Had to remove nest

[Pebbles82]

Feeling guilty as I had to remove all of Charlie's nest tonight - and it's my fault. Since I've had the flu I've neglected to empty his potty over the last week, so he has been weeing in his nest - the whole nest stunk to high heaven and I had to remove it and quite a bit of substrate, and also the house. I replaced the house with identical house, which I've been waiting to do anyway, but it had a fault in the roof inside the kind of sunk in and I was a bit worried he might get splinters from it, so I lined the house with a cardboard easter egg box which worked a treat as it blocked the window and covered up the fault in the roof. Now I'm worrying that the box might still smell of chocolate and be bad for him - is chocolate bad if inhaled?!! Charlie spent 2 hours asleep on the sofa curled up in his blanket, quite happily, while I completely wrecked his home - oh I do feel guilty. Normally I try and leave some of the nest and substrate from inside the house, but the whole lot was stunk to high heaven, so I had to take it all out. Poor Charlie when he went back in, nothing smelt familiar except the tunnel. He's been banging about inside it a bit so I assume he's building a new nest. I'd been meaning to empty the potty all week, but it was all I could do to spot clean the cage the other day as I feel exhausted all the time, especially with little boy here. And I'd been avoiding handling Charlie while I was infectious.

Anyway - I'm sure he'll get over it in a few days. But he did look very worried when he rolled over to his cage in his ball, sniffing the floor where I'd had the plastic bag full of wee'd on nest and substrate.

[Esselty]

I had to do the same with Whiskers nest, I felt terrible. She was weeing in the house, and it was all wood... I ended up just tossing the whole thing. There was just no way I was going to get the smell out of the wood. Learned a lesson there though.

She was not best pleased with me either.

[souffle]

I don't like wooden houses and toys myself due to this issue with them weeing on the wood and it sinking in and stinking.
I doubt the chocolate smell would cause any problems however the lack of air citculating may make it very stuffy in there.
I prefer to use cardboard boxes with air holes pinched in them which are easy to replace. I vut the bottom out too so they are sleeping on the base part.

[Shannonmcn]

I had to do the same with Whiskers nest, I felt terrible. She was weeing in the house, and it was all wood... I ended up just tossing the whole thing. There was just no way I was going to get the smell out of the wood. Learned a lesson there though.

She was not best pleased with me either.

Not that relevant but my first hamster was also called Whiskers :3

Poor Charlie will get over your terrible crime of cleaning up! it can't be nice to sleep in ones own wee, why are they so weird sometimes :(

I've kept a load of Easter egg boxes for Cc, I don't think the smell of chocolate would hurt at all except for hurt feelings, if only they made hamster sized Easter treats :)

[Thin Lizzy]

Charlie will be fine once he's made another nest but I think you'll need to spoil him with some banana or cheese for uprooting it.

[Pebbles82]

Yes I'm sure he'll be fine in a few days. There should be plenty of ventilation as it has a huge door with a tunnel over it, but I see what you mean - with cardboard over the window bit it reduces ventilation. It has never really smelled in there before, but because I didn't empty his potty for over a week he wee'd in his nest. Anyway it's done now. Yes I'm beginning to go off wood houses as well! But plastic didn't seem great either as they used to get sweaty inside. Cardboard boxes sound better - or I was thinking of getting the bigger version of the hay house, which is basically a cardboard box with hay stuck on the sides - he loves the little one. The easter egg box didn't smell of chocolate to me, but I remembered chocolate is poisonous to hamsters and wondered if he might be able to smell it even if I couldn't and if it might be harmful - but thanks for reassuring me.

[herbi7]

Don't worry. I had to take one of my dwarfs nests right away when I had a dog staying and it disrupted his patterns and he started weeing in his bed. As I didnt' realise straight away and wanted to let him be reclusive if he needed to, he was sitting in a horrible soggy mess when I found it, I was horrified, but he had such fun faffing around in his new shoe box making a big dry nest that he pretty much lives in now. It all worked out ok in the end! As he;s only little I asked my brother for a child sized shoe box... (my niece is eight), it's a lovely sturdy one and I cut a big square in the bottom and turn it upside down and use the lid as a roof so I can lift the lid and check on him. He made his own window by chewing a hole in it in about the right place for a window :)

[Pebbles82]

Thanks! Actually he seemed quite happy and contented last night and came out as usual.