Is pee'd on food safe for them?!

[Pixi44]

Hi everyone, I hope this is in the right section as I wasn't sure whether to post it in here or hamster behaviour...

My female Syrian Lilith has always peed in her nest where she stores her food, but it's soaking into her dry food and rehydrating it. I've been worried about her eating it due to bacteria etc and have been removing it along with the wet bedding but I've researched this more and realised that messing with her nest is stressing her out but as I said I am concerned about her eating this food. Her house/nest wasn't maybe the most sensible design to get as it's a completely enclosed wooden design with a base/floor which doesn't have a removable roof so cleaning it is hard and pee is probably soaking into the wood too. I actually put a different house in there which I could just lift up and clean but she decided to burrow under her sand bath instead. She is already having to take antibiotics twice a day which she doesn't like at all so I really want to minimise the stress for her as much as possible.

I'm moving her to a larger cage next week so I have the opportunity to put something different in there if anyone has any suggestions, I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice, whether I should be leaving this food and if it's safe? I always make sure to leave most of her bedding and only take the soiled stuff out. I don't have an issue with her peeing in there but I don't want her to be eating anything that's going to make her unwell...

[Ria P]

A bottomless house large enough for an en suite corner toilet may be the answer and the house needs to have a removable roof for spot cleaning.

I have four Syrians, three of them keep their houses and nests clean and dry and always pee in their sand filled toilets outside but nearby their houses.

One has always peed inside his house as well as outside but uses a corner toilet opposite his nests. It doubles as his bin and he chucks food on it too which i remove when i clean his toilet.

I don't think pee'd on food is safe if left too long because the moisture and heat can create mould.

[Pebbles82]

Hello. It can take a bit of trial and error to stop this kind of behaviour I wouldn't worry too much - once it's pee'd on I doubt they eat it. Yes it does need removing if pee'd on, but it helps if you can leave a bit of dry hoard behind. And whether you can or not, replace the hoard with a handful of new food in the same place. This helps them feel less stressed and accept things a bit better. Peeing on food can be and itch scratch cycle. If the food is taken away, the hamster feels anxious and robbed so pees on the food to deter thieves from stealing it! And so on. It usually settles down.

How old is she? Is she quite young ? (As they get older they usually develop better toilet habits). Or is she quite old? (Not being as tidying in the bathroom department).

If you're planning to move her to a bigger cage, that needs doing carefully so it doesn't completely stress her out. I usually let them have a play in the new cage, the day before moving over - if that's possible (usually possible to fit both cages in the room just for one day!). This makes a huge difference to them adjusting and settling in without getting seriously stressed.

So I just put substrate in the new cage, along with a couple of toys like a cardboard tunnel, any new toys you've bought for it, and maybe one familiar toy from the current cage and pop that in. Scatter some food and just let her go in to explore it. She might seem keen to stay, but I find it you pop them back in the old cage overnight it's better for the transition next day. She has already scent marked it and it's not a sudden change. So you then need to find somewhere to put her so you can transfer everything across from the old cage to the new.

It's really important to move everything across, without cleaning anything (except maybe the pee'd on hoard! But try and leave a bit of it). So all the old substrate (spread it on top of the new that's already in the new cage. And any toys, houses etc you're keeping. Try and put them in the same layout as you had before, as much as possible. Eg Wheel back left, house front right or whatever, tube in similar location, shelf at the same end as before - that kind of thing.

I found by doing all this our hamster was settled almost straight away. He was very slightly skitty for the first two or three days that's all. Previously when I moved a hamster cold turkey it was a nightmare and I felt very guilty. I literally thought he would die of a heart attack. for 10 days he just sat and shook and was terrified.

It would be a good time to add a new house if you haven't already. I would suggest one that is big enough to fit a litter tray inside. A shoebox house is ideal (I'm using one for our Syrian at the moment. Just cut the base out of the shoe box, keep the lid as a lift off roof. Cut a hole for a door - if you cut it at the far end of one of the long sides she will almost certainly move in as it'll be dark at the opposite end to the door. then you can pop a corner litter tray in at the back at the door end.

I get these trixie ones. Just the right size and fits well into the corner of a house. Just put chinchilla sand in it. You then just need to take the roof off and empty the litter tray once or twice a week.

I've only had one hamster who never did quite get the litter tray. He did use it but also built his nest on top of it! Eventually, when I kept moving it, he nested separately from it.

They will almost always use it to pee in - it's in the house (which they seem to like) but away from the nest. Having said that. Sometimes they will hoard some food in it as well! Not all of the food but maybe the odd thing. Worry about that when it happens. I used to have to throw any stinky food hoarded in the toilet, but then put some new food next to the toilet instead (kind of training them to hoard it next to, not in!).

Providing you have good depth of substrate - 4 to 6" at least, then the hamster will probably bury the hoard under the nest mostly - that seems to be their instinct.

Try the large house and potty! My shoebox is a Clarks size 7 shoes I think! It's a good size - but any kind of shoe box will do. I did have one that hard sharp bits of cardboard edging inside though - so check for that.

TRIXIE Corner Toilet, 16cm x 7cm x 12cm : Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies