Help! Stinky Cage!

tornadoknight · 08-19-2011, 06:22 AM

Heya everyone,

My daughter has a new mom & dad Siberian Hamsters that had babies a couple of weeks ago. We have read that we aren't supposed to disturb nesting in the cage durring this time. But the cage has really been stinking. It really could use a good cleaning. My daughter has to keep her cage in the kitchen at night because it smells her room up so much. It's hard to get close to the cage to watch them play because it is so stinky.

Help! Can we clean anything? I would think we would have to worry about them getting sick with all their poo and old pee on everything.

Thanks,

Matt

samincittagazze · 08-19-2011, 08:01 AM

How many days old exactly are the babies? If they are past two weeks, all their eyes are open and they are running about, you should be able to clean them out, just make sure you put some of the old bedding back in so it smells familiar to them.

You might want to think about separating the male adult out very soon. Mum can get pregnant again straight after having one litter, and at four weeks old you need to separate the babies into male and female groups else they'll start interbreeding with each other. I hope this helps for a quick start, there are many very experienced breeders on here who will be along shortly with more detailed information for you I'm sure.

LoveMyHams · 08-19-2011, 08:01 AM

Are the babies up and walking around yet? If they are you can get in there to clean. Otherwise you can try to carefully spot clean the potty corner without disturbing the nest. Are the mom and dad still in the same cage? Dad should be removed or you'll have a second litter.

Read through this thread, it will have a lot of good information for you:
My Syrian just had babies!!

tornadoknight · 08-19-2011, 08:39 AM

Ack!

Nope. I had read that Sibean Hamster males make good "dads", so we have left him in the cage. He has been taking care of the babies well. Whats funny is the mom has some of them in her nest and the dad has some in his nest.

When I checked them last evening. All the babies don't have their eyes open yet. Some do make their way out of their nesting areas. But the parents grab them and put them back.

Matt

LoveMyHams · 08-19-2011, 09:09 AM

Aww, they're pretty big then

Some hamsters are great dads, but unless you want another litter he's got to go. I'm sure that having him up to this point has benefited the little ones. Once they have their eyes open take some pictures for us!
You would be ok to spot clean the cage at this point, just avoid the nests.

tornadoknight · 08-19-2011, 09:53 AM

Hmmm. Now that I think about it. The babies are tunnelling around the bottom of the cage. We see the parents running around, doing their thing on the top of the wood chips. Then we see the wood chips moving around (going up and down here and there) in different areas, away from the nest. So the babies are digging/tunnelling around a bit.

Gillzy · 08-19-2011, 10:44 AM

Have a read on here there is plenty of (reliable) information about surprise litters. At what ages things should happen etc. From what I've read it does get pretty stinky, and it's bound to be worse since you have dad in there too.

How exciting, the babies will be coming out to play any day now.

Are they dwarves or syrian hamsters? (dunno if you might be saying siberian instead of syrian, although there are "siberian" dwarves commonly known as russian campbells or winter whites)

**Hamtastic** · 08-19-2011, 11:03 AM

How great of the dad to be so helpful

I'd separate him soon (perhaps add the boys from the litter to his cage once they are old enough for weaning), because mom can become pregnant again, and it'd be tough on her to have another litter so soon.

While they are all still living together, I'd avoid a thorough clean and just maybe clean partially to keep some of their familiar smells in there (I know, it's stinky... but not for too long now!)

tornadoknight · 08-19-2011, 11:48 AM

@ Gillzy,

The closest pic I can find online of what they look like is here. We bought them at a local Earl May Center. And they had them listed as Siberian Hamsters. I'm guessing that they are "Dwarf" Siberian Hamsters. They appear to be smaller than a number of other types of hamsters iv'e seen online.

http://welcometoillinois.files.wordp...10/hamster.jpg

I'm a newbie with taking care of this type of Hamster. I did have a couple when I was young with my sister. But most of that experience has been lost to the ages.

Matt

LoveMyHams · 08-19-2011, 11:56 AM

That looks like a dwarf.
Good luck with the babies!