Sleeping in unusual places

[Shadow Cat]

Hi all

My syrian has two enclosed houses in her cage that she regularly sleeps in, but today I've noticed she's sleeping in a different corner of her cage underneath loads of paper bedding. I've never noticed her do this before, and I'm wondering if it's something I should be concerned about. Is she unhappy with her houses for some reason? Should I give them a thorough clean out? She does tend to pee in her houses and I do spot clean and replace damp bedding regularly but maybe I should replace all the bedding inside them? If it's something to do with temperature, that she's too cold now it's coming up to winter here, I would think it would be warmer inside a house instead of out in the open.

Any advice would be appreciated. If I'm worrying for nothing please let me know that too!

[LunaTheHamster1]

I don't think you need to worry as long as your hamster is acting as she normally does, i.e. still active on her wheel, eating, drinking etc.

Had you just cleaned the houses recently?

Maybe she doesn't like the spot cleaning, how often do you do it?

Do they have a base to the house?

[Shadow Cat]

I last spot cleaned one of the houses probably 2 days ago. I don't spot clean every day, though I admit I'm unsure of how often you should clean their nests when they pee in there. I don't spot clean both houses on the same day ever, I alternate every few days so one always smells as she would expect.

Neither house has a base. One of them is ceramic and quite heavy so I place it on the base of the cage as I'm worried it might hurt her if I put it on top of the bedding and she tries to tunnel underneath. The other is the house that comes with the Barney cage, it's quite large and deep and also filled with bedding.

She was running on her wheel last night.

I was going to do a full cage clean tonight (well, not full. I know to mix some old bedding with the new to not stress them out) as it's been a few months since I did a deep clean but perhaps I shouldn't in case she is already stressed for some reason.

I'm probbaly worrying for no reason. They're odd little creatures, hamsters! Half the time I don't understand what she's doing or why!

[Engel]

Originally Posted by Shadow Cat

I last spot cleaned one of the houses probably 2 days ago. I don't spot clean every day, though I admit I'm unsure of how often you should clean their nests when they pee in there. I don't spot clean both houses on the same day ever, I alternate every few days so one always smells as she would expect.

Neither house has a base. One of them is ceramic and quite heavy so I place it on the base of the cage as I'm worried it might hurt her if I put it on top of the bedding and she tries to tunnel underneath. The other is the house that comes with the Barney cage, it's quite large and deep and also filled with bedding.

She was running on her wheel last night.

I was going to do a full cage clean tonight (well, not full. I know to mix some old bedding with the new to not stress them out) as it's been a few months since I did a deep clean but perhaps I shouldn't in case she is already stressed for some reason.

I'm probbaly worrying for no reason. They're odd little creatures, hamsters! Half the time I don't understand what she's doing or why!

I don't clean houses unless they need it. Have you tried leaving it a week rather than a few days?

I don't really deep clean or do the 1/3 old bedding 2/3 new bedding or whatever ratios people use, I just remove what is soiled and only add new when it looks depleted

Ghosts last 'deep clean' was June as he reacted to the bedding I was using so removed everything and put fresh paper bedding which I normally use. Only added a bit of fresh a few days ago as it was a bit low. So that's 4 months? Sounds bad but he's pretty clean and it isn't dirty so I fail to see the point. Also ghost is a stressy lil guy unlike my robo who doesn't care as long there's food

I'd only clean where it's soiled and replace of needed. No need for a massive clean. Do you use any sprays or disinfectants? If you do she may not like them. My Lilith would throw a fit and squeak at me if I did so I just use unfragranced, washing up liquid and water.

Also some hamsters just like to make a crater in the corner

[Shadow Cat]

She pees in her nests so I clean them more often than I would really like, but she's never seemed to mind too much before. The only cleaning solution I use is diluted white vinegar.

[spookymulder]

Originally Posted by Engel

Also some hamsters just like to make a crater in the corner

That is what mine does, a lot. Right now she is sleeping in the corner behind the wheel on top of bedding (where it's not even an inch deep). Before that she was in the opposite corner under bedding and sleeping on top of the glass under about 6-8" of bedding.

The other week she was sleeping in the "house" but generally seems to prefer corners on top of the glass.

Also is peeing in the corner opposite the one she's sleeping in right now.