Cleaning the Cage

[kesaiserris]

I have seen it advised on this forum that a hamster's cage should be cleaned as a little as possible to avoid unnecessary stress. I have even seen it advised to go months between cleanings and to avoid cleaning out litter trays daily. This advice troubles me I must admit.

First of all I agree that hamsters are naturally clean animals. So much cleaner than human children! I also know that they strive to separate their toilet from their food and nesting areas.
I also concede that hamsters can find cage cleaning disruptive and/or upsetting. For hamsters of a more timid and nervous disposition I can imagine that it is that much more stressful.

Yet whenever I read the research and advice of veterinarians I frequently see recommendations for more frequent cleanings. I also know that a number of very serious illnesses in hamsters arise from sitting in their own "dirt"

I am not an expert (I am not claiming to be) but I reckon frequency of cleaning actually depends on a number of variables. For example cage size and depth of substrate. Hamsters are a common pet for children and parents don't often buy their children large cages. Larger cages are rarely even available in local pet stores and must be ordered online (in my experience) so hamsters often start out in smaller cages initially. Depth of substrate depends on height of cage. Also the temperament of the individual hamster. To me it seems that an older hamster with whom you have built a strong bond of trust might require more frequent cleanings because they are more likely to soil their nests and be less fastidious in their grooming habits. An enormous cage would not require as frequent cleanings as a small one.

When I was in high school I owned 2 hamsters a male and female Syrian. I cleaned their cages weekly. This was in the 90s and the advice I received from the pet store and my Hamster Guide Book probably weren't up to snuff but I can say that my hamsters lived 2 1/2 and 3.5 years. The female had multiple litters all healthy pups that survived and went on to live with their own owners. She never harmed her pups even her first litter. She was never ill until she passed of old age. My male hamster had only one illness a brief cold caught because he was unfortunately in the proximity of a sneeze. He recovered quickly though and was active his entire life. I remember that both of them had a way of arranging their belongings and I always kept that as my template. My current hamster will not tolerate a soiled sandbox. She expects that cleaned every morning. She likes to use it first thing in the morning when it has just been changed. So I do think that she appreciates the assistance because she can't go out of the cage herself and acquire what she needs/wants or dispose of waste as she might do in the wild. Hamsters do adapt to routines so if you are consistent in whatever you are doing they will feel less stressed. Cleaning her cage less frequently to make her less stressed resulted in more illness in the case of my hamster.

Anyhow I have read the adamant arguments for less frequent cage cleanings but I think care should be taken to gather the details of each case before providing this advice as I do think there are many young owners with small cages on the forum.

[EmmaAndChester]

How frequently the cage needs to be cleaned absolutely depends on cage size and bedding depth, and I don't think you'll find anyone who disagrees with you. Bedding depth in particular is a huge deciding factor - you could have a 1,000 square inch cage, but if it only has 2cm of substrate (for example), frequent cleanings are a must. This is why it is stressed that hamsters have large cages (at least 80cm x 50cm for dwarf hamsters, 100cm x 50cm for syrians as a bare minimum) with in excess of 6"/15cm of substrate and advise that instead of fully cleaning the enclosure, instead recommend to spot clean regularly and remove small sections of bedding every 4-6 weeks (for enclosures of bare minimum size; larger enclosures with deep bedding depths often don't need large bedding changes at all, and can often be maintained solely by spot cleaning alone) so that stress experienced during cleaning is kept as minimal as possible. If the enclosure requires full cage cleans (and we are talking in the case of an average, healthy hamster - not a sick one, or one rearing their young, etc where exceptions are made) it is a sign of either an inappropriately sized enclosure or an inappropriately set up enclosure and these situations are addressed as required.

Some hamsters have particularly disgusting nesting habits, and for many the providence of a multi-chamber hide with dedicated corner toilets (that can easily be removed multiple times of week if needed to be, without disrupting the actual nest itself) removes these habits. In the off-chance that it doesn't (which isnt the norm, but like winning the lotto; it can happen), then exceptions are made to prevent health concerns such as urine scold from occurring. I do agree that situations do need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, absolutely - because there are certainly exceptions to every rule and although hamsters are generally very clean animals, not all hamsters are clean haha.

I don't frequent this forum often, but when I was more active on hamster forums in the past, we would never discourage from regularly cleaning sand areas/toilet areas in general. I class cleaning hamster litter trays as spot cleaning, which is what we should be actively trying to encourage, not discourage. What we are trying to discourage is entire cage cleans; i.e removing all the substrate, and/or cleaning all the toys, and/or rearranging the entire set-up at once, etc. All of these events are extremely stressful for hamsters, because no matter how much of a routine you make it, it's removing the animals scent completely and in the case where folks rearrange the entire set up at once, it disrupts the animals routine and familiarity with their environment, and thats why we discourage it. Spot cleaning, regularly cleaning toilet areas, cleaning sand baths etc should absolutely not be discouraged. I've been in the hamster community a while - 5 years of which I've spent in the natural side of things - and am a huge advocate for natural enclosures and minimised cleaning - but never, ever heard of anyone discourage someone from cleaning litter trays haha. Sometimes cleaning them too much can discourage the animal from using it - but its a rare problem, and I say if cleaning their litter trays daily doesn't cause you any problems with the hamster refusing to use it/picking up abnormal, dirty nesting habits as a result, then go for it!

[Pebbles82]

I don't think anyone would say don't clean anything for months - with a large cage and plenty of substrate then spot cleaning allows it to go longer before a full clean. I believe the "partial" cleanout method was called the German method as well - when you have a good depth of substrate and a litter tray is used and the cage stays clean and dry, then replacing some of the old susbstrate and mixing it in helps it smell familiar - and cleaning other items at a different time means they don't have all their scent removed at once. It is true that as hamsters get a bit more mature they adjust to cleanouts better.

Some of the German cages are 5 foot tanks with 40cm deep of subsrate! So the method would work for that. As Emma says, no-one is saying leave a hamster in a small cage with an inch of bedding and leave them sitting in their dirt. That would be cruel.

It varies and depends on the set up and the hamster. Our last Syrian and current syrian both use their litter trays - and the rest of the cage doesn't get soiled at all. But I still spot clean a bit in the rest of the cage, as and when necessary. But I do go about 3 months before a substrate change and it's fine. But they have both had labyrinth houses. They nest in one compartment, hoard in another (and under the nest) and pee in another in the litter tray. In fact if our hamster thinks the litter tray needs emptying he will cover it up with substrate.

The idea of not cleaning out too much is to avoid stress - but it doesn't mean leaving them in a dirty cage or sitting in their dirt. Our last Syrian lived to 2 years 8 months and our current one is nearly two and very fit and active. Neither of them were ever sick or needed vet treatment (last one needed his teeth clipping in old age, that's all).

Weekly clean outs aren't recommended any more because they aren't necessary, if the enrichment in the cage is right. And as Emma says, we usually try to encourage the right size cage and a good level of enrichment. And people who have smaller cages with not much substrate in do clean them out more often, out of necessity.

A litter tray is the best thing I ever found

It's a balance between keeping their habitat safe and hygienic, not over cleaning and stressing them, and allowing them some peace and freedom. I do think hamsters are quite clean and organised - providing they have the facilities to be like that. A hamster in a small cage with only a thin layer of substrate and no litter tray, has to pee somewhere and it will get dirty and unhygienic and they would end up sitting in it if it wasn't cleaned out. Nobody is suggesting that.

The main thing is not cleaning everything all at once really, so it isn't so stressful for them. Toys etc often don't need cleaning that often, and a wheel can be done as and when. I like the method of deeper substrate and less substrate changes. I only have about 5 or 6" in the cage but only about a quarter of the cage gets used for daily living - inside the house.

Even with a normal house, the hamster tends to have a separate toilet area outside the house.

[Pebbles82]

I think of it as with dogs really. A sofa covered in dog hairs isn't necessarily unhygienic - for people who live with dogs. Dog beds need washing but not every week. I honestly think they are more at risk of catching a cold than getting germs from a cage, within reason.