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Old 04-28-2022, 07:29 AM  
AmityvilleHams
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Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 4,545
Default Re: First spot cleaning attempt fail

Changing 2/3rds of the bedding every month would be way too much, and it's completely unnecessary especially in larger cages like 100 cm x 50 cm cages and larger. A spot cleaning is all that you need once your hamster is fully settled in, whether it's weekly or every other week. You can spot clean the actual substrate one week and things like wheels the next week though.

I honestly wouldn't even be removing half of the substrate within a 6 month period in a cage of that size. Do keep in mind that by spot cleaning as needed you'd basically be removing the substrate that had been urinated on anyways which is the goal of cleaning anyways, rendering deeper cleanings essentially redundant for healthy hamsters.

Deeper cleaning is only really a good idea when hamsters have been properly diagnosed with mites(through an actual skin scrape - not just because someone or even a vet is guessing they have them which is unfortunately incredibly common) or a similar health issue where cleaning is necessary for safety.

A lot of pet shops and other sources push the very outdated practice of frequent cleaning with hamsters and it's unnecessary for them as well as extremely stressful for them. Frequent cleaning may be appropriate for some species, for example parrots, but for hamsters it causes far more harm than it does any good. Very minimal cleaning as we now advise in the hamster community is the complete opposite of neglect - it's better for the hamsters and is ultimately proper care!
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