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12-09-2019, 02:19 PM
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#1
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Hamster Pup
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: England
Posts: 86
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Cleaning Schedule
I clean my hamster's cage every week and her toys every four weeks. Until now I thought I was being lazy but now after seeing some posts on hamster hidout I am beginning to think that maybe there isn't even any need to do it that often.
My hamster only pees in her toilet which has chinchilla sand in so it doesn't smell - I clean it once a week.
She also piles up all of her droppings into a corner away from her nest so I just remove those when I see any.
Her cage, apart from that, is smell-free and she has quite a lot of bedding.
How often should she be cleaned out?
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12-09-2019, 02:59 PM
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#2
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House of Hamsters
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Posts: 7,103
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Re: Cleaning Schedule
Your hamster seems to be very tidy and so is my Syrian. I spot clean when needed and do a full clean every 4-6 weeks but even then save as much as possible from his nest and substrate to mix in with fresh substrate.
My Robo's tank had a full clean for the first time after more than three months of living in it. Part of the tank hadn't even been used. I wash his wheel daily because he pees in it.
My dwarf's bin cage i need to wash out every couple of weeks because he's diabetic and pees a lot. I need to spot clean every few days and wash his wheel when its been peed in.ù
A lot depends on your hamster and the cage. Let your nose be your guide.
I think weekly full cleans are a thing of the past when hamsters used to live in tiny cages with very little substrate.
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12-09-2019, 05:03 PM
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#3
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Hamster Addict
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Shropshire, UK
Posts: 923
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Re: Cleaning Schedule
Depends on what substrate they have as wood shavings will start to smell long before paper based bedding. Also depends on the size of the enclosure. The bigger it is the longer you can go between cleans. Also as your ham is so nice and toilets mainly in one area, you can go longer again as only one spot needs cleaning. I agree with Ria on this, let your nose guide you
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12-09-2019, 05:58 PM
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#4
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Hamster Pup
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 133
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Re: Cleaning Schedule
I’ve read many recommendations for spot cleaning once a week and thorough cleaning once a month.
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12-09-2019, 06:16 PM
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#5
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PM Fluffy for custom title
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 4,545
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Re: Cleaning Schedule
Weekly spot cleaning is fine. Thorough full cage cleans monthly is not a good idea though, at least once you start encountering larger cages with proper substrate depth. 100 cm x 50 cm cages could easily go 3 months without a full clean, but even then it is never necessary if partial cleaning is done(you'd continuously be replacing soiled substrate anyways over time). Square meter sized cages with very deep substrate on the other hand could go 6 months or even a whole year without ever having a full cage clean outside of medical necessity even though they could absolutely end up never requiring a full clean at all. This is still true of wood based substrates.
Hamsters using sand baths as their toilets certainly help increase the time a cage stays reasonably clean, but when you add in the proper form of cage cleaning(spot cleaning and very small partial cleans along with occasional wheel cleaning and necessary removal of food that's gone bad in some way) that increases even more. Cleaning the cage fully too often not only compromises the hamster involved's immune system in multiple ways, but it also results in a negative impact to your wallet along with potential negative impact to the environment.
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12-10-2019, 07:25 AM
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#6
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Hamster Pup
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: England
Posts: 86
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Re: Cleaning Schedule
How often does disinfectant e.g. pets at home clean-n-safe need to be applied?
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12-10-2019, 10:19 AM
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#7
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Hamster Addict
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Shropshire, UK
Posts: 923
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Re: Cleaning Schedule
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flossypet
How often does disinfectant e.g. pets at home clean-n-safe need to be applied?
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Personally I use it every time I do a 'thorough' clean but only really concentrate it on the areas the hamster is more likely to toilet. For me that'd be sand bath and wheel although I also clean the corners out of habit. I mostly get away with unfragranced baby wipes to give things a quick wipe over seems to work fine
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12-10-2019, 10:33 AM
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#8
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Newborn Pup
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 2
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Re: Cleaning Schedule
I also have similar question to the poster, so these answers are helpful. Regarding not doing a full clean for 3-6 months (assuming large enough and deep enough bedding), do you do anything to remove the poops that accumulate in the nest? My hamster uses an area about 6” x 20” as his nest, and there are poops all along the bottom. The only way to clean them out would be to clean out the entire nest.
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12-10-2019, 10:43 AM
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#9
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House of Hamsters
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Posts: 7,103
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Re: Cleaning Schedule
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flossypet
How often does disinfectant e.g. pets at home clean-n-safe need to be applied?
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I use mild washing up liquid and warm water then rinse and dry. I think disinfectant is only needed after illness, parasite infection and death.
I could be completely wrong with my take on things because i'm a bit old fashioned and a great believer in plain soap and water.
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12-10-2019, 03:00 PM
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#10
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Hamster Addict
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Shropshire, UK
Posts: 923
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Re: Cleaning Schedule
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ria P
I use mild washing up liquid and warm water then rinse and dry. I think disinfectant is only needed after illness, parasite infection and death.
I could be completely wrong with my take on things because i'm a bit old fashioned and a great believer in plain soap and water.
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Good ol'soap and water is my normal go to. Mixed some in a spray bottle. Does real well for pet rats too. Can't actually remember the last time I used the disinfectant, it's collecting dust. Well I don't feel so bad now thanks Ria, I thought I was the only one
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Tags
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hamster, clean, week, cage, droppings, corner, schedule, piles, hamsters, nest, bedding, lot, cleaned, smell-free, remove, smell, sand, hidout, weeks, beginning, posts, lazy, pees, toilet, thought |
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