should you clean out a hamsters nest?

[happy hamster 101]

Should I clean out my hamsters nest? It always smells really bad but im scared that its going to cause a lot of stress for my hamster with the new smell as it is his favourite place to be, should I leave it, or should I clean it to prevent him getting sick, maybe I clean some of it out... Advice would be highly appreciated.

[Pebbles82]

I try not to touch the nest at all unless he has wee'd in (which he has done once or twice but not for a long time). If you say it smells really bad (is that a wee smell or does it just smell hamstery?) and if he has wee'd in and it's wet as well, you'll have to take it out and save as much of the dry bits of nest as you can so you can mix part of the old nest with the new nesting material you put in, then it will still smell a bit familiar to him.

[racinghamster]

Yes and no. I usually partially remove some of the old nesting but leave most of it and add some fresh. My Russian dwarf has a long cardboard tissue box as his bed, so it has no floor on it. I turn the box upside down so the bottom becomes the roof! That way, you can leave the bottom open where the hamster can dig down into the shavings and bedding. I do spot cleans all the time, but his bedding area I leave a alone and only lift it maybe once every two weeks to check for smell or waste. Surprisingly, it never is that dirty, but hamsters do love their nests and cleaning it too often can cause upset, so it`s better to be a bit more lax about this and just spot clean daily around the entire cage, checking for any bottle leaks or waste areas. x

[racinghamster]

If a nest smells of pee, make sure the nest is large enough and also, remove the floor! The best nesting boxes to use are made of cardboard like tissue boxes (mansize for a Syrian) or a shoe box. x

[happy hamster 101]

thank you serendipty and racing hamster, a big help, solved alot of confusion. that seems like a really fun house racinghamsters.

[racinghamster]

They are. They cost literally nothing and the hamster can chew them! Although mine are all still intact with the exception of a hole that has been chewed in the back! Extra door I suppose! All good fun! x

[Thin Lizzy]

I usually take some of the old nest away when I'm emptying out their stash and give some fresh bedding in for them to mix with the old.

[happy hamster 101]

Thank you all.

[Teddy001]

What I do, is clean out the poo.. and toss the old food, stored in the nest, however, I do replace the food, with new food- by doing this it doesn't stress my hamster. I also, remove the soiled bedding from the nest, keep some of the bedding that's still okay, and add substrate that's already in the cage to the nest area- then add new substrate in the places in the cage which I used for the nest.

My Syrian hamsters sleep ( nest) under an Ikea Knuff's that I made into ledge, and can double into a place for my hamster to burrow under and build their nests. Works wonderfully!