Do hamsters have a smell?

[heidii]

Super odd question, I suppose! Neptr is in a 1116 square inch enclosure (hopefully going into a 1900-2000 square inch enclosure within the upcoming months) and his enclosure doesn't smell at all.

He is in my room, and I usually go on my computer after work, which is usually 10-11pm. His enclosure is behind me, and I wear noise cancelling headphones so I don't hear if he is scuttering about.

However, I know when he wakes up because I can smell him. He doesn't even have to be sat in the middle of the enclosure, usually hes just poking his little head out of his cork hide.

I'm just wondering why this might be? He has a sand bath and I usually see his little foot prints in there, too.

[Ria P]

Some do, especially male dwarfs. It's a musty kind of a smell but not unpleasant.

What kind of smell is it?

[LunaTheHamster1]

I think hamsters have a smell, when I had Comet (my robo) in the same room as me he was often up during the day and I could always sense when he was up even if he was being quiet. I often wonder if it is because we are all animals at the end of the day so I believe we must have senses/give off energy we are not even aware of sometimes.

[heidii]

I couldn't even describe the smell, I suppose. I've never had my own rodent, only cared for the rodents back when I was still in college. That room just stunk of ammonia though, so not really something I could relate it to.

He's a Syrian boy, not a dwarf. Though, I always know when he'd wake, even when I first got him. I wouldn't say it's massively unpleasant, I personally don't mind. Though, I do imagine some people wouldn't like the smell at all.

It could possibly even be down to me knowing he can see me and is actively watching what I am doing. Like when you know you are being stared at when in public.

[Ria P]

Ammonia is the smell of wee and Syrian's wee can smell. I get the whiff of some of our Syrian boys soon as i enter the room even though i clean their toilets and pee spots regularily.

[Lilafernim]

Mitzi smells when she first wakes up but I only would know if I held her to my nose. I can’t smell her from a distance, but her cage also doesn’t smell. Maybe it’s a male thing or you just have super strong smell!

[Stanza]

I have a strong sense of smell and a male syrian and I think our Hams has his own smell, I also notice it more when he first wakes, I just call it his hamstery smell??? As you say, it’s not unpleasant, I can smell it more on the side where his nest is within his cage too. Being a first time hamster owner I just thought this was normal.

[heidii]

Ammonia is the smell of wee and Syrian's wee can smell. I get the whiff of some of our Syrian boys soon as i enter the room even though i clean their toilets and pee spots regularily.


I know this, it's just his cage doesn't smell at all. So I was just wondering why he has a smell :)

[Ria P]

Got this wrong, sorry. The college room stunk of ammonia.

You could contact the breeder you bought him from and ask for advice. Registered breeders are usually very helpful and he/she would have come across this before i would have thought.

Are you worried that something could be wrong with him healthwise?

[Pebbles82]

I have a strong sense of smell and our male syrians don't smell at all to me. Occasionally, if they've rolled in a toilet, their fur might smell a bit of pee when out of the cage and handling them. The only smell coming from the cage itself can be a strong pee smell if it's ready for spot cleaning or the potty tray needs emptying - but that isn' a regular thing.

Are you sure your Syrian is a boy?! Female hamsters can have a strange smell when they're on heat every four days.

What species of hamster is he/she?

[heidii]

Neptr is a boy and he is a Syrian. I'm not nescecarily worried about him, though will be doing a health check soon. I think he could just have a musky smell, not so sure.