New Hamster Owner Question

pixiestarcat · 12-13-2016, 08:49 PM

Hi everyone! My name is Pixiestarcat. I am a new hamster owner, and I have been doing a lot of research. But I do have a question I can't find an answer to, that I hope some one can help me with.

My hamsters spend all their sleeping time in their "house" (Kaytee puzzle playground, is the type). I do offer extra substrate for burrowing in other parts of the cage, which they use maybe 10% of the time. I spot clean where they pee in the corner opposite their house every day. But almost all their poops are in the "house". I dont want to disturb their main nesting area every day for spot cleaning, for fear of stressing them out. They hide food in there, and have it all burrowed the way they want. They seem distraught when I mess that up. But isn't it bad for them to be laying on all their poop? They do come out to explore and run on the wheel, so its not that they wont come out to "go" elsewhere if they wanted. Thank you so much!

CMB · 12-14-2016, 03:26 PM

Hamster poop is normally dry so it's ok to leave it longer before cleaning than the pee. They sometimes eat their poop too.

If they have time outside their cage you could empty the poop while they aren't in the cage.

If you have Syrian hamsters they shouldn't live togeather. Dwarf hamsters can live togeather, but often need separating as they often start fighting and would harm or even killl each other.

huri ur · 12-14-2016, 07:52 PM

Welcome to HC
First of all syrias can live together
And it's ok if u mess up the mess maybe 2 or three times a week to get the poops out
Don't do it to frequently tho
They will re build the nest
I hope u don't have to Syrians together
And also like CMB said they eat there own poops sometimes ( like rabbits ) this is due to the fact that they don't get all the nutrients out of the food one time so they sometimes eat there poops so they get the nutrients

cypher · 12-14-2016, 10:11 PM

Hi & welcome to HC.

As the others have said poo is fine to leave in the cage for a while unlike the pee spot it doesn't need daily cleaning, if there's a lot of it you can maybe just scoop it out once a week without interfering with the nest or hoard too much.

pixiestarcat · 12-17-2016, 06:02 PM

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Pebbles82 · 12-18-2016, 03:41 AM

As the others say - poops are fine. And hammies HATE having their nest disturbed! I think as long as they don't pee in their nest, I would leave it be. Their number one things they are very protective about are their nest and their food hoard, and if the hoard is removed they can start doing unusual behaviours like weeing on their hoard to deter people from stealing it. They are naturally quite clean little things I find - if there are too many poops they may bury them or chuck them out! Or make a little pile for a snack in case there is a food shortage.

zzbop · 12-18-2016, 05:58 PM

I brought home a little Syrian almost a week ago and she does the same thing, so I was also wondering about this. Hope everything goes well with your new hamsters

pixiestarcat · 12-24-2016, 11:45 AM

Oh, and I forgot to add.... I do have two Syrians, in separate cages. When I first got them they were together for a short time (they were housed together without issue in their previous home, so I didn't know). But as soon as I found out, I bought a second habitat. I feel so bad.... I did research on hamsters for months to learn how to take care of them, but I didn't see anything about the Syrians needing to be separate. Poof and Floof have their own bachelor pads!

Happy Holidays everyone!