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Old 07-12-2020, 03:43 AM   #11
jsp
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Default Re: Very smelly hamster

Thanks, I will try that. I think the idea about the soap was probably right and I have washed that away with plain water now.

I think I need to stick to back2nature as anything remotely scented or allergenic never works for me. It's good to know that your male hamster doesn't smell. That's very encouraging.

I will ask the vet tomorrow I think. I thought it couldn't be an infection as Roc already had antibiotics for a foot injury and the smell persisted after that, but I suppose it could be something else. Thinking about it more, I did have a male hamster when I was a teenager and he didn't smell like this either so it might be something wrong.
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Old 07-12-2020, 03:46 AM   #12
LunaTheHamster1
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Default Re: Very smelly hamster

Yes, maybe best, hope he is ok. have you tried fitch or kaytee clean and cosy as bedding? Lot's of people use that too- paper based.
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Old 07-12-2020, 05:15 AM   #13
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Default Re: Very smelly hamster

Thanks, I'll have a look.
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Old 07-13-2020, 12:42 AM   #14
Ithuviel
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Default Re: Very smelly hamster

Scented stuff really makes a hamster mark their teritory more. I'm glad things are working out. I hope he is ok. You could use something that looks like this for the bottom of the cage than put the regular substrate above. I'm sorry i'm giving you my country's product but i heard it is very effective for absorbing pee and smell. I'm sure you can find something similar. This product could be described as paper pellets (if that makes sense).

Also i clean the wheel every other day with water and i dry it with a cloth and that helps as my robo like pee showers every day.
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Old 07-13-2020, 10:15 PM   #15
jsp
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Default Re: Very smelly hamster

Hi,

Things were a lot better yesterday. I asked the vet and she said that if he smells like a fox then it would be worth thinking of this as though we have an actual male fox in residence. I have started cleaning only with plain water and I watched his territorial behaviour to see what it was that he wanted.

It turns out that what he wants is to be allowed to sleep right out in the open, in his roofless exercise pen on our dining room floor. He doesn't like confined spaces I think, and instead likes to sleep right there in plain sight with us in our busy, noisy kitchen, like a labrador in its basket. He did that all day yesterday and the kitchen smells just fine today.

It's funny that he likes to sleep where we can see him, instead of in a nest box. I've never seen a hamster do that before. It's nice for my son homeschooling with his pet sleeping next to him though. Very friendly. Roc has a lot of small snacks through the day and wakes up to say "hello" a surprisingly large number of times.

He has a long cardboard pipe that allows him to get back to his cage if he wanted to, but he didn't go back at all, and even went to a lot of effort to move food and bedding from the cage to the exercise pen. It's funny because our last hamster was completely different. All she wanted to do was climb all the time.

Thank you very much for your help.
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Old 07-15-2020, 07:00 AM   #16
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Default Re: Very smelly hamster

Hi,

I seem to have solved my problem here. I changed the cage around yesterday again and there was no smell at all today.

That I did was to change the cage so it's just the big tray at the bottom full of back-2-nature litter, and one light plastic tray rigged up as a single higher shelf. The plastic tray is easy to remove and clean. The wheel and toys are all on the ground floor.

I put Roc in and he still wanted to climb so I made him a magnificent rope climbing structure out of 1cm hemp rope, like this:https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-th...-18246408.html

That is good because it means that he can climb, but he doesn't have lots of platforms to wee on that would then be hard to clean.

Today there was no smell to the cage except the nice smell of the litter. Hopefully I can keep it nice like that with a good clean once a week with plain water and a change of litter.

Thanks for your help.
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Old 07-15-2020, 08:33 AM   #17
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Default Re: Very smelly hamster

Unfortunately jsp that sort of toy idea is very unsafe. Climbing ropes and such are extremely dangerous for hamsters as they are very poor climbers with the added bonus of incredibly poor eyesight, so you need to take that out immediately for your hamster's safety.
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Old 07-18-2020, 05:42 AM   #18
jsp
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Default Re: Very smelly hamster

My last hamster was an extraordinary climber, and absolutely loved it. She just couldn't get enough of it and was very safe always. I'm not sure where people get this idea that all hamsters are not able to climb safely.

Roc is really enjoying his new cage layout and is being very sensible and safe about his play. Thanks for commenting anyway.
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Old 07-18-2020, 05:58 AM   #19
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Default Re: Very smelly hamster

Some hamsters are very able climbers although it’s not a natural behaviour for them, the danger with rope toys is that feet & claws can get caught with the risk of broken limbs & foot injuries, even if a ham appears to be capable of climbing well there is still also a risk of falls so generally it is better to err on the safe side & not include this kind of thing in the cage set up.
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Old 07-18-2020, 07:16 AM   #20
jsp
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Default Re: Very smelly hamster

Thanks for your thoughts on it.

I just thought to come back and say thanks for the advice just now, as Roc's cage still has no smell at all, with no further adjustment being needed since I put the back-2-nature paper substrate in.

I will make further adjustments to his layout but I think the key will be to make sure that surfaces have that paper on and then we will be just fine.

Thanks
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