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Old 06-08-2016, 02:51 PM  
Pebbles82
Hamster Antics
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: How to spot clean?

If her nest hasn't been wee'd in I would leave it as it is for a while. If you mean poops, they aren't actually dirty they are being stored for times of famine so your hammy can eat them ha ha. Their poops are like little hard seeds, and not smelly, and they eat them to digest extra vitamins (they have two stomachs).

I think of spot cleaning as getting a handful of wet stinky substrate and removing it and putting a new handful of clean substrate in and mixing it in a bit - ie you don't have to remove every little bit of the wet stinky substrate, just the main bit of it. I'd also recommend using a litter tray - if you put it where your hammy is weeing, then they tend to just start using it, then you just empty it, wash it, refill it, every 5 days or so - and the cage stays much cleaner.

You don't actually need to spot clean every few days - just when it needs it and that will depend on the hamster, their habits and how settled they are.

If she is peeing in her nest then that's a bit different - but I would try not to remove her nest for at least the first two weeks. And then if it is wet, try and leave some of the old nest behind. For now you could put an extra pile of torn up strips of plain white toilet paper out in a pile and your hammy can keep replenishing the nest with new paper - sometimes they even clean the nest out themselves a bit and chuck some smelly stuff out for you to take away.

If you have just got your hamster I would try to leave the cage as it is for the first two weeks, except for spot cleaning the pee corner when it starts to get whiffy. But always try and leave a bit of the whiffy stuff behind so she knows it is stilll her pee corner.

When you say bed, I'm assuming you mean nest or house, is that right? It's not good to use actual fleece beds or fluffy bedding as they can be a bit dangerous.
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