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Old 08-19-2019, 03:38 PM  
Pebbles82
Hamster Antics
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: Could Luna have had babies???

Some baby hamsters are very scared at first and hide away. They do like to build big nests as well! It's usually recommended not to clean out for the first two weeks while they are settling in the cage and familiarising - so if you have done that may have stressed her a bit. Best to just "spot clean" mostly - ie the pee area. Full cage cleans aren't necessary or weekly. You can spot clean the pee area or use a litter tray and providing you have enough substrate in the cage (3 to 4" deep minimum) should go quite a long time doing this. Don't worry about poops - they aren't dirty or smelly -more like seeds and sometimes they eat them for extra nutrients (which is normal).

Then it's best to just do partial cleans - eg substrate one week, wheel a different week, any toys a different week again. It's also good to keep back some of the old substrate that is clean and spread it on top of the new. That way something always smells familiar andthey are less stressed by it. They do find cleanouts very stressful because they scent mark everything to make it theirs and to find their way around.

They are particularly fussy about their nest and hoards and can develop abnormal behaviours if those are removed - like peeing on the hoard. Those can be left if they aren't pee'd in - for quite a long time. if you do have to remove any hoard or nest because it's pee'd in, always try and leave a little bit of old nest and dry hoard behind and add new food in exactly the same place. And put a pile of torn up strips of plain white toilet paper in the cage so she can rebuild her nest.
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