This litter tray is a good size for a Syrian and fits in a corner. They are quite clean tidy little things really. Ours have always pee'd in the very back corner (where it's higher so it doesn't spray) and then sat in the front part to have a wash. If you put the potty litter tray in their chosen pee place they will use it, but if you put it anywhere else they won't! I get the chinchilla sand from Viovet and get two at a time to save on postage. One carton lasts me months though.
When you first put the potty in with sand, spot clean the toilet area first (take a couple of handfuls of stinky stuff out and put a couple of new handfuls in and mix it in a bit - doesn't matter if it's slightly whiffy but means they still know it's their pee corner) save a little bit of the smelly substrate and put it on top of the sand - it encourages them to start using it and so they know it's still their toilet area.
It makes life a lot easier when they're potty trained! Both for you and the hamster. They often like messing about with the substrate themselves anyway - our last Syrian actually cleaned his own house out once. I found a pile of slightly whiffy substrate in front of the door and a big hole in the middle down to the cage base. He'd taken all the old stuff out and put new in. The old stuff was there for me to take away I assume! I don't think that's a common thing but he was quite a character! They often like to move it around or make into piles (there might be a hoard underneath) or pile it up against the house if they feel a bit cold. So I like to let them do their own housekeeping as much as possible
Bottle drips can make substrate go a bit funny though so I have the bottle over the shelf with a tile under it that soaks up any drips.
A lot of people paint the wood shelf and the inside of the house with plastikote to waterproof it and so it's wipe clean. Or you can put hemp mat on the shelf instead of painting it.
It's pet safe and water based - you just paint a thin coat on with a normal small paint brush. Two coats is a good idea. Not compulsory though! I think it's a good idea to protect the shelf as you can't get replacements, whereas you can replace a house. Occasionally they do have accidents and pee in the nest and the house can get stained. I've only found this with baby hamsters really - they get better control and habits as they get older. You can just scrub the wood under a tap though.
None of our hamsters has actually pee'd on the shelf though but it has had water drip staining before.
It comes in different colours but this is the clear version.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plastikote-...stikote+enamel
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamster-cor...=hamster+potty
https://www.viovet.co.uk/Supreme-Sci...gaAtBcEALw_wcB