedding in bulk packs as well to save on the cost as the larger cages take a lot of bedding to begin with (needs to be at least 4" deep) but then as you don't need to do clean outs very often it lasts a lot longer.

When you do get another hamster, the usual advice is leave them alone in the cage for 2 to 3 days without disturbing anything, to allow them to settle in and scent mark. Not doing so would not cause the death of a hamster though - it would just stress them out and make them bar bite or aggressive probably. So it is nothing you have done - it sounds like they weren't healthy to start with.

It takes about 2 weeks for a hamster to be fully settled and relaxed in a cage in a new environment with no cleaning during that time or changing things around - other than spot cleaning a handful of pee'd on substrate - but if you use a litter tray you just need to empty that every 5 days or so. Adding a new toy etc is usually accepted as long as it doesnt mean moving everything else around!

So it can help to have chance to get the cage set up just right now you are having to wait a bit for another hamster and you'll get plenty of help on here as to what works with set ups etc and what kind of things are good or bad buys for hamsters

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beaphar-Dee...r+disinfectant

https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small...r_cages/284288

https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small...r_cages/189303

https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small...r_cages/174238

https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small..._wheels/174195

The Alaska cage needs a house as well (the little white cat house has holes that are too small for syrians plus it's rubbish as a house as not open underneath - it's best taken out. But you can just use something like a shoe box as a house/nexting box - with a hole cut in for a door and the base cut out so it's open underneath and sat on the substrate (they like to bury their hoards under their nest and burrow down to keep warm so it helps them have natural behaviours). There are also some nice wood houses to buy that are open underneath but a shoe box or cardboard tissue box is a cheap option!

09-20-2018, 03:39 AM
Pebbles82 Hamster Antics Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 23,533	Re: My hamster died suddenly :,( It's all been said really and I am so very sorry you have had such an awful time. Get a bottle of Beaphar deep clean disinfectant for Rodents (it was recommended to my by our vet when needing to do a thorough clean). It is safe for pets. Pet shops usually sell it or it's on Amazon (link below). It smells quite pleasant. However generally you wouldn't want to use this or any other disinfectant or cleaner regularly- because it can affect hamsters respiratory tracts and stress them plus the scent is too strong for them (their sense of smell is much more powerful than ours). For general cleans just a warm damp cloth is fine or washing up liquid in water and a good rinse. But also generally, cleanouts should be minimal and not weekly. Spot cleaning for a number of weeks is fine - and don't clean everything at the same time or nothing is left smelling familiar to the hamster of their own scent, which causes stress. They are really quite clean little creatures and choose a spot as a toilet and will use a litter tray. Anyway in this case, you have had illness on more than one occasion so as Souffle says you need to give everything a good clean and I can recommend the Beaphar. I did my cage in the bath so I could spray every little nook and cranny and make sure all the bars are covered by wiping them with a cloth after spraying it on them. Leave it for half an hour or so and then rinse it all off thoroughly (I did that with the shower hose in the bath or you can fill the bath up with water to rinse it all off. You might need to do the base and the bars separately, one at a time depending on the size of the cage and how easily it fits in the bath! Any plastic or ceramic cage contents can also be disinfected and rinsed well with the beaphar. But I would throw away anything wood as Souffle said, and also the water bottle. Also any chews etc should be thrown away. I would even get a new bag of food (you may have transferred something on your hands from the cage to the food bag). And a new bag of bedding. I think they usually recommend two or three weeks after cage disinfection before putting another hamster in - if you have a sunny day you could also leave the cage outside to air after disinfecting. Fresh air also helps disinfect and will speed up the removal of any scent left behind. Give the area the cage was in a good clean as well - but just hoovering and a wipe with a cleaning wipe should be fine (detox wipes kill most things). You would have a lovely healthy well bred hamster from Tristar! They are very good breeders. If they haven't any available in the next month you could maybe adopt a hamster from a rescue where they'll have been looked after well and any illnesses will have been treated. Water bottles aren't easy to disinfect - the plastic is thin and there are lots of little moving parts and metal that could go funny wiht the disinfectant so it is better to get a new one - I'd get a 75ml mouse bottle - a Ferplast Drinky one if you can - I find they're the ones that work best andthe Ferplast drinky comes with a little holder to attach to the bars. While you're at it, it's a good idea to see if your cage is suitable! A lot of the time pet shops sell a cage that is too small or not suitable for a Syrian. So if your cage isn't quite right and you also got that from Pets at home I would take that back to them and ask for a refund after it's disinfected. Zooplus have a good range of Hamster cages that are suitable for a Syrian and the Alaska cage is a good basic cage for a Syrian (and cheaper than a lot of the unsuitable ones!) That or the Barney and Alexander cages, if you have space. I'll add the link for those too. You would also need a Syrian sized wheel if you don't have one - most cages come with a tiny wheel only good for small dwarf hamsters. Zooplus also sell the 28cm Trixie wheel which is a good basic wheel. You can buy bedding in bulk packs as well to save on the cost as the larger cages take a lot of bedding to begin with (needs to be at least 4" deep) but then as you don't need to do clean outs very often it lasts a lot longer. When you do get another hamster, the usual advice is leave them alone in the cage for 2 to 3 days without disturbing anything, to allow them to settle in and scent mark. Not doing so would not cause the death of a hamster though - it would just stress them out and make them bar bite or aggressive probably. So it is nothing you have done - it sounds like they weren't healthy to start with. It takes about 2 weeks for a hamster to be fully settled and relaxed in a cage in a new environment with no cleaning during that time or changing things around - other than spot cleaning a handful of pee'd on substrate - but if you use a litter tray you just need to empty that every 5 days or so. Adding a new toy etc is usually accepted as long as it doesnt mean moving everything else around! So it can help to have chance to get the cage set up just right now you are having to wait a bit for another hamster and you'll get plenty of help on here as to what works with set ups etc and what kind of things are good or bad buys for hamsters https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beaphar-Dee...r+disinfectant https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small...r_cages/284288 https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small...r_cages/189303 https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small...r_cages/174238 https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small..._wheels/174195 The Alaska cage needs a house as well (the little white cat house has holes that are too small for syrians plus it's rubbish as a house as not open underneath - it's best taken out. But you can just use something like a shoe box as a house/nexting box - with a hole cut in for a door and the base cut out so it's open underneath and sat on the substrate (they like to bury their hoards under their nest and burrow down to keep warm so it helps them have natural behaviours). There are also some nice wood houses to buy that are open underneath but a shoe box or cardboard tissue box is a cheap option!