hamsters sense of smell

[hambelinski]

has anyone got any idea of how far a hamster can "smell" others? Our situation is this:
mature female in one end of 26' lounge, mature male at other end and a baby female who presently lives upstairs. all was ok until post birth, now whenever the female is on heat, and for good few days after, she absolutely reeks, despite cage cleaning.
would it be better to have the two females downstairs and the male upstairs?
will it upset the females being in closer proximity as they are mom and daughter? any advice will be appreciated. thanks.

[Holly]

Well I have a very small room with five girls and five boys all in close proximity to each other! They all call to each other when one of the girls are on heat (which is most nights!). I don't really notice the smell and I wouldn't know if it's worse because they are close together or not, hopefully someone else can help!

[souffle]

I think you just have to get used to it hambelinski sorry! Once they have had pups the females are often more whiffy and it does not really matter where you move them too they still have the 'smell'. Actually the night they are mateable is the least smelly time as the mucous is clear and hardly noticeable. Just be careful and watch for a bloodstained or very bad smell out of the normal range which may indicate infection! Our females smell whether the are with boys or not and the boys can smell the girls after thourough hand washing so they have a great sense of smell. In the wild males smell females from a very long distance as they live quite far apart and have to find each other for mating.