Few Questions....?

[Iluvhamsters2012]

Ok i have a few questions i need to ask and got told of for doing to many threads so here i go...
1. Why does my hamster smell i have used "hamster wep wipes" and everything?
2. Why does my hamster chew his water bottle all the time?
3. What are the pros and cons of a pet shop cage and a homemade bin cage?
4. Which of the obove is better .........^ ..........................^ ?
5. What wheels are better?
6. What hamster food is best?
7. How often should i clean and do spot checks on all 4 of my syrian hamsters?
:confused: MORE QUESTIONS 2 COME? Need a realy brainy syrian hamster expert to inbox me so i dont have to keep on making threads!

[Kirsty1987]

1. What is the smell like? Female or Male?
2. Is the water bottle working properly? Mine chewed it because it stopped working
3. Most cages sold by pet shops aimed for syrian hamsters are to small and over priced there just made to look pretty but are not suitable. Bin cages are a much cheaper option, fun to make and good if you have a bar chewer.
4. Bin cages if you can't afford a bigger cage, but cages like the alexander, barney, alaska, ZZ2, mamble rat cage and there are a few more are great size for syrians.
5. An 11" or 12" wheel silent spinners, karlie wonderland wheel or 12" flying saucers
6 Harry hamsters is the best commercial mix or silvers syrian mix sold on ratrations.com
7. I do a full clean out every 4 - 6 weeks and just spot clean toilet area nesting area once a week
Hope this helps :)

[kyrilliondaemon]

1. Why does my hamster smell i have used "hamster wep wipes" and everything? Some people do notice the smell of certain sexes/species more than others. Alternatively, how often do you clean the cage? Cleaning too often can cause the hamster to scent mark more and actually increase the smell a lot
2. Why does my hamster chew his water bottle all the time? It could be a few things, its sometimes a sign of boredom from too small a cage or wheel, sometimes the bottle isn't working quite right, other times we never quite figure it out
3. What are the pros and cons of a pet shop cage and a homemade bin cage? Er... Depends on the exact cages. Big bin cages are big and cheap. Most pet shop "hamster" cages are all tiny and a waste of money, but some larger cages can be fantastic. It mostly comes down to size, cost, and then barred cage vs tank style which is a different comparison completely. (Modular never really gets mentioned as its not generally the best for any hamster to have a modular cage.)
4. Which of the obove is better .........^ ..........................^ ? Depends on the cages/sizes/bars vs tank e.t.c
5. What wheels are better? We use 11" trixie rodent wheels, a 12" silent spinner and a 12" flying saucer. All three wheels are great, but all have pros and cons. Other popular ones include the 11" karlie wheels and the 11" wodent wheels.
6. What hamster food is best? Its all dependant on you and the hams, but the majority of the forum go for either harry hamster (what our syrians currently eat) or the mixes on ratrations (what our syrians will move to when we eventually run out of harry hamster)
7. How often should i clean and do spot checks on all 4 of my syrian hamsters? It depends partially on cage size, partially on personal preference. We spot clean as its needed and haven't done a full cage clean for either syrian in about six months now.

[GhostsInSnow]

1 - Male or Female? If it's not overly unpleasant it's probably just your hamsters smell. They don't need you to clean them or wipe them unless they are actually dirty, also, if you clean the cage too often they will scent mark more which could cause the smell.

2 - Again as above, is it working properly? Does your ham have toys it can chew on, are it's teeth okay?

3 - 99% of cages sold in shops that are marketed to hamster owners are WAY too small. They are aimed at looking fun so that young owners will want them and are made with no regard for the well-being of the hammie and most of the time, you can't fit the correct sized wheel in them. As Kirsty said, Bin cages are fun, you can customize them, make them look how you want and the possibilities are endless, you could just keep adding more bins to it if you really wanted to.

4 - It depends what you're going for. The cages Kirsty mentioned are brilliant for hams and some of them are really cheap, cheaper than the unsuitable ones from the pet shop and even cheaper if you happen to order when there's a discount. most sites will offer discounts or codes if you're a new customer signing up. Bin cages are a nice cheap option and cheap to replace/repair if you need to.

5 - As above really. Although depending on your cage and your space, you might want to opt for one of the wheels mentioned. If you have a big cage, the flying saucer is brilliant but it takes up a lot of floorspace.

6 - Again as above, they're the only mixes I would ever consider using. And perhaps maybe Science Selective but that is a pellet food and Syrians can be notorious for becoming bored with food easily.

7 - Personal preference but you don't want to be cleaning out every week as this stresses the hams. I spot clean every few days if needed or I leave it if not. The litter tray gets done every few days and depending on various things, I might change half the substrate every couple of weeks. It's good to do a full clean every so often but in between, if you want to freshen the cage up, you can always take out a little substrate and mix fresh in with the old so it still retains the hams scent :)

Keep posting here lol, it can be your own question thread xD

(Sorry Kyril, you must've posted when I was typing my reply xD)

[crazygal330]

1) I am not sure about this, we have a male and dont really notice a strong smell other than a very mild pleasant 'hammy' smell.
2)Could be for a number of reasons, either not working properly, it could have become habitual same way bar chewing can become habitual. Could be lack of other things to chew potentially, boredom, lack of space, cry for attention or to be let out.
3)The major different from pet shop to bin cage is price for space. There are a lot of cages on the market so there are different advantages and disadvantages to each. Most cages in pet shops are too small and overpriced. Tall cages with lots of wire levels are dangerous and unsuitable, and in things such as Rotastack or other modular cages there are no compartments with enough height for a suitably sized wheel.
4) I made a bin cage but it really wasn't for me, I have a meshed "guinea pig" cage the zoozone2 instead. The zoozone1 is good too although a tad small.
5)I like the wodent wheels and the silent spinners. I have an 8inch wheel for Ginger as he is quite small, but the 11inch wodent or 12inch silent spinner are nice too.
6) I really like Silvers mixes which can be purchased at ratrations
7)It depends on their floor space really. Ginger has 1metre x50cm so I only fully clean him out about once a month. I spot clean whenever I feel it needs it, maybe once a week. When he has a sand bath I change this every week cause he loves to pee in it!!

[Iluvhamsters2012]

Ok thanks guys i will post more questions if needed later :D

[vanilla-yazoo]

Ok i have a few questions i need to ask and got told of for doing to many threads so here i go...
1. Why does my hamster smell i have used "hamster wep wipes" and everything?
Hamsters naturally have a smell, the boys can have a really dusty smell, the girls are specially strong on heat days, it can be anything from a sweet scent to a sickening pungent smell, the females in particular have smells that cling to hands and clothing, I keep a bottle of hand gel around at all times, keeps the smell down, and keeps hush puppy happy, she dosnt like me smelling of the others.
2. Why does my hamster chew his water bottle all the time?
hamsters must chew to keep their teeth down, if the teeth are not growned down enough with their mix, try offering bonio's or markies, these dog biscuits offer a nice treat, and a good thing for them to chew, you can swap to a bowl for a short time, or place a washer on the wheel, if its the hole for the bottle they are trying to chew.
3. What are the pros and cons of a pet shop cage and a homemade bin cage?
bin cages being plastic can get chew marks, and you must keep a close eye to make sure they can not reach anywhere to get their teeth into for chewing. they are a lot easyer to clean, they are not too hard to build, but more work then just getting a pet shop cage, however, i spent more time trying to get the shelves of my barnies in then i did making both bin cages!
4. Which of the obove is better .........^ ..........................^ ?
if you are looking at pet shop cages, the 'furplast mary' is £60, a bin cage is £10-20, so cost wise, the bin is cheeper, but might need replacing if they do get their teeth in for chewing, you have front doors for access on the cage, but the bin you need to lift the lid off, i personally find it better with most hams, as you can get in to tame them better, do everything you need from above.if you have a really bad cage teritorial hamster, a cage with a door is better, getting them to the door, you can open it with them holding the bars, so they plop out, and reduce the chance of biting as you dont put your hand in the cage.
5. What wheels are better?
for syrians at least an 8 inch wheel, 8=wodent wheel (pricey, can be noisy) comfort wheel (cheep, can be noisy but vastline stops it) 12= karlie wonderland(reasonable price if on offer, needs plastikoting, almost always silent) silent spinner (expensive, wire attachment, mostly silent) flying saucer (cheep, base can be chewed if not taped down, can travel in cage and tap, taping also stops this, normally silent, vastline stops all noise) there are other wheels, but these are what i have had
6. What hamster food is best?
we cant really favor one over the other too much, but burgess superhamster(not dwarf) harry hamster, science selective, and the mixes made by silver, sold on rat rations, are some of the best for the amount of good ingredients, and the %'s they have, I am happy with the mix I buy, which I would promote but I dont want to break rules, but I feel its the best of the lot, my hams love it and do great on it, cant ask for more :D
7. How often should i clean and do spot checks on all 4 of my syrian hamsters?
dipending on cage size, and the indervidual hamster, I normally spot clean once a week, or whenever needed, smaller cages can need cleaning more often, a massive cage will only need part cleans. I do a full clean once a month, but some do it every week, every other week, or leave it even longer then I do
MORE QUESTIONS 2 COME? Need a realy brainy syrian hamster expert to inbox me so i dont have to keep on making threads!

If you want to pm me questions, I will give as many answers as I can, that are non breeding related :D I know you have stopped that plan, but just to be sure :D

[Iluvhamsters2012]

Ok thanks vanilla-yazoo will pm u later with more Questions!

[shiny]

Just to add, I find that smell of cages can depend on what substrate you use. Shavings don't seem to be that absorbent so need more frequent cleaning. We use megazorb which is super-absorbent & helps to contain smells. There are lots of other choices for substrate too.