How often should I clean my hamster cage?

[BThuringer]

Originally Posted by Aaprincess

Welcome!

Well my female Syrian hamster tends to pee in her sand bath and poop in her bedding in her nesting corner and food bowl! So I try to spot clean as best as I can but it’s pretty hard trying to clean all those poops up through all the bedding. I spot clean as best as I can, I spot clean areas of her sand baths and then freshen up her sand bath about once a week or every few days depending on how much it needs it. Even after trying to spot clean, when I do a big cage clean out about every 2-3 weeks, again depends how much it needs it, (whilst still keeping some of her old bedding in so it’s not too stressful for her) I still find lots of little poops in the bottom of the bedding. Don’t worry too much about it. When I got my hamster(which was not that long ago at all!) I was worrying about a lot of things like her safety, stress, teeth, free roaming etc you name it.I still worry a bit now and I’m not perfect but only human, we all are - remember that. We just want to give our little babies a great life but it’s easy to forget everyone makes mistakes. I know this is a bit of a ramble but I hope this helps

Great, thanks! I always worry about doing things wrong so I’m glad to know I’m not the only one

[BThuringer]

Originally Posted by Ria P

My Syrian hamster Rory pees in his en suite toilet inside his house. He is a lovely and beautiful hamster but a messy little sod so i do the following:
He has two identical Ferplast guinea pig house and two size S Rodipet ceramic corner toilets. The M size is too big for this house but you can buy Rodipet labyrinth houses big enough to fit one in.
His woodchips filled toilet is opposite his nest in his house and he pees and poops in it. If i leave it too long it starts to stink which doesn't seem to bother him and the sides of his house get a bit poo stained as well.
I take out his toilet about once or at most twice a week and put the clean one in when he's out freeroaming. When his house gets dirty i take the house out as well and put the clean one in. It has his smell so he is perfectly fine with that. Again i do that when he is freeroaming.
The roof lifts off the house so i don't need to disturb his nest which even stays pretty much intact when i change the house over.

This method may not suit every hamster but it works for Rory.
These houses are inexpensive and wash well in warm water with a bit of mild washing up liquid if needed.

Thank you for your reply, it was very helpful! I’m definitely going to invest in some sort of en-suite or toilet area for him. I also might experiment with a sand bath to see if he likes to bathe/wee in it, as I’ve heard some Syrians do this.

[Jazzlovessyrians]

My hamster tends to change where she wees a lot so I just use plastikote (which you can buy on amazon) on all wooden accessories and the wooden cage itself which stops wee from soaking in and makes the wood wipe clean. I would suggest one of the wooden hideouts on amazon that has lots of compartments, they're open bottomed as well so your hamster can make tunnels underneath as long as it has deep substrate underneath. Just make sure the holes are wide enough for a hammie, 2 inches seems to be recommended. I've got the trixie natural living leif labyrinth house and apart from the hole on top which connects to a ladder being a bit too small, my hammie loves the other compartments. The roof lifts off making it easy to clean.
My hammie used to use a plastic house that came with her original, smaller cage but once I realised it wasn't ideal, I took it out, if they don't have the option to use it, they soon choose a new favourite hide!
For wheel cleaning, I use warm water mixed with a little lemon juice to get the smell out then rinse thoroughly with warm water which work a treat.
Choosing the right bedding can really help, kaytee clean and cosy is really absorbent and makes wee spots really easy to spot as it's usually white. It also holds its shape really well which can encourage the hammie to make tunnels. I usually mix in some dust extracted aspen bedding and Timothy hay to give different textures.