Hamster pee smell fine, or an issue?

[voodoochild1974]

Hi
Ok, it's been 40 years since I last had a Hamster as a child, so I don't remember a great deal. The problem is I just got a Syrian 4 weeks ago (14 weeks old now) and his pee is really overpowering.

If he pees through the day, it's not too bad and about what I would think it should smell like (it's normally slightly milky white or a bit clearer) and you cannot smell it unless you really get up close to the cage. Whereas when he wakes before his evening/night of chaos, and pees, you can smell it a room away and it's VERY fishy.

It really does smell bad and I can tell when he has even if I am sat a room away. The odd thing is, after 30mins you can go to his cage and you can hardly smell anything, which is confusing.

When we first got him he was on Pets at Home Hamster Muesli, and I do not remember this pee smell being an issue. A few weeks later I got Witte Molen Puur Hamster Food and Beaphar Care+ Hamster Food, and just did small mixes of all three.

Now I don't know if our Hammy has an issue/if it's normal, or if the change in food with these two other brands could bring on this smell due to what they are made up of?

Other than the pee thing, health-wise he looks great and runs all night on his wheel.

Thanks

[Ria P]

Hi and welcome to HC!

Syrian pee can smell quite strong but i can't tell whether your hamster's pee smells normal or not.

Does he pee in a sand or substrate filled corner toilet? Sand is very useful because pee forms a clump which is easy to scoop out.

Does he drink ok? Is his water bottle working ok?

Someone else may come up with an idea.

I don't know the foods you're feeding him because i feed my Syrians Harry Hamster and Bunny Dreams from Zooplus so can't say if it has anything to do with the food.

I'd give him a bit of fresh food like cucumber as well.

[LunaTheHamster1]

Hi and welcome.
1.) if you are able to pick him up and check his undercarriage and see what that looks like/smells like. any puss/sign of infection?

2.) what type of bedding are you using? Just wondering if it's an absorbent one.

3.) how often are you cleaning? Just wondering if he is marking his territory a lot whilst settling in

4.) what type/size of cage is it? asking re ventilation

[voodoochild1974]

Originally Posted by LunaTheHamster1

Hi and welcome.
1.) if you are able to pick him up and check his undercarriage and see what that looks like/smells like. any puss/sign of infection?

2.) what type of bedding are you using? Just wondering if it's an absorbent one.

3.) how often are you cleaning? Just wondering if he is marking his territory a lot whilst settling in

4.) what type/size of cage is it? asking re ventilation

1. Not picked him up, but there are times he sleeps in a tunnel and his underside looks fine.

2. A thick layer of Kaytee clean for the main part, with a thin layer of woodchip on the bottom.

3. Spot checks twice a day. Bedding change once a week.

4. Savic Metro Heaven which is 620 square inches.

You mention marking his territory, which was the first thing I thought of, that maybe Hamsters spray, and that's what smells. I Googled it, it just said scent glands, rather than spray, so I ruled that out.

It's very odd as his normal pee is a bit smelly but only if up close and what I class as normal. But once a day (sometimes every two days) the smell he makes is strong enough to fill two rooms, and yet after 30mins, you are hard pushed to notice it in the cage.

Again, if it is Hamsters can mark their cages with a strong smell? that would make sense.

Thanks

[voodoochild1974]

Originally Posted by Ria P

Hi and welcome to HC!

Syrian pee can smell quite strong but i can't tell whether your hamster's pee smells normal or not.

Does he pee in a sand or substrate filled corner toilet? Sand is very useful because pee forms a clump which is easy to scoop out.

Does he drink ok? Is his water bottle working ok?

Someone else may come up with an idea.

I don't know the foods you're feeding him because i feed my Syrians Harry Hamster and Bunny Dreams from Zooplus so can't say if it has anything to do with the food.


I'd give him a bit of fresh food like cucumber as well.

He lives like a King lol He has everything like loo/sandbath, though he is hit and miss with the loo.

I check his bottle twice a day to see if it's working but I also have a tiny tub in with him in case the bottle ever fails.

He gets a mixed diet and fresh vegetables (ones I read up on as being ok)

One of the foods he gets lists omega 3 in the ingredients, which is mostly from fish, so I was wondering if that was part of the reason for the fishy smell....but I think that's just clutching at straws.

[LunaTheHamster1]

Originally Posted by voodoochild1974

1. Not picked him up, but there are times he sleeps in a tunnel and his underside looks fine.

2. A thick layer of Kaytee clean for the main part, with a thin layer of woodchip on the bottom.

3. Spot checks twice a day. Bedding change once a week.

4. Savic Metro Heaven which is 620 square inches.

You mention marking his territory, which was the first thing I thought of, that maybe Hamsters spray, and that's what smells. I Googled it, it just said scent glands, rather than spray, so I ruled that out.

It's very odd as his normal pee is a bit smelly but only if up close and what I class as normal. But once a day (sometimes every two days) the smell he make, is strong enough to fill two rooms, and yet after 30mins, you are hard pushed to notice it in the cage.

Again, if it is Hamsters can mark their cages with a strong smell? that would make sense.

Thanks

They do scent mark, but in this case I am wondering if he is peeing as well to mark his territory. If it was me, I would cut back on the spot cleaning and see if it makes a difference. If the scent lessens you know that's what it probably was. You really don't need to do spot checks twice a day, they are quite clean animals.
When you say cleaning is once a week do you mean just dirty bits? Again if it was me I would be leaving all of this alone for a lot longer, especially with a new hamster. With my syrian Twinkle, he was such a shy boy when he first arrived that with the advice and support of others on here, I left him alone for 6 weeks I think it was. When his toilet area got too dirty for him he just cleaned it out by himeself, i.e. digging it around. Like I said previously if they have enough bedding (6 inches plus), they can do that.

With it being a fishy smell though, I would keep an eye out for possible UTI infection, that is the only thing that would be worrying me. But I'm not a vet so if you do think you need to get him checked out maybe find a good exotic vet.

Oh, just one last though, with you saying it is the savic metro and you can see him sleeping on his side sometimes, have you kept the tubes that come with this, if so they sometimes pee in that and it can quickly become a mess. Lots of people end up removing these, especially if they sleep in there too.

[voodoochild1974]

Originally Posted by LunaTheHamster1

They do scent mark, but in this case I am wondering if he is peeing as well to mark his territory. If it was me, I would cut back on the spot cleaning and see if it makes a difference. If the scent lessens you know that's what it probably was. You really don't need to do spot checks twice a day, they are quite clean animals.
When you say cleaning is once a week do you mean just dirty bits? Again if it was me I would be leaving all of this alone for a lot longer, especially with a new hamster. With my syrian Twinkle, he was such a shy boy when he first arrived that with the advice and support of others on here, I left him alone for 6 weeks I think it was. When his toilet area got too dirty for him he just cleaned it out by himeself, i.e. digging it around. Like I said previously if they have enough bedding (6 inches plus), they can do that.

With it being a fishy smell though, I would keep an eye out for possible UTI infection, that is the only thing that would be worrying me. But I'm not a vet so if you do think you need to get him checked out maybe find a good exotic vet.

Oh, just one last though, with you saying it is the savic metro and you can see him sleeping on his side sometimes, have you kept the tubes that come with this, if so they sometimes pee in that and it can quickly become a mess. Lots of people end up removing these, especially if they sleep in there too.

I think one of the issues is that I have not maybe kept enough bedding (with his smell on) when I renew it. I will try leaving more behind as he might just be doing it because of that.

The tunnels are not too bad. He will sleep in there but not all the time. It just seems to be if he is warm he will go there.

I will leave more bedding behind on his next change and see how that goes and perhaps leave it for longer.