Chinese clean-out`s...how often?

[racinghamster]

My chinese female Prinny resides in a Gabber Rex tank. Now since I have had her, I have just been spot cleaning and adding a few fresh handfulls of Aubiose. The aubiose is around three inches deep or slightly more as she likes to dig tunnels and construct holes! :mad: Not I hate disturbing her handywork and I`m not one for doing these full-weekly cage cleans, so wondered what the best solution is here?

Do I keep doing what I`m doing and just keep taking away some old aubiose and adding fresh, or should I do a full cage clean at least every two weeks/once a month?

She is a clean wee girl and does`nt smell, which is why I`m reluctant to keep disturbing her construction plans! If I lift something out, she sits in the hole as if to say...."where did my box go?!!!" :mad: She likes to follow me around and takes little seed treats from my hand.

So...what`s the best way to deal with chinese hamster clean-outs? What do you guys tend to do?

[mangoandmimi]

once a month seems not enough to me, but i clean bamboo out once a fortnight, i jsut dont think once a week is necessary especially when you end up destroying their tunnels :mad: plus putting in a few inches of bedding into a big cage each week is pricey ^_^x

[racinghamster]

Thanks for replying mango. Yes, the fortnightly clean sounds about right. I usually let my eyes and my nose lead me! :mad: I suppose it also depends on how clean the hamster tends to be. Prinny is quite a clean little lady, although she does pee in her wheel, this gets cleaned every three days or so.

[SnickersTheFirst]

I do it once a fortnight as that's when Bailey's cage starts to smell but I still use half of his old bedding anyway. :)

[Vectis Hamstery]

My lot also get cleaned out fortnightly. They have on occasion gone to 3 weeks without being too bad but my healthy Chinese don't have wet corners/toilet areas so it makes spot cleaning difficult. Only a couple of mine use the cardboard tube like racinghamster's Prinny - my girls seem to prefer destroying them! My diabetics do have wet corners, and get spot cleans every 1-3 days depending on how much they are drinking (lots of sugary urine can result in mould if not removed :( ). They have full cleans weekly or their cages become horrible.

[Hamtastic]

I don't have a chinese, but all my girls love digging and making tunnels, and I clean everything out every 2 weeks (due to all the poo accumulating at the bottom and such...). It seems like a good time for the bedding to start looking pretty drab. I spot clean daily what I can find.

[racinghamster]

Thanks for your input everyone. Vectis, my Prinny loves chewing the toilet roll tubes aswell but she always seems to go to the same one when she need a pee! :mad: I`ll go with the two week routine and do as you do Snickers and keep back half the substrate because I like to keep some of her scent. I do the same with Boris my syrian.

[fluffymunchkins]

Just thought I'd add my input :)
Bacardi is a typical smelly lad, although a full clean out fortnightly seems fine. He does however have the wheel and the mug (which has become his toilet) cleaned out every few days.

[racinghamster]

:mad: No doubt if I gave Prinny a mug or a jar she would soon test it out as her loo aswell! :mad:

[ashari]

i hope you dont mind me asking but what do chineses cages smell like?do they smell more or less like a syrian?

[racinghamster]

Not too bad actually ashari. I can`t say she `smells` as such, but she does have a slight odour. Not as bad as my Roborovskis had though, they DID have a pungent kind of smell. :mad: I suppose if you had one who developed diabetes they would pee more? But otherwise they are pretty good.

[alisont]

At first I cleaned Dudley every week but then realised there was no smell or damp areas in the megazorb so now it's every 10-14 days. Only bit I clean inbetween is his silent spinner as that seems to get a bit smelly/wet - I clean that every 3 days. Dudley seems to be a very clean boy.

[zany_toon]

Not too bad actually ashari. I can`t say she `smells` as such, but she does have a slight odour. Not as bad as my Roborovskis had though, they DID have a pungent kind of smell. :mad: I suppose if you had one who developed diabetes they would pee more? But otherwise they are pretty good.

Lucky you - Harry reeks :lol: Although it might just be because i've never had a hammy before and I'm comparing him to male mice :lol:

[ashari]

zany_toon - so does your male Chinese smell more than male mice?this is something im a little worried about as i used to have male mice and my mam hated there smell (i didn't mind there smell tbh) and complained continuously about it :( my mam doesn't mind my Syrian and hasn't complained about any wiffyness but i might not be able to get a Chinese if they smell more than male mice :(

[Vectis Hamstery]

I have never had mice, so can't compare, but visitors often comment how my living room (which doubles as a hamstery!) does not smell. I have 13 Chinese hamsters in here, plus 2 syrians and a robo. The female syrian smells more when she is in heat then any of my chineseys :)

[zany_toon]

zany_toon - so does your male Chinese smell more than male mice?this is something im a little worried about as i used to have male mice and my mam hated there smell (i didn't mind there smell tbh) and complained continuously about it :( my mam doesn't mind my Syrian and hasn't complained about any wiffyness but i might not be able to get a Chinese if they smell more than male mice :(

No he doesn't smell more than the mice, it's just that I'm not used to the smell so I notice it right away :) I've only ever had mice and Harry is my first hamster, his smell is quite different to theirs so it stands it (to me anyway :) ) No one else in my house notices the smell from the mice or Harry so i don't think it is anything to worry about :) They definitely don't smell more than male mice. It's just taking a while to get used to the smell after 2 and a half years of having only mice around :)

[ashari]

vectis - thats good to know!i was really worried for a moment there:) my female syrian smells different when shes in heat but its not too bad and my lovely mother hasnt complained about it lol.id just be so upset if i finally got my lovely chinese and had my mam complaining about smells constantly.its actually one of the reasons i cant keep mice anymore because of there smell :(

[ashari]

zany_toon - aww good!i was a bit worried there,its just my mam you see lol.i really wish i could move out then i could have all the smelly animals i wanted hehe! :)

[zany_toon]

zany_toon - aww good!i was a bit worried there,its just my mam you see lol.i really wish i could move out then i could have all the smelly animals i wanted hehe! :)

With me it's my sister that moans about the animals :lol: She didn't even notice Harry but notices the mice :lol: I only notice Harry because he is so different to the mousie smell that I love (and I tend to notice new mice right away too, they have a totally different smell :oops:)

[Jasmine]

My female Chinese doesn't really smell at all and she's cleaned out every 1 1/2 to 2 weeks and is in a Micky Max XL cage.:)

[racinghamster]

I would say there is no comparison to the smell of mice ashari and I know that smell all too well! :mad: If it`s any help, I`ve just stuck my head into Prinny`s Gabber Rex and quite honestly, it just smells like a mix of aubiose and a little sweet? Not unpleasant at all. ;) She does have an obvious `scent`, but it`s nothing like that of the fishy male mouse pee!!! :mad: I think it`s quite pleasant actually. Not anymore unusual than a syrian if I`m honest.

Mums eh?!!!

[Nikorusama]

Well I do know a lot of the people on the german forums don't clean their tanks out more than once a month! They put a LOT of substrate and effort into creating a natural landscaped environment and I asked what they did about cleaning and lots of them said that their hamsters never soil their bedding and that they are potty trained. Most of them use 2 or 3 chamber houses and in one chamber they have a ceramic dish for the potty! They say they just clean this. I tried it with my robo and she just kept peeing down the side of the house. Perhaps german hamsters have better manners and are more well behaved LOL

[racinghamster]

:mad: That`s very interesting. Deeper substrate does help because it also means you can remove some of it and add back some fresh without actually needing to do a full tip-out and fill with fresh each time you do a clean. This is what I prefer to do.

[Debbie]

Mouse was also a very clean little lady and peed in the same corner and mostly pooped in the sand or just outside her house! I used a deep substrate and would spot clean every few days but only did a major complete clean out about every 3-4 weeks but even then I only took out about half the substrate. She would always take her fresh food to a particular box and not put it with her dry food hoard so I knew where to look to make sure there wasn't any there long term. Such a clever little thing!
Both the syrians have decided to pee in their Alexanders inside the 'house' the goes all the way across one end - and both have decided to pee up against the wood instead of in the plastic corner of the cage! I wonder if it is something to do with them liking their privacy? I shall try to put a container in the 'house' and see if they'll pee in that!