Odor and different hamster breeds

[critterguy]

Anyone have any thoughts as to different hamster species smelling better/worse?

Roborovskis urine is much more concentrated-so you would figure if any one species was the least smelly this would be it.

Would love any observations on this. Particularly Campbells vs Roborovski hamsters.

I assume a diabetic Campbells would smell much worse-haha.

[velma]

Hi! Is there a particular reason why you're asking! Do you have a poorly ham or are you trying to decide who to get?
I have to say, it's not something I've ever thought of! I think some female Syrians can smell quite strongly when they are in heat (but mine doesn't) and I'd say out of my robo and my Syrian my robo smells more. That could because he pees in his wheel or on cardboard rolls and in his substrate not in his sand (so the smell isn't absorbing as much), whereas my Syrian has a sand jar she pees in. But then again it could be because my robo is in a small cage (he can't cope with big spaces) so his cage smells quicker? But then he gets cleaned more often so I don't know
Anyway, welcome to HC

[cypher]

I'm curious why you ask too!
Never had a robo but none of my russian hybrid hams have been smelly, maybe my little girl give off a little scent now & then but on the whole I don't notice smells at all, even my Chinese who insisted on peeing in her nest, peed a lot (diabetic & kidney problems) rarely smelled bad.
If you can littler train a ham it always helps.

[Jeir]

In my experience:
- Female Syrians smell. A lot. Owned two female Syrians. Decided to only get boys after the last one.
- Male Syrians don't really smell of anything much. Mine usually smell of whatever they've been recently cuddled in (e.g. my clothing, their nest) or of their natural scent, which makes me think of honey for some reason. Owned six male Syrians.
- Male hybrids and Roborovskis have strong smelling scent. Can't really describe it, but it's not too unpleasant. Owned one male hybrid and three Roborovskis.
- Female hybrids and Roborovskis barely smell of anything. To me they have a sort of musty sweetness that makes me think a little of mushrooms. Owned two female hybrids and one Roborovski.
- Never owned a Chinese or pure-bred WW/Campbells hamster, so can't comment on those.
- Hamsters that aren't potty trained have smellier cages than those who are. Both my current boys (Syrian and hybrid) are potty trained, while my girls (hybrid and Robo - both adopted when they were several months old.) are only semi-potty trained and still pee in their wheels.
- If a Robo pees on your skin, wash as soon as you can, else the smell will stay through a few washes. XD
- Chinchilla sand as potty litter is better than normal sand at keeping the smell down. As long as your hamster doesn't kick most of the sand out of the potty, anyway (damnit, Fluffy!).