Mould issues

Ria P · 04-13-2020, 06:23 AM

As already mentioned in my "Percy" thread i had issues with mould before which had formed on bamboo and was caused by Percy's diabetic pee. I then changed everything in his bin cage to plastic, ceramic and cardboard. I check his cage every three or four days and replace substrate where needed.

Last Thursday i discovered mouldy substrate plus a fruit fly so washed Everything. My theory was that Percy had hidden a small bit of cucumber which went off.
I then watched him eat his tiny bits of cucumber every evening and he does usually eat it on the spot.
Today Monday, i checked for damp patches and found a little mould growing again in one particularly damp corner. Not much and i removed it immediately of course.

I use the white Kaytee C&C which is very soft and dense. Now i wonder if i should use a different substrate or less substrate so more air circulates?
He's in a bin cage with a fully meshed lid and a large meshed front window so lack of ventilation is not a factor. His DIY plastic house has two entrances for extra ventilation but the substrate inside his house has never shown any mould. He won't use a toilet and changes his peeing places like he changes his sleeping places. He's a dwarf.
I'm pretty sure the mould is caused by the glucose in his diabetic pee because i don't have this issue with my other hamsters.
I don't mind cleaning even more frequently but he's not exactly happy about it hence my question if there's anything else i could do?

sushi_78 · 04-13-2020, 08:49 AM

I wonder if a barred cage might help with more air flow? Even with a meshed lid and window, the corners of a bin cage might be getting less ventilation than other areas.

Ithuviel · 04-13-2020, 09:41 AM

i'm interested to hear more options

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AmityvilleHams · 04-13-2020, 10:11 AM

I'd also agree with a barred cage. Bin cages, no matter how well meshed, cannot truly compete with how much ventilation a fully barred cage would have - especially with only one window and the lid meshed!

Anything can grow mold including plastic. The big contributing factor here is moisture, so even if there was low glucose in your hamster's urine any sort of high moisture could easily cause the same problem. To keep mold from growing 100% even on plastic you'd need an absolutely ridiculous and quite frankly harmful cleaning schedule as things would need to be cleaned every day(mold can grow on plastic in as little as 24-48 hours).

On the topic of plastic and mold, I'd imagine the lack of ventilation plastic brings could also be a significant contributing factor. Plastic does not breathe at all and traps moisture. If he doesn't tend to pee much in his house, this would make it less likely for mold to appear there(not due to glucose but due to moisture as urine creates moisture and again moisture can lead to mold).

Pebbles82 · 04-13-2020, 01:02 PM

I also think a barred cage would help. Expensive solution though. If you didn’t mind forking out £80 then the Savic Mickey 2XL is good in my view and future proof- suitable for any species of hamster, has narrow bar spacing for robos and dwarf hamsters and is a fairly low height. It’s only sold by Amazon in the Uk. Has a big front opening door. It’s 80cm by 50cm. The Hamster Heaven is the same cage but 1cm bar spacing and costs a bit less. Should be ok for a dwarf hamster but not a Robo. I love my Mickey 2XL though. It’s had two Syrians and a Robo in it.

I had the odd white mould issue once - on the substrate - it was under a water bottle. So just damp and humidity most likely - his pee might encourage it more.

cypher · 04-13-2020, 01:45 PM

Mould can be a real problem with diabetes, changing substrate won't help but. i agree with the others that a barred cage may do, I have both the savic mickey & hamster heaven, basically the same cage with a slight difference in bar spacing, the HH is fine for a Russian.

Ria P · 04-13-2020, 02:01 PM

Thank you for all the feedback. I did in fact purchase a Hamster Haven about a month after adopting Percy who must be about a year old now. I returned it for two reasons. I found the base of the cage very unstable because it wasn't flat and Percy was a very disturbed and unhappy hamster at that point so i was reluctant to stress him out by moving him into a new cage. He settled in his bin cage and appears to like it in there.
What i need is a barred cage with a flat base because Percy's cage sits on top of a table which still leaves the question if it would be a good idea to unsettle Percy by moving cage now. His health is starting to deteriorate. I could add more windows or vents to his current cage but this may not suffice. Got to do something that's in Percy's best interest.

cypher · 04-13-2020, 10:19 PM

It is a case of balance really doing what you have to do to maintain a clean & healthy cage without causing your ham too much distress, if you think changing his cage might be too stressful & I can understand that then it may just be better to keep him where he is & clean more, little & often is probably best so he doesn't have too much disturbance at any one time.
I can't say I've had a problem with the HH being unstable & certainly not when it's full of substrate so I don't know if maybe you got a dodgy one.

Pebbles82 · 04-14-2020, 05:05 AM

I have my cage in a flat surface overhanging. Looking at it, the base has feet so not entirely flat - but I have a replacement Ferplast base. Haven’t had a problem with it overhanging an edge though. If that is an issue could you put a bit of board under it? I think most cage bases have slightly raised feet at the corner. How about the Grosvenor cage? That is slightly smaller.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Frie...osvenor&sr=8-1

Pebbles82 · 04-14-2020, 05:16 AM

If a cage move is fine carefully they can be quite happy. And appreciate something a bit better. I do a transition move over a couple of days by setting the new cage up with substrate , a couple of toys and maybe one toy from the current cage - plus some bits of food on a shelf eg. And let the hamster have a play in it. (Putting the old toy back in old cage afterwards). Then do the same thing the next day. Second time they should explore more and seem to like it. Then on the third day move them over. The new cage is already familiar and has their scent, but still move all old bedding over and spread it on top of the existing bedding still in the new cage and move all toys, house etc across and set up in the same location where possible. Eg wheel left back , house right front, food bowl and water bottle similar layout. Move house over with nest and hoard in tact. They tend to settle really quickly then. If you add new enrichment as well they see it as an improvement!