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Old 12-23-2015, 12:08 PM   #1
gissin
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Default changing bedding help

so how often should i change the bedding ?

so there's about 3.5'' deep of shavings, does all of this need to come out weekly?

ive been clearing out some poo's i can see and any wet in the corner he does it in comes out daily
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Old 12-23-2015, 01:15 PM   #2
Amys_Mum
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Default Re: changing bedding help

Hi Gissin

You don't need to do a full cage clean all that often, especially with deep substrate. I only do mine once a month at most, and even then, I'm reusing most of the wood shavings. Not only does it mean you're using less material, but it also keeps the hamster's familiar smell in the cage, so they're less likely to become distressed. They have pretty poor eyesight so rely on their sense of smell a lot, if you fully clean their cage, it's a bit like having your house redecorated every few months, and can be disorientating. I didn't realise this at first, cleaned my hammy out at the end of the first week, and wondered why she promptly moved her entire nest from one side of the cage to the other!

If your hamster has decided on a spot for weeing, then I'd recommend setting up a hamster potty if you haven't already. You can buy plastic pottys, or just use an empty margarine tub or shallow takeaway tub. You can either put a layer of the chinchilla sand, or get hamster potty litter. Both clump when wet so are then easy to scoop out, and they smell far less than wet woodshavings.

I spot clean by removing the wet litter, taking out obvious poo - my hamster has a tendency to pile up the poo outside her nest, so pretty easy to gather up! A quick check of her nest to make sure any fresh food has been eaten. I do this whilst my daughter or husband has a cuddle, and it only take a few minutes.

Then once a month, I clean the cage. I take out all of the nest and put it to one side, scoop out the top layer of the substrate - usually, I can manage just with doing this in the area by her nest, the other side of the cage is usually pretty clean. Have a brief rummage through to get rid of any poo, then tip the substrate into a carrier bag. Wipe down and dry the bottom of the cage, put a layer of fresh substrate into the bottom, then replace the older (but clean) substrate on top. Then I check the nesting material - get rid of anything that's particularly dirty - and put it back where it was. Add a few torn up tissues around the cage so she can gather it up and remake her nest, but still with the security of her familiar smell too.

Hope that helps
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Old 12-23-2015, 01:41 PM   #3
mountaingirl95
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Default Re: changing bedding help

I spot clean my hamsters' cages daily, but I only do a full cleaning of their cages and replace their bedding once every 2-3 weeks. It really depends on how messy your hamsters are but I don't think you need to replace their bedding every week.
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Old 12-23-2015, 02:41 PM   #4
Bertiebobbins
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Default Re: changing bedding help

There is no need to get rid of poo, just the wee. Hamster poo is not 'dirty' like dog poo! Also, the not cleaning out to often assumes that you have a decent sized cage - can you let us know what your hamster lives in?

I have never cleaned out my hamsters' cages fully and I don't intend to. Their cages are 100x50cm floor space. Nibble had a little clean when he moved cages a little while ago, and I cleared some of his nest out then and changed the oldest looking substrate, but basically it's been left the same all the time we have had him, he is a very clean ham and from day 1 only wee'd in his designated toilet corner. He hates change aswell, if I move anything in his cage I don't see him for three days and just get chattering teeth from his nest! Glowy is a bit of a messy hamster but he still just pees in his toilets (he has 3 of them) and I haven't changed his substrate ever just added more and taken the odd handful out, I never touch his nest.

Also regarding the poo, removing Nibble's poo pile once elicited possibly the worst reaction I got from him - I think we never saw him voluntarily for a week and I had to sneak up on him in the middle of the night to check he was ok, he had piled the poo up for a reason!!
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Old 12-23-2015, 04:54 PM   #5
gissin
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Default Re: changing bedding help

Quote:
Originally Posted by Amys_Mum View Post
Hi Gissin

You don't need to do a full cage clean all that often, especially with deep substrate. I only do mine once a month at most, and even then, I'm reusing most of the wood shavings. Not only does it mean you're using less material, but it also keeps the hamster's familiar smell in the cage, so they're less likely to become distressed. They have pretty poor eyesight so rely on their sense of smell a lot, if you fully clean their cage, it's a bit like having your house redecorated every few months, and can be disorientating. I didn't realise this at first, cleaned my hammy out at the end of the first week, and wondered why she promptly moved her entire nest from one side of the cage to the other!

If your hamster has decided on a spot for weeing, then I'd recommend setting up a hamster potty if you haven't already. You can buy plastic pottys, or just use an empty margarine tub or shallow takeaway tub. You can either put a layer of the chinchilla sand, or get hamster potty litter. Both clump when wet so are then easy to scoop out, and they smell far less than wet woodshavings.

I spot clean by removing the wet litter, taking out obvious poo - my hamster has a tendency to pile up the poo outside her nest, so pretty easy to gather up! A quick check of her nest to make sure any fresh food has been eaten. I do this whilst my daughter or husband has a cuddle, and it only take a few minutes.

Then once a month, I clean the cage. I take out all of the nest and put it to one side, scoop out the top layer of the substrate - usually, I can manage just with doing this in the area by her nest, the other side of the cage is usually pretty clean. Have a brief rummage through to get rid of any poo, then tip the substrate into a carrier bag. Wipe down and dry the bottom of the cage, put a layer of fresh substrate into the bottom, then replace the older (but clean) substrate on top. Then I check the nesting material - get rid of anything that's particularly dirty - and put it back where it was. Add a few torn up tissues around the cage so she can gather it up and remake her nest, but still with the security of her familiar smell too.

Hope that helps


this does indeed help a lot pretty much what i thought but always best to check especially with the people who know the most thank you for your post,



to the others:

yeah its a good sized cage i guess 80x50x50..maybe ill go for a bigger one at some point.



what do you guys thing to the carefresh ultra bedding ? ive heard thats pretty good and was thinking of moving to that when i do a full cage clean
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Old 12-24-2015, 01:47 AM   #6
racinghamster
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Default Re: changing bedding help

I`m with Bertiebobbins. Never do full cage cleans, only spot clean daily, or remove a good few handfuls and replace with fresh every few weeks. No need to empty the full cage contents unless the hamster (usually a Syrian) has diagnosed wet tail and even then, not while the hamster is actually ill/being treated as the stress of moving them to clean out their cage could worsen symptoms. Only the smelly/wet parts should be removed and the areas wiped down. Hamsters like their own scent around. So if the substrate and bedding are constantly replenished, it disturbs their whole karma. Food stashes are also important as they hidden food stashes are their little nest eggs! So unless you have fresh veg or anything fresh, these are the only things that can turn mouldy quickly so any un eaten stuff should be removed the same day.

The only Supreme bedding product I use is Cosi n Dri. It`s a much better product than Carefresh and far less dusty, although I`m not too sure if they have discontinued the product or not. Google it anyway and compare online prices, but it can be bought through good high street pet shops sometimes. x
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Old 12-24-2015, 10:09 AM   #7
Bertiebobbins
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Default Re: changing bedding help

Carefresh is ok but I found it could be dusty, and the "natural" one smelled a bit funny. Lots of people on here like Fitch best, it's kind of like Carefresh but less dusty, doesn't smell and is more economical - Carefresh works out quite expensive even when only spot cleaning. Also, one of mine loves it to make his nest with, as he likes me to rip up his toilet roll quite small, so it's a double duty product.

I've kind of trained mine not to hoard their fresh stuff, I only offered it to them during playtime out of cage for some weeks so they had to eat it or leave it (so I didn't ever need to disturb their nests), now I can leave it in their cages and they eat it straight away, now they have settled in I can check their nests (I poke about with the end of a spoon every week or so so I don't leave my scent!) and I've never found anything fresh left over.
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