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Old 11-10-2018, 05:06 PM   #1
Shadow Cat
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Default Changing my hamster's main house

Hi guys

I'm wondering if changing the main house in my hamster's cage will be too stressful.

Annoyingly (well, annoying for me!) Fitz has decided the best place in his cage to pee is the house where he builds his nest instead of any one of the four corners of his cage or his sand bath. Go figure. (I mean, it's annoying having to trek to the bathroom in the middle of the night, but...!) It's pain because I know it's best not to disturb their nests much but I don't have a choice if I want it to stay dry and clean and odor free. The problem is that the current house I have for him is wooden so the pee has begun to seep into the wood and it's pretty unpleasent.

I want to change the house to a material that's easy to clean. Ideally ceramic. But before I replace it, I want to know if it's likely to stress him out. I will put it back in the exact same place.

Alternatively, any tips on encouraging him to pick another spot to do his business?

It seems like a silly question but it's been playing on my mind.

Thank you
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Old 11-10-2018, 10:13 PM   #2
cypher
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Default Re: Changing my hamster's main house

Changing the house will be a bit stressful but if you have wood that's been peed on then you don't have much choice as you can never get pee out of wood, wooden houses are fine but you do need to paint them with a couple of coats of Plastikote water based enamel first so you can clean them.
There aren't many if any ceramic houses that would be big enough really so better stick with wood & paint it.
If the house is big enough you could put a litter tray inside or try putting one close to the house.
When you change the house over keep what nest material you an, anything that isn't wet or smells of pee & put that in the new one to make it less stressful.
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Old 11-11-2018, 04:10 AM   #3
larry ben kenobi
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Default Re: Changing my hamster's main house

I just changed Benni's house today (my Syrian). I know it was going to be stressful so I was delaying it. Last night, she moved a bunch of her bedding to a corner and slept there, and put a wood chew in her old house (???). Her old house was a tiny igloo that came with the crittertrail she was in when I adopted her, and it was totally not big enough for her. I tried a few houses but she kept going back to that one. Until today!

When she was sleeping on the other side of the cage, I put the new house in and included a lot of old bedding in the biggest, darkest compartment (a friend helped me copy a Rodipet house, we made a 4 room version). She moved in right away and immediately started using a room for sleeping and a room for pooping. I had to move her sand/pee spot (in a mini fishbowl) to another place in the cage and she found that right away and started using it too.

I tried many things with my hamster but the only potty she will accept is the mini fishbowl full of sand or the jar full of sand in her playpen. Someone here suggested the sand and it honestly just worked like magic.

Rodipet (only ships to Europe/UK) makes a few ceramic houses.
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Old 11-11-2018, 04:19 AM   #4
cypher
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Default Re: Changing my hamster's main house

The Rodipet ceramic houses are lovely but they're also very heavy so you have to be careful about burrowing underneath! I glued legs onto mine to make it safe.

I think you're in the UK Shadow Cat? So it might be worth looking at Rodipet, the wooden houses are good, either the labyrinth or granite houses, they have the advantage of a top that lifts of so if your ham does pee in there it makes spot cleaning a lot easier without having to move the house & totally disrupt the nest. They also big enough for a sand tray.

https://www.rodipet.de/shop/haeuser/
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Old 11-11-2018, 04:40 AM   #5
Shadow Cat
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Default Re: Changing my hamster's main house

Thank you for your help.

I had the idea of using a ceramic toad house as I think it will be big enough but I will check that website out first.
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Old 11-11-2018, 08:25 AM   #6
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Changing my hamster's main house

I think plastikoted wood works best Or cardboard! I don't think changing the house needs to be stressful and not nearly as stressful as a cage clean.

The trick really is to try and put the new house where the old one was if possible - and then make it tempting to move into! If it's big inside or has rooms, and is dark and has a tunnel entrance they will just move in.

Actually peeing in a corner of the house is normal and if the house is big enough they do move their pee spot into their house (ensuite bathroom). The germans go as far as having houses with rooms - one to fit a litter tray.

What you need is a house large enough to fit a litter tray inside! I found that out with our first syrian and it has worked ever since. They tend to choose the corner furthest away from the door to nest (where it's darker) and the corner nearest the door at the back, for a toilet. Then they can pee, bathe and snack from the hoard under the nest, before coming out for the night!

Rodipet do make very good houses, but they're not cheap and there are alternatives. However a house with a lift-off roof- like theirs, is very good - because you can just lift the litter tray out and empty it and replace it.

I have the big syrian sized labyrinth house for our syrian - had it for our last syrian and they always nest in the compartment on the left and use the middle back compartment for a toilet - which is where I put the litter tray.

The two and three room houses are good too. Or you just make a shoebox house - cut the base out and a hole in the long side for a door, use the lid as a lift off roof and put a bendy bridge tunnel over the door. Makes an angle so it's dark inside, a tunnel entrance which they like, and also a ramp up to the flat roof).

If you do get a rodipet house it isn't necessary to get their ceramic potty - the plastic ones on Amazon fit as well. I'll link them.

Those houses can also be heavy as well - and if they try and tunnel underneath or dig down they can sink or squash them. I find there are two ways to sort this. Either you put the house on little legs and have it higher up so they can tunnel underneath or dig down if they want. Or have it as a subterranean house. On the bottom of the cage base with substrate inside the rooms to make it more comfortable, and substrate piled up round the outside and channel out a bit near the door enrance.

https://www.rodipet.de/shop/haeuser/...erracotta.html

https://www.rodipet.de/shop/haeuser/rodipet-granit/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamster-cor...=hamster+potty

I have also used this Ferplast Sin Rabbit house before. A bit smaller than the labyrinth house and no rooms but much taller so it works well sat on the base of the cage with substrate inside it and round the outside - that does need a bendy bridge over the door as the door is very big. Potty fits in easily It's far too small for rabbits! Also has a lift off roof. The Rodipet ones are better though and designed for hamsters but for the larger ones you need a 100cm cage. The smaller granite 2 and 3 room ones are fine in an 80cm cage.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ferplast-46...n+rabbit+house

This is the plastikote - I just paint the inside of the houses - it means they're wipe clean and the potty helps keep pee off them too. A small pot like that would do two coats inside a house easily. I tend to leave them overnight between coats to make sure the first coat is fully dry but it's dry in a couple of hours and easy to paint on with a small 1" type paint brush.

It comes in various colours too so you can paint the whole house whatever colour you want!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Old 11-12-2018, 05:44 AM   #7
cookietiger
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Default Re: Changing my hamster's main house

I understand your frustration. My robo wees everywhere. In her tubes, wheel, houses, on her lava ledge, in her sand bath, everywhere! Although, last time I cleaned her out she had also decided to pee in a corner for once in her 1 year life.
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Old 11-12-2018, 05:50 AM   #8
Shadow Cat
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Default Re: Changing my hamster's main house

I decided to splash out on one of the Rodipet houses with the lids. I can afford it and I like the idea that I can spot clean Fitz’s pee spot without disturbing his nest too much.

Watch now how he moves into his new house and decides to pee in a corner instead! Hamsters are funny contrary little creatures sometimes, aren’t they?! But that’s why we love them!
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Old 11-12-2018, 06:50 AM   #9
cypher
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Default Re: Changing my hamster's main house

So true!
I'm sure he'll love the new house anyway whatever he decides to do in there!
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