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Old 10-22-2019, 02:14 PM   #11
Pebbles82
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: syrian hamster bed

Just to add - the Savic plaza is quite tall for a hamster cage so you really need to fill the base with substrate. It doesn't work out any more expensive as you don't need to change the substrate as often, particularly if you use a litter tray. You can "spot clean" mostly as and when necessary - ie remove a handful of substrate, add a new handful and mix it in a bit. I easily go 2 to 3 months without needing to change the substrate with a litter tray and minimal spot cleaning. Even then it's a good idea to replace some of the clean old substrate on top of the new so it still smells familiar. Cleanouts can really stress them unless something always smells familiar. So best to do partial cleans - eg wheel one week, any toys a different week, don't clean anything else when you change the substrate.

This is the litter tray I use. Rodipet sell nice ceramic ones, but these are fine.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trixie-Corn...1778803&sr=8-5
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Old 10-23-2019, 12:39 AM   #12
kate30
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 11
Default Re: syrian hamster bed

This is all great advice! I don't think I can't afford the rodipet one this month, especially if I have to buy the legs as extra so I am going to go with a home made shoebox one for now and see how she gets on with that then can look at investing in a proper one as like the idea of it being an extra shelf as well so will just have to look at a new cage set up to the current one. She is only a small syrian and is about 6 months now but I am not sure when they are fully grown? I had thought about making the holes bigger on the Leif

In terms of changing their beds, because she poos where she nests how often should I be cleaning out the nest because I don't want her sleeping in with the poo but also don't know if she will become very unsettled if I keep removing her nest and she has to build a new one.

Also if I use a corner litter tray I am concerned she will just kick all the sand out as this is what she has done with a lot of her sand bath at the moment but is this ok?

Sorry for all the questions but thanks you for all your really helpful advice!
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Old 10-23-2019, 02:08 AM   #13
Pebbles82
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Default Re: syrian hamster bed

Hi. I wouldn't worry too much about the poops. They actually eat them sometimes, which is normal. They have two stomachs and can redigest vitamins etc from their poops! So their poops are sometimes emergency food supplies! I think it makes them feel secure to have a few poops hoarded just in case there is ever a shortage of food!

They are not dirty or smelly - like little hard things really. If they start taking over a bit in the cage then spot clean the substrate.

Yes they get very upset and stressed about the nest being removed. I leave it alone unless it is pee'd in. If there is the odd poop in the nest I wouldn't worry too much - if there are quite a lot you could pick some out. I tend to find, when they have the big house, that the poops are kept separate from the hoarded food (although the odd one mixed in with the hoard) and the poops are kept in a separate place!

I have never worried about poops really and all our syrians have lived to a grand age. When you eventually do a substrate change you can remove any excess then, but I would still try and leave the nest in tact. Keep putting out strips of torn up plain white toilet paper in a heap (safest nesting material) somewhere in the cage - near the house maybe. They take it to build or refurbish their nest. When leaving the nest I find they refurbish it themselves and sometimes chuck out an old bit of nest and take in new nesting material to refurbish the nest.

Re the litter tray - she may kick sand out of it but I wouldn't worry - it will just sink to the bottom of the cage - or can be left - doesn't do any harm. Main thing is that she pee's in it.

Our last syrian used to pouch some of the sand I am sure! Because I used to find it in his hoard - maybe some clever hammy thing to help preserve the hoard! Both our last ones used to put substrate on top of the potty as well, after peeing in it (so it doesn't smell?)

Our last syrian did used to kick most of the sand out of the potty but usually left enough in to soak up the pee, although occasionally it would just be pee in there! But he still used it so the pee was contained which is the important thing. It is only really their pee that is smelly. They are quite clean little things otherwise, they groom a lot.

Shoebox house sounds like a good idea. When she is fully grown, if she is still small, then the lief house might be ok. Most people knock out the solid but under one partition so the house is open underneath (or that bit may get pee soaked) and you would probably need to knock out the inner dividing partition as well or the "rooms" would be too small for a syrian.

Re the house legs - you don't need to buy them. Before they started making them, I just glued on my own legs - wood dowels. Not much diy involved. I used ponal glue which is hamster safe wood glue, doesn't smell and sticks rock hard. It's expensive at first to buy but am still using the same bottle 3 and a half years later. The only diy bit really is cutting the dowels to the right length. What I did was rest the back edge of the house on the lip of the cage base and just stick a leg on each side of the cage, nearer the front than the back, and two legs on the front. That way they can all be the same length and not fall foul of the curved base underneath.

These are the dowels I got

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And this is the glue

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ponal-44272...1821555&sr=8-2

But now that they actually sell legs, it is way easier! Again I put two on the front and one at either side not too far back so they are all on the flat bit of the cage base and that holds the house up fine.

Shoebox house is absolutely fine though and much easier and cheaper! I would put a litter tray inside though or it may get pee soaked.

I actually don't bother with a sand bath for syrians because, as you say, they just kick all the sand out. Our last syrian didn't like sand really. So I just use it in the litter tray. They tend to pee in the very back corner and sometimes sit in the front for a wash.
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Old 10-23-2019, 04:25 AM   #14
Ria P
House of Hamsters
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Posts: 7,103
Default Re: syrian hamster bed

Another alternative is the Ferplast guinea pig house which i use for my Syrian. It is big enough for an en suite, the size S Rodipet ceramic corner toilet fits well.
I buy the house for under a tenner at a nearby pet shop so don't bother with plasticoting it.
The walls and roof slot into place so i can exchange a miffy wall with a clean one then wash the smelly one.
The roof i've cut into two sections so i can take the toilet out for a clean without disturbing the hamster in his nest under the other roof section.

I also use these houses submerged into substrate (minus front panel) as a support for my Robo's big sand bath.
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Old 10-23-2019, 04:44 AM   #15
kate30
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 11
Default Re: syrian hamster bed

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post

Yes they get very upset and stressed about the nest being removed. I leave it alone unless it is pee'd in. If there is the odd poop in the nest I wouldn't worry too much - if there are quite a lot you could pick some out. I tend to find, when they have the big house, that the poops are kept separate from the hoarded food (although the odd one mixed in with the hoard) and the poops are kept in a separate place!
Thank you! So when I put the new bed in (which will be a cardboard one for time being) should I move all the bedding and nest from her current bed over into it, trying to disturb it as little as possible and then put some little bits of food in an area she could use for hoarding. I think she is currently wee'ing in her sand bath that has a little lid so I could take the lid off and stick this in the new house in a corner?
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Old 10-23-2019, 09:09 AM   #16
Pebbles82
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: syrian hamster bed

Yes if it's one of those little sand baths with a lid it would do fine as a toilet The thing to do is add the new house but don't disturb the existing nest. Two ways:

1) If you have space to put the house somewhere different to the current nest/want the house in a particular place - then put it where you want it and put a nice smelly treat inside - eg a tiny piece of cheese and or cucumber. It helps to put a bendy bridge tunnel over the door as the tunnel tempts them in and then they like the darkness inside.

Your hamster will probably move in either overnight (and take the nest with them or build a new nest over a day or so) or take a couple of days to think about it but will almost certainly move in.

2) If you're happy having the house where the current nest is, just pop the house over the top of it . But I usually find I want the house in the place that's more suitable for me
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Old 10-23-2019, 12:44 PM   #17
kate30
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Default Re: syrian hamster bed

Ok thank you! Just to check, will cardboard and Wooden houses not get ruined easily as they are likely to chew them?
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