Smell

[Lula6]

Hi!
Having lost our nearly 3 year old Dwarf Russian Winter White my daughter selected another.
I kept hamsters as a child and this is our second now, but there is a noticeable smell to this hamster. I don't think it is the hamster herself but definitely the cage and the wheel etc. etc.
We have noticed that she just seems to wee anywhere, whereas the previous hamster used a particular corner of the cage in the sawdust.
Is this likely to be the smell?? we cleaned the cage thoroughly yesterday, but already there is an 'aroma'.
Any ideas on what we can do to encourage her to not wee in her food bowl, the wheel, and other areas of the cage?
The cage is a traditional one with a wire top so I am pretty sure the issue is not ventilation!
Thanks

[Erin.R]

Is she a dwarf too? If you just cleaned her cage she will likely be scent marking. If she is new to your home she may go a little crazy with the marking in the beginning. You could try a sand bath, see if she will pee in there. Make sure you use a non dusty sand, this is very important. You may want to not do such a through cleaning next time so she won't go crazy marking things again. What type cage do you have. I have one russian that is only happy with several critter trail cages linked together, he hated his bin, the bad thing is his house starts to smell fast, well the one he pees in. If its a small cage I would go bigger and put a sand bath in both those things have helped with the pee smell

[Pumpkinsmom]

My Robo smells like corn chips or Doritos.

[Skeever]

Pumpkinsmom...you might want to hamster proof the snack cupboards

[cypher]

You didn't say how long you've had her but if she's still new to her home it's quite normal for her to be peeing in several places to begin with, you could try to encourage her to use just one place by picking a spot she already uses & placing a tray or jar with chinchilla sand (not dust) there & putting some soiled substrate on top.
As Erin said don't over clean as that can just make things worse, especially with the wheel, the more you clean the more they pee!
The only thing I'd keep an eye on is just how much she drinks & pees, if it gets excessive & she's a pet shop ham (which would be a hybrid) you need to be aware of the possibility of diabetes but I expect your ham is just settling into her home right now.