Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000
They just don't like cage cleans  They find it quite stressful. There are a number of tips on here for avoiding cage clean stress. It's difficult with a small cage(new build one sounds great!) but if you have deep enough substrate, you can just "spot clean" mainly rather than full cage cleans. Particularly if they use a litter tray. Then you just empty the litter tray every 5 days or so and the rest of the cage stays clean - they tend to pee in wheels but the wheel can be cleaned separately as and when.
I always leave the nest and the hoard alone unless it is pee'd in. They are very particular and anxious about their nest and their hoard. She may be digging in her house during the clean,to try and hide her hoard so you don't steal it! If the hoard is pee'd on and has to be removed, you need to put new food back in exactly the same place. It's a territorial instinct and if they think an invader is going to steal the hoard they can start peeing on it to deter invaders - so it becomes a vicious circle then. In fact if big clean outs are done too often, they tend to pee on everything sometimes to "scent mark" it.
Pet shops tend to recommend weekly full cleans, but it isn't necessary. Poops are fine unless they start taking over - they aren't smelly or dirty really. They are like little black seeds and they hoard or eat them sometimes for extra vitamins (which is normal).
The method I use is - litter tray and spot cleaning - and with a large cage that can mean the substrate doesn't need changing for about 3 months. Clean wheel a different week from the substrate, and clean any toys a different week again. That way something always smells familiar. Even when doing a substrate change, you can replace the bottom or clean third and mix it in so it smells familiar.
They are funny little things but if you remove all their scent from the wheel regularly they may ignore it! So adding a treat tempts them back in. I tend to accept the wheel gets a bit pee'd on and not over clean it but just occasionally (depending on how bad it is).
Difficult when it's hard to get hold of substrate. I believe corn cob isn't recommended either. It should be fine for now. Glad you've found some aspen!
Do you know about Zooplus? They have an Italian website. They are based in Germany but ship all over Europe and have a good selection of substrates. If you buy in bulk the postage isn't so much of an issue.
What you could do is just tear up a whole bunch of plain white toilet paper into strips and add that to the cage and mix it in with the current substrate. It's good for nest building, so always good to keep putting a pile of strips of tissue/toilet paper out for them to take and build/line the nest with even if you end up using a different substrate. It's safe if chewed or swallowed (apologies if you already know all that) and they seem to like paper strips for nests.
Zooplus seem to sell different products in different countries, and a lot of the bedding listed for Italy mostly isn't suitable for hamsters - but they do sell Carefresh in large packs. The safebed paper bedding is ok but it's in a very small pack so would work out expensive. You could get Carefresh, Hemp,
Lettiera Carefresh Natural | zooplus
Lettiera di canapa Hugro | zooplus
This Chipsi softwood bedding is a German brand and they have quite strict kiln drying regulations so it's a good one. It's part pine and part spruce - which is better than all pine because spruce is equivalent to hardwood in terms of phenols.
Lettiera Chipsi Super | zooplus
Hope that helps! |
When I said she digs inside the house, i meant after the cage is cleaned, but I guess it could be a sign of stress anyway, as she was thinking "where's my nest gone", thank you for the advice!
As you said it's difficult not to stress the hamster with a small cage, I mostly do full cleanings with her, trying not to do it more often than once a week, but sometimes other family members do it if I don't because of the smell, she doesn't live in my room like my other one and the smell bothers them, but I don't have any space for her in my room
Everything is going to be better with the new cage, she will have the same routine that I have with the syrian: place a litter tray in her fave corner and empty it when needed, filling it again with bedding from the cage, spot clean droppings, remove hoard only if the food gets wet with leftover veggies and replace it(rarely but it can happen) and do full cleanings when I feel like they need it, not more than once every two weeks (the new cage is not that big, it's still a small cage but she's a tiny girl, anyway if she gets more active we might build a diy one for her too)
I already give them both strips of unscented toilet or kitchen paper because corn cob doesn't really allow nesting and she has lots of fun ripping them, they end up looking like little clouds, so sometimes i just throw a whole piece in her cage to keep her busy
I know that corn cob isn't recommended, but it was my only option as I explained, especially when I found out (well, i already knew that when I had hamsters years ago but i forgot) that cedar and pine shavings are not safe and the shavings they sell here don't specify the type of wood
I know about zooplus and dream of some of the items for my hams since I was a kid but unfortunately I live with my parents and I can't buy online, thank you anyway, i hope this is helpful for someone else who is able to
Now that I've found aspen shavings, which come in harder chips that won't get caught in the Syrian's long fur, I'm set