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Old 03-21-2019, 05:16 AM   #1
Ria P
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Henry the young hamster has lived with us for a week now and the reason he's doing so well is thanks to this site. Early this morning I cleaned his cage out for the first time but had done daily spot cleaning. It was the first time out of his cage and into his play den made from cardboard boxes and water bottle tubes. I expected him to hide away but Henry run around through the tubes into connecting boxes and pulled himself up to top box. At one point I had to cup my hands around him to lower him onto the ground because he was getting a bit carried away. He sniffed out the hidden bits of food and started digging frantically when his pouches were full. I guess he was loking for a place to hide his bounty so I put him back in his fresh cage with some of his old bedding. He wasn't phased by the new bedding etc and settled in his cottage. A few days ago he was a timid hamster who spent most of his time in his house but thanks to all the advice and information I got from this site he's blossoming in confidence and so am I, well not sure about the blossoming at my age but I'm certainly more confident.
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Old 03-22-2019, 10:08 AM   #2
mangoandmimi
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Glad all is going well. Since you've only had him a week you shouldn't be needing to do any cage cleans really, apart from maybe a couple of spot cleans a week (doesn't need to be daily). That's if the cage is a decent size (preferably over 100cm x 50cm) with enough bedding in (at least 6-8 inches deep preferably more). With a setup like that and a potty trained hamster you may be able to go 2-3 months between partial cleans, alongside regular spot cleans of course. Over cleaning is usually stressful for them and is likely to slow taming progress down so best make sure you're not doing that. I already said on your other thread about a multi compartment house which generally makes cage cleaning simpler.
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Old 03-22-2019, 11:28 AM   #3
Ria P
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I read that a hamster cage should be cleaned weekly in a book I bought? The wood shavings layer is ca 2 inch deep with paper flakes and tissue on top so I'd better put some more in when he's in his play pen. Not sure about the cage size and make. I got it at Pets at Home and it was desribed as extra large.
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Old 03-22-2019, 11:39 AM   #4
mangoandmimi
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Sadly there is so much misinformation out there about hamsters, even books aren't reliable and a lot of the info is severely outdated. In a very tiny cage with an inch of bedding you will likely need to do weekly cleans, but for larger cages that isn't the case. The 'XL' cages in p@h might be just about big enough for some dwarfs but not for long term Syrian housing - as I said they tend to do best in cages over 100x50cm in size. Hamsters are also burrowing animals and for Syrians to be able to properly burrow they'll need 10-12" of bedding. Most cages won't allow for that depth unfortunately which is what makes tanks a good option. For now if you fill the base to the top, he will be able to dig around a bit and burrow down to sleep which will be an improvement.
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Old 03-22-2019, 01:39 PM   #5
Ria P
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Thanks for info. I looked at tanks and almost bought one but thought they'd get too hot in the summer and would deny the hamster the opportunity to climb. The label on the cage stated that its suitable for one syrian or two dwarf hamsters. If this cage is an XL but is in reality too small I dread to think of all the syrian hamsters stuck in medium cages! I need to move to a bigger house to properly accommodate my hamster because I don't have the space in the lounge for a bigger cage.....
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