Should I throw out unused bedding?

[Snail]

My russian dwarf/campbells hamster Snail has a routine where every time I clean his cage a lot or sometimes even just where I spot clean he will move to a different area of the cage and only sleep there for however long until I next clean if that makes sense. This means that sometimes for a full month or longer he will not even go near a large area of his cage which in turn means it doesnt get dirty. I tend to only spot clean areas he’s been in but seeing as its to the point where he doesnt go there for months at a time should I still clean it out every once in a while if it looks clean?

Im trying to find a good balance of cleaning so he doesnt get stressed out but his cage also isnt dirty

[Ria P]

I can't see the point in cleaning something that looks clean.

I would mix up the clean and used substrate so he can get a scent of himself wherever he goes.

[Engel]

Nah leave it. I literally spot clean every 3 days. Then once a month I take all the bedding out and sift through it. Anything saturated with urine goes. I pick out all poo and food. Put back all clean bedding and add more if needed and restock hoard.

What's your hamsters cage like?

[Snail]

https://imgur.com/gallery/xLa7n6D
This is his cage at the moment, any feedback is welcome, I know its not very pretty but it seems to be the layout he is most comfortable with. I think I’ll maybe try sprinkling some of his used bedding around and see if that helps

[Engel]

Originally Posted by Snail

https://imgur.com/gallery/xLa7n6D
This is his cage at the moment, any feedback is welcome, I know its not very pretty but it seems to be the layout he is most comfortable with. I think I’ll maybe try sprinkling some of his used bedding around and see if that helps

Looks pretty good to be honest. Hammy heaven. My only question is how big is it? (Length and depth)

[Snail]

It’s 75.01cm x 45.01 which I think is big enough (Let me know if I’m wrong) but I’ve been having a lot of difficulty calculating it into inches squared which is what most people use as a guideline for hamster cages. I can always upgrade if needed

[Pebbles82]

It’s fine . I agree leave it. Our Robo used to do this - he had two nests and would move to one side of the cage and between them. In the end I found it worked best to just clean half the cage - when needed. Then when the other half needed doing he had rescentdd the first half and would move back there when I did the second half . Even then I mostly did spot cleaning. It works well to do half the cage at a time with time in between for them to adjust so one half is always undisturbed and familiar.

[Engel]

Originally Posted by Snail

It’s 75.01cm x 45.01 which I think is big enough (Let me know if I’m wrong) but I’ve been having a lot of difficulty calculating it into inches squared which is what most people use as a guideline for hamster cages. I can always upgrade if needed

It's ok for dwarf species but if you decide to get a Syrian hamster in the future I'd advise a 100x50cm cage as they're bigger, their stuff is bigger. Also female Syrians are never happy haha sq inches is normally the American way I believe. Most people agree on a 80x50cm cage for hamsters but there is some leeway with dwarves and 70x40 is considered acceptable. Yours is within limits so don't worry yourself about it no need to upgrade unless you get a Syrian

[Snail]

I’ve never had a syrian before but if I get to adopt one I’d likely go for over 600 square inches. I think Im going to get a detolf for my robo when I can just because of how much energy he has.