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11-15-2017, 12:19 PM
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#1
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Newborn Pup
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1
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Potty Training? Help.
Hi guys, I'm new to Hamster Central and also a first time hamster owner.
I've noticed that my little hamster Nibbles is using the toilet in her current house/bed (She isn't peeing in there from what I can tell, she only seems to be pooping in there). She is 4 months old I don't know whether that's relevant to this but I thought I should mention it. Is there any way I can stop her from pooping in her bed? If so, how can I do it seeing as I don't want to take her bed/house out of the cage. Also, are dwarf hamsters harder to potty train?
Many thanks!
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11-15-2017, 08:08 PM
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#2
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Hamster Antics
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
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Re: Potty Training? Help.
Hi there. I wouldn't worry about the poops in her bed - she's probably hoarding them - they eat them sometimes for extra vitamins (they have two stomachs and can redigest vitamins and nutrients from the poops). The poops aren't dirty or smelly - like little hard seeds, so I would leave them unless they start over-running the cage and then just spot clean to take some out (taking the odd handful of substrate out and replacing it then mix it in so it still smells familiar).
They tend to wee in a potty and poop anywhere, but usually in the nest or hoard area. I think dwarf hamsters are a bit harder to toilet train - I've only had Syrians until recently.
But a sand bath can double up as a toilet. Dwarf hammies need a sand bath anyway - any kind of dish with chinchilla bathing sand in - if it's near the house she might use it as a toilet as well. If she's not peeing in her nest I would leave it - they get quite upset at their nest being taken away. If it is pee'd in and needs removing then try and leave a bit of it behind that isn't wet - even if it's whiffy - and put out a big new pile of torn up strips of plain white toilet paper somewhere in the cage (not in the house - they like to forage for it, pouch it and then take it to the house to rebuild the nest).
If she's quite new she'll take a while to settle into some habits so I shouldn't worry. Don't overclean at first as it makes them pee on things more, to scent mark their cage in case there have been intruders! In fact usually it's advised not to clean anything for the first two weeks while they're adjusting to the cage and scent marking to find their way around.
We have a new Robo and I have no idea where he pees - so I just leave the cage until it's whiffy and then do a good spot clean of the substrate. It's a good idea to only replace half the substrate when you do a clean - replace the clean half and mix it in with new. The deeper it is the less you need to remove/replace each time.
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11-16-2017, 10:09 AM
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#3
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Adult Hamster
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 319
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Re: Potty Training? Help.
Poop isn't really anything to worry about. It is close to smell-less in hamsters and doesn't carry much bacteria.
__________________
RIP Simon, Syril, Mila, Kylo Ren
Currently a slave to the beautiful two unnamed roborovski girls
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hamster, potty, pooping, stop, relevant, thought, mention, dwarf, cage, hamsters, harder, train, bed/house, bed, time, owner, noticed, central, training, guys, months, peeing, nibbles, toilet, current |
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