Why do hamsters pee in their wheels?

[Panda's_mommy]

I'm just wondering if anyone knows why hamsters pee in their wheels? I just don't get that. Does running in their wheel make them have to urinate a lot or something? For hamsters being such clean animals, as far as how often they clean themselves, you'd think they wouldn't pee or poop in their toys. Also why do they eat, sleep, pee and poop in the same place, their nests??? I don't get that either. Can someone please enlighten me on this! lol.

[Gazmo]

only some my hamsters have peed in there wheels :L i think their just lazy XD
They can poop when there asleep/half asleep i thnk, so they just poo everywhere. with thepeeing you can potty train then

[_nod]

Could just be that wheels aren't natural to them, as far as they are concerned if they urinate then run for a while they should be a long way from where they were. Maybe they are confused as to why it still smells like pee when they've run such a long way! : )

[Panda's_mommy]

he is potty trained. he pees in his potty. but i have to clean his wheel everyday cause he pees in it. and he pees in certain corners of his cage too. don't get why he doesn't only pee in his potty

[slatted]

I thought urine was a way of scent marking territory and so in part they are claiming the wheel as theirs and they have to keep it up to make sure the scent does not fade.

I find this is mainly with my dwarfies.

My Syrians are happy enough being potty trained though they poo elsewhere as much because they "recycle" their poo by eating it again for nutrients before discarding it after the second time round! yuk! lol

[Tutu]

Hamsters are clean animals but lazy sometimes. Or they have such a little bladder I'm sure it is very hard to keep it all there/
Also they are peeling and pooping in their nest for territory marking and scenting.
My Syrian girl used to pee in her wheel when she was younger but seem to stopped now.

[Pilgrim77]

One of mine has started doing this after several months of behaving himself and using a little sandbox as a toilet. Wondered if it's when he goes too fast and spins about it he maybe wets himself? It's smelly.

[SoapyVP]

Originally Posted by _nod

Could just be that wheels aren't natural to them, as far as they are concerned if they urinate then run for a while they should be a long way from where they were. Maybe they are confused as to why it still smells like pee when they've run such a long way! : )

I hadn't thought about it like this before. I just thought they liked making us clean! Lol.

[Anthorn]

Originally Posted by Panda's_mommy

I'm just wondering if anyone knows why hamsters pee in their wheels? I just don't get that. Does running in their wheel make them have to urinate a lot or something? For hamsters being such clean animals, as far as how often they clean themselves, you'd think they wouldn't pee or poop in their toys. Also why do they eat, sleep, pee and poop in the same place, their nests??? I don't get that either. Can someone please enlighten me on this! lol.

This made me smile because I can sympathise a lot. I think the only time I've had a hamster urinate in its nest is when the nest was in a hidey house: When they do that, they do try to separate the urine from the nest and larder but the area inside the house is too small for them to do it. But hamsters pretty much poop everywhere including in their nest.

[shiny]

Our dwarf hamsters wee in their wheels too. I read on here that the more you wash the wheels, the more they wee so I only wash them every week or so now & they don't seem to smell after a day or two. Mucky boys! Amazingly their coats look & smell clean though!