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Old 02-22-2016, 01:09 PM  
Pebbles82
Hamster Antics
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: Potty Training Help

Hi. Hamsters can get in an itch scratch cycle if you keep cleaning out the place they are weeing, as it makes them wee in it more to scent mark it. Which is ok if its a potty but not if it's tubes! Agree with CMB about removing the tubes and blocking them off, and about the potty advice. You could put a couple of dishes out with Chinchilla bathing sand in - and see which one they use (or they might use both). Once they are in the habit they will actually go there to use it rather than randomly doing it everywhere, although I believe dwarf hamsters do tend to wee in more places than Syrians! No six months is not too late, they should be able to take to it any time. I think they like a separate toilet area - ours sits in the front of his and has a wash and pees in the back corner - it's like an ensuite bathroom. He also puts substrate on top of it if he thinks it needs emptying lol.

Sometimes too much cleaning can make them wee more and they will scent mark everything. I picked up some very helpful tips from this video from Erin's Hamsters - you can change the cleaning routine to avoid the stress/scent marking using her method - worked for me (more for avoiding stress in my case because he was already potty trained, but got really stressed over cage cleans).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jVnEjrXbww
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