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Old 01-25-2021, 12:34 PM   #1
sammy87
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Default Spot cleaning - with a very shy hamster

hello all

I thought i would start a thread to gauge people's opinions on spot cleaning on new hamsters.
For abit of history i have had 5 hamsters, prior Gus who is my current hamster, through they started off nervous of me we could start the taming process within a couple of days and i could go into the cage to spot cleaning causing limited stress.

With Gus, he has been a completely different kettle of fish i have had him now for 3 weeks and we havent got to the taming process yet i am still waiting for him to relax and gain confidence enough to come out when iam in the room. When i have caught him out and about when the lights has been off. He will freeze at the sound of me and if i put my hand in the cage no where near him he will bear his teeth and stand on his hind legs so he is not happy present. Poor little boy. Hopefully this wiĺl change with time.

For the first two weeks i decide to go on the less disturbance is key so i reduced spot cleaning to every couple of days and then cleaning him on the second week. He found tye cage cleaning completely stressful and he cowered in a corner under a toy in a spare box and till i could return him to his home.

So its now back to a waiting game and him getting used to my presence however, he has decided to toilet in an area next to his bed under a large platform so me spot cleaning can be alittle disruptive for him. So i was wondering what everyone else had done in similar circumstances to reduce stress in term of spot cleaning for a nervous terrified little hamster? But also in helping Gus adjust tips are always welcome.

I would love to handle him but mostly i would like him to settle in and be comfortable.
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Old 01-25-2021, 01:57 PM   #2
Ria P
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Default Re: Spot cleaning - with a very shy hamster

I don't quite understand why you have to clean so often. How big is his cage and how many inches of substrate does he have? I'm not surprised that he's stressed when you've cleaned his cage out after only two weeks. You removed his scent and it sounds like he wasn't ready yet to be taken out of his cage. He's probably a very insecure hamster who needs time to settle into his habitat, scent it and make it his home without too much human interference.
Does he have a toilet filled with sand in his pee spot? I only clean my Syrians toilets once or twice a week and leave the rest alone. I clean or part clean their cages every two months or so.
They live in Alaska cages with paper based substrate filled up to the rim of the plastic base.
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Old 01-25-2021, 02:32 PM   #3
sammy87
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Default Re: Spot cleaning - with a very shy hamster

I will usually clean out ever four weeks but to retain more of his existing bedding to keep his scent i decide to drop it to two weeks and only change half of his bedding. I can also then monitor how messy he is as all hamsters are different and some need more clearing out than others. My two robo hamster can definitely vouch for that; one was cleaniless to a high degree and the other was messy little thing.
His cage is a bin cage 50cm x 90cm i believe with 7inches substrate approximately with a huge tube complex.
His toilet is just a corner he likes to use which happy with but just a hard one to get to.

I feel i have jumped on a big issue here by accident looking at other posts. cleaning out hamsters and when to do it everyone has different opinions.

I think for now i will leave spot cleans and just clean two weekly changing half his bedding. Depending on how he reacts and how messy the cage is i will reassess. Hopefully he will become more relaxed and i can do little cleans often and big clean less oftens. Which woukd be better gor him.
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Old 01-25-2021, 03:03 PM   #4
Ria P
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Default Re: Spot cleaning - with a very shy hamster

Hamsters are very clean little animals and their poops isn't anything to worry about because they don't smell.
If your hamster pees in one corner, why do you not just clean that corner?
I know that its none of my business what or where you clean but i'm just plain curious now and a bit intrigued as well.
Gus lives in a good sized habitat with a good layer of substrate so how come he smells? I take it that you clean because it smells otherwise there wouldn't be any need to.

I used to make bin cages so i'm quite familiar with them. Does your bin cage have enough ventilation? They need a meshed lid and a meshed front window. I also added a back vent for extra airflow.
Where is the huge tube complex? I'm really interested in how you set it up.

The cage itself could be a problem for a nervous hamster because your hands are coming in from above. I found that with a very nervous rescue hamster who was living in my top opening cage. He did far better in a cage with a large front opening door because he could come out by himself.

It's like that with many hamster related topics. Opinions vary. I always think that a lot depends on the individual hamster.
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Old 01-25-2021, 04:26 PM   #5
sammy87
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Default Re: Spot cleaning - with a very shy hamster

Oh when i mean by spot clean is what i mean by cleaning that corner. Its just raising the platform and getting to it will upset gus no end so its the whole often but less impact or less often and greater impact argument.

When it comes to cleaning, it all comes back to tmy raining when i did a national diploma in animal care they were very much weekly clean out no matter the size of the pen. If you did it less you risk the animals welfare has nothing to do with smell. This was very strict. During this time i started to get small mammals as pets i have had a wide variety over the years, at first of course i followed the training you never want to risk an animals welfare, but i soon realised that weekly was more than was needed and the stress you could cause wasnt worth it so i have reduced slowly over the years till once a month. However, i still worry about the welfare issues and where you have a animal that is a little more stressed making them are more prone to illness i like to air on the side of caution.

In terms of my bin cage i went with drill bit holes all small and out of reach but this allowed me to cover the lid and some of the top sides allowing abit of alot of ventilation and hopefully hrough flow. There shoild be enough as i not had issues with other hamster that have used it in the path but i will keep and eye on it. I also had a few vets eyeing them up.
The huge tube complex to be honest sounds more impressive then it is really, at the moment, i managed to put a large hole in the lid of the bin cage so that i can extend the tube out of the box, that currently goes round in a circle to a little room but once he is settled in, it is going to also connect up to a box the same size so he will have double the room to play with. But i need lockdown to end so i can borrow my brothers handyman tools.
I can understand what you mean about top openning lids. I had been wondering also whether fasten of the lid when you release it make a loudish click which might not be helping either.
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Old 01-25-2021, 05:51 PM   #6
AmityvilleHams
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Default Re: Spot cleaning - with a very shy hamster

Unfortunately holes just don't allow for proper airflow, nowhere near enough really. You need meshed surfaces - at the bare minimum the lid, but having meshed sections on at least one side would help massively!

Interestingly enough, full cage cleans are something that shouldn't be done often. In some circumstances such as with cages that are very large(particularly square meter continuous floor space and larger cages with very deep substrate 12+ inches) there may never be a requirement for full cage cleans except genuine medical necessity - for example mites. Bin cages unfortunately tend to suffer from the issue of sloping sides so the actual floor space can be significantly less than the outer dimensions.

For spot cleaning with nervous hamsters I would honestly do it every other week or if possible less often. Regardless of how often you spot clean, you should never spot clean everything possible all at the same time. For example with weekly spot cleaning - one week you could spot clean a wheel, the next you could spot clean a sand bath, etc. Cleaning too many things at once can remove far too much of a hamster's scent and that stresses them out quite a bit unfortunately.

I know it's hard to get past the frequent full cleans being required for health mentality, but with hamsters it is absolutely critical for their happiness and health. With some species this would be an accurate routine, but hamsters just like any other animal have their own very unique care requirements and we as responsible owners have to learn to work with them to provide for those needs!
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Old 01-25-2021, 11:08 PM   #7
Ria P
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Wink Re: Spot cleaning - with a very shy hamster

The animal welfare diploma appears to be out of date like hamster books and advice from petshops.
Things have moved on from times when hamsters lived in tiny cages with a thin layer of woodchips and weekly cleans were the norm.

Drilled holes are nowhere near enough ventilation and the combination of plastic without sufficient ventilation can lead to allsorts of serious problems like a build up of moisture, mould and bacteria. The same applies to plastic tubes when the hamster starts to nest, pee and hoard in them.

Yes, hamsters need plenty of shelter and hiding places but they also like to be able to look out of their habitats to see what's going on and breathe in some fresh air.
Unfortunately, your hamster is in a plastic box without a window and can't do that. How can he get to know and trust you when he can't see or smell you?

Please have a look on the thread "Let's see your cages" on the Forum under Housing for inspiration.
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Old 01-26-2021, 02:06 AM   #8
sammy87
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Default Re: Spot cleaning - with a very shy hamster

I understand the mesh is recommend but with our going through a long story it was not possible at the time. As such we used drilled holes which follwoing recommendations and forums it would sufficient if a enough holes where put in.
The lid is absolutely covered in holes all about 2cm apart to keep box structure on the box part there a middle and top linear line of holes and then two section of wall had the same process as the lid. The holes are as big as i xould get aware with. As such i dont believe ventilation is an issue, persomally. My previous hamsters that have used the box have had no problems and there has never been a smell build up.
I have not had problems with chewing yet but i keep an eye on this.
Interested to what you have said in terms of full cage cleans amityvillehams. Do you mean that you keep part existing bedding or do you just remove a soiled bedding periodically.
In terms of sloping sides i had noticed that when trying to find the right box thankfully i managed to find the right brand that has little zlope less than 1cm likely for stacking. The measurements i gave are taking from the internal measurements.
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