Hamster freak out

[cooper and lily]

Every time I clean my dwarf hamster's cage he freaks out! I don't clean his toys on the same day I clean his cage and I always put some of his old bedding in his cage to make it smell familiar. I know it's normal for him to be a little on edge but is there any other ways to keep him calm or make him more comfortable. Thanks!

[Nancy's Hamsters]

Have you considered using a sand potty pan for him so you won't have need to full clean the cage but every 3-4 weeks? My dwarf Hamsters took very quickly to a potty and then all you need to change is the potty leaving his whole cage in one piece for much longer a time.

[Skeever]

Is he in or out of the cage when you clean it? I used to take mine out, now unless its just faster and easier, I do partial, and an occaisonal 95 percent full clean while they roam around supervising me mucking up their world. See what happens if you do a small partial clean while he's in the cage with you? My hams don't freak when they are in the middle of the out goes the old litter, oops, heres your stash, which we'll put here for you, and here is FRESH NO PEE STINK LITTER!!! and lots of of it....and some extra treats in the stash areas and a new toy or thingy for them to puzzle over or chew.......

[Thin Lizzy]

I'm the same as skeever, Mine like to watch me when I'm cleaning parts of their cages, Twinkle will nudge me with her nose or her bum if I spend too long on a certain spot. She's more relaxed afterwards. It's weird being supervised by my hammie but, it's her home and her rules lol!
Archie's more relaxed, he'll poke his head out several times and he'll climb on my hand when I've finished.
They both get special treat afterwards.
Try cleaning around him, let him be involved, this way he'll be more at ease.

[cypher]

How often do you clean the cage? If you do it too frequently that can cause them to get more upset, as Nancy says if you can get them to use a litter tray you only need to clean the cage about once a month or even less with some spot cleaning in between when needed.
Do you use anything to clean that might leave an unfamiliar smell in the cage as that would cause a bit of upset too.
Always keep some of the old nest & food hoard as well as some of the old substrate so there's still plenty of familiar smells in there.
I find mine do better if I take them out although I did have one who would just sleep through a whole cage clean so they do vary & you could try the different methods to see which works best for yours.