Hamster Scent Marking - Duration

[CMW328i]

Hi all,

First time posting here I think.

I have a 2 year old male syian. He's most likely suffering from chronic kidney disease according to the vet, so I'm not expecting him to live to see his 3rd birthday in a year's time.

As a planner, I'm thinking about my next hamster once he passes. I'm curious to know how long a hamster's marking scent stays around. Obviously, I wouldn't want to stress a new hamster by putting them in an environment where the old hamster's scent remains. I can replace bedding and wash certain things clean, but not everything is washable easily. For example, I have several cork logs and things that I probably don't want to get wet.

How long after he passes do you think his marking scent will remain on the items I can't clean?

Thanks in advance for any insight!

[LunaTheHamster1]

I just cook things like cork logs before giving to a new hamster, it won't get rid of the scent though. I have used many of my items with lots of different hamsters over the years and the scent never seems to stress them out. I'm not sure how long a scent stays around but I think it might be a while as I am sure my hamsters often sniff certain spots on an item that was used a long time ago with another hamster. They may just scent mark it themselves.

[CMW328i]

Good to know. As long as it's not going to be an issue for a new hamster. When the time comes, I'll just change the bedding and clean the things I can. I suppose eventually, they'll realise there isn't another hamster around and ignore it.