Very smelly hamster

[jsp]

Hi,

I wonderd if I could ask for advice about a hamster problem? I'm not sure which category it should be in so thought I would try chat.

Our male hamster is 3 months old and is very smelly (like a fox). I am having to clean his whole cage every day, which is a lot of heavy work as it is a large rat cage with several shelves. He urinates mostly in his wheel, but the whole cage seems to smell. The smell is not one that I can live with, and it is causing allergic reaction in my son's eyes.

The hamster unfortunately also bites and has no interest in people or taking food treats, so we are really struggling to engage it as a pet, and I'm seriously wondering whether we ought to rehome it. Our previous hamster was a friendly, tidy, non-smelly, female so we've got a bit of a shock with this new fella.

I wondered if you might have any ideas about what we should do? Do you think neutering would help, if they even do that to hamsters?

Thanks!

[LunaTheHamster1]

Hi, what species of hamster do you have? With the smell is it possible he has an infection?

When you say you are cleaning the whole cage every day, do you mean remvoing bedding/substrate and wiping everything down? If so this could be making him mark/wee even more to get his scent back. Could you try leaving it a few days and see if it gets better in the long run?

How long have you had him? Is he still settling in and just needs more time to feel safe befor ehe can be handled and take food.

No, I don't think neuturing would help. Yes it can be done, but like any surgery there is a risk with it being done on little hamsters. You would also need to find a vets that would be comfortable/experienced in doing it.

[jsp]

Hi,

Thanks for replying.

He's a syrian hamster, cream coloured, and sort of medium size. Our last one was quite small (125g at maturity) and the new one (Roc) is aleady clearly bigger than she was. He's been with us since he was 8 weeks old so is well settled in.

I see what you mean about the cleaning. I did start cleaning every day to try to get rid of the smell, and I was really pleased that it also got rid of the allergy problems. However, I was cleaning with fairy liquid so it's possible that he is spraying to get rid of that smell. I will try cleaning with unscented soap and see if that is better. Thanks, that's a really good thought. I noticed that he was very smelly in the first week, when he was presumably spraying to get rid of the previous hamster's smell, so that would make sense.

Sorry to ask a kind of TMI question, but is it usual for a hamster's testicles to be really gigantic? Roc's are nearly the size of almonds (with the shells still on). I keep wondering if I've maybe accidentally got a stud hamster.

I will ask the vet on monday as well, in case he has any good ideas.

Thanks!

[cypher]

I wouldn’t clean the cage with anything more than a damp cloth, that’s all you need really & any scent could make things worse.
What substrate do you use & how deep is it? If the substrate is deep enough then at most you should just be able to remove a thin layer from the top. The type of substrate might also have a bearing on how smelly the cage gets.
It’s not something I’ve tried but some people find putting a bowl of bicarb close to the cage (well out of reach of your ham!) can help to absorb odours.

[jsp]

Thanks, that's a good idea.

I use safebed paper wool in his nest and in the tray at the bottom. I used to use back-2-nature in the tray but I stopped as it's really expensive to change frequently.

Removing bits of the substrate doesn't seem to help really. I have to clean the whole thing. He does mostly wee in the wheel, which is handy, but just cleaning that doesn't seem to do the job.

This is the kind of cage that we have: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

he has four shelves made from plastic trays, so lots of space to climb and they are easy-clean.

I figured out the anatomy question using google. He seems to be quite normal.

It sounds as though the problem is that he doesn't like being cleaned out and we can't live with his smell if we don't clean him out, so that's going to be a tricky balance.

[cypher]

Sorry I forgot the bit about the testicles, that is quite normal for a syrian male!

That kind of cage isn’t really suitable for a hamster, they aren’t natural climbers & too much overhead space can make them nervous too, the most important thing for them is floor space & a good depth of substrate, as deep as you can go depending on your cage.
Something like the Barney from Zooplus or the savic plaza are a better option for a hamster.
The cage & frequent cleaning may well be affecting his behaviour too & that is probably why he’s not keen to interact, he won’t be feeling safe enough.
Paper based substrates are usually pretty good, I would just see if you can go longer without cleaning & give him a chance to settle down & maybe think about a more suitable cage for him too.
As Luna mentioned a strong smell could also be associated with an infection, does he drink a lot or pee excessively do you think?
Peeing in the wheel is normal too, my Chinese hams love to pee in their wheels & it can be a bit smelly when they’ve just been in there & the smell quickly dissipates so I find just cleaning them weekly is adequate.

[jsp]

If I put a big box of deep digging material in his cage instead of the shelves do you think he would like that? I could just remove all the shelves but one, and make him a massive digging pit, fairly easily.

I read on here the coir compost is a good digging option.

Our last hamster was a real climber, like spiderman, but I think you're right, this guy does not like to climb that much. He more of a digger.

[cypher]

You could try putting ccardboard around the bars to make the base deeper I guess, I wouldn’t put a box in the cage though.
Coir is extremely moisture retentive so not suitable really if he peed on it it just wouldn’t dry out & you’d have too high humidity & possibly mould problems in the cage.

[jsp]

Hi,

I have put in a plastic storage box like the ones that people use as hamster enclosures and filled it with paper bedding. I've also removed all of the shelves except two and washed them in plain water to get rid of the soap smell. Hopefully that will be better. I will see what happens tomorrow. Roc says "hello".

The cage smells fine now so that is a great relief. Whatever it was that was harbouring the smell most no longer be in there.

[LunaTheHamster1]

Is it just the paper wool you are using as bedding? I only use that for my hamsters sleeping area. I'm wondering if you had a different substrate/bedding that may help toabsorb smells. If you have an equestrian shop near you, Aubiose or Megazorb work out quite well and would last a long time, even with postage they work out a lot cheaper than a lot of the other substrates. Although some people can be allergic to hemp (aubiose) and some people don't like the smell of megazorb. They are big bags so will need somewhere to store, but will last you months.

I really would bite the bullet and just not clean/touch the cage for a few days and see if it makes a difference. If you could actually manage to pick your hamster up too and see if he smells, if so he may need to be checked out by the vets for a possible infection. I have had both female and male syrians, my females smell, my male doesn't smell at all.

This is what I do to get more bedding in my cage, I guess you could use a box, but instead of adding coir you could just add different substrates such as paper based/aubiose/megazorb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doZJJHCW1fs&t=22s