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Old 01-04-2022, 01:58 PM   #1
Stubbo
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Nov 2021
Posts: 16
Default New Hamster...3 days in...when and how to clean?

So we've now had the hamster we got for 3 days...Hoover (as my daughter named him) is pretty cute.

But now we're onto the subject of spot cleaning, maintenance etc.

We've been checking water and food daily, and.hes been out each night. We put in about 10 sheets of toilet roll torn up which has all.been moved.

We have the Rodipet Maze, which we hoped he'd setup.nest, toilet etc in and make our lives easy (which obviously hasn't happened).

The toilet dish we put in now has all the toilet roll in it (I doubt he's wiping his bum with it) plus there is no sign of any other activity in there. First thing he did was disappear down a cardboard tube we had on the substrate (5 to 6 inches of bedding), block up the opening end of it, from what we could hear chew through the other end of it, and next we saw appear up from underground.

We also put a small other house in which has been investigated but largely ignored.

So the question is what do we do...where do we look to spot clean, is he making his base of operations underground where we can't access it, and how do we work out where he's toileting to actually do cleaning?

Pet shop advised he was 12 weeks old and came.via a breeder. We have the Savic Plaza, Rodipet house one end, shelf at the other, with a second hideaway on it, ground level shelf running along the back wall (at base meets cage height) with sand dish and.wheel sat on it) and the base full of Carefresh.

Any ideas how to approach understanding where he's setup, where to start cleaning etc would be really gratefully received, as it's not like "in the manual".

Thanks in.advance!
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Old 01-04-2022, 05:35 PM   #2
Pebbles82
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Default Re: New Hamster...3 days in...when and how to clean?

Hello. Best not to clean anything at all for the first two weeks while he’s settling in. If you can’t smell anything, don’t worry! If you can, don’t worry - it’ll be fine for two weeks. They need that time to fully settle into the cage, with our where they will nest and work out a routine/route in the cage. And scent mark to find their way around.

If he has been out of the cage during these first 2 or 3 days that process may have been delayed a bit. Usually it’s recommended to leave them alone in the cage for the first two or three days. So he may be a bit disorientated in the cage with it being new, and coming out as well.

I would suggest starting again and don’t get him out for two or three days. He is probably still deciding where to build a nest if he’s investigated the smaller house but by coming out of the cage he is not fully settled in it/accepted it as his new permanent environment would be my guess.

Normally they do choose the labyrinth house - because it’s dark inside. However because you have a tunnel going under the substrate that has probably tempted him down there instead and yes he’s probably nesting at the bottom of the cage. Partly that will be being a bit scared as well. Hiding away.

I suggest you remove the tube. I know it sounds mean but he’ll get over it! Then he will be looking for another tunnel entrance and cover - the Rodipet house has a kind of tunnel entrance. To encourage him in there you could even put the tube in front of the house entrance. Also put a smelly treat inside the labyrinth house - maybe one in the front left compartment and a light trail of food leading to it.

Put the nesting material in a pile very near the house entrance. I’d do this tomorrow early evening and don’t get him out of the cage for two or three nights. He’ll probably move into the house overnight.

Meanwhile you can talk to him through the cage and offer him treats through the bars. So he gets familiarity still - gets to know your voices and scent. He is probably quite overwhelmed by everything being new.

It’s hard when you just want to handle him but normally it’s best not to get them out for handling and taming for two to three days - and not during that first two weeks - unless he shows clear signs of wanting to come out after the first few days - eg coming to the cage door. Patience is the key because in 10 days to two weeks he will be confident and be enjoying his new environment. You can almost see a personality change.

Is the toilet inside the labyrinth house? If not, put it in the middle back compartment. Assume it’s the largest labyrinth house for Syrians? They nearly always build their nest in the front left larger compartment and use the middle back in as a toilet - because they lead to each other abd the front left is the darkest area.

Apart from removing or moving the tube, don’t change anything else right now or move anything.

During the first two weeks I would only spot clean the pee or empty the toilet once - after a week. If it’s clear where the pee area is. As you don’t know where it is I wouldn’t bother. Once he’s moved into the house you can check the lower substrate area where the tube was in a couple of weeks and spot clean that but then.

It’s easy when they nest in the house as you just take the roof off to take the toilet out and empty it. They will only pee in the toilet once they get inti a routine. Having said that, young hansters do sometimes pee in the nest at first but grow out of that pretty quickly. I hope he doesn’t as it’s usually best not to remove the nest at all - sometimes you have to if it’s pee’d in but then try and leave most of it behind - the dry stuff - even if a bit whiffy! And out new nesting material out near the house - keep topping that up as it goes down.

It would help if you could post a photo of the cage set up. Sometimes the location of the house puts them off using it.
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Old 01-05-2022, 02:17 AM   #3
Ria P
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Default Re: New Hamster...3 days in...when and how to clean?

I can only second everything Serendipity has already said and would like to add that poops are nothing to worry about.
Hamsters are very clean little animals, their poops don't smell and often they chuck them out of their house once they have established themselves which includes a routine.

Key now is for you to give the little man a chance to settle in and make his new home his own.

Not unlike humans really. When we move into a new house we need time to set things up to our liking and give it our personal touch. What we don't want is an influx of well meaning strangers taking us out to socialize soon as we've moved in and then come in 3 days later to clean our still clean house.

That is something else to keep in mind. You are still strangers to your young hamster and he doesn't know yet that you love him and want the best for him.
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Old 01-05-2022, 03:19 AM   #4
Stubbo
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Join Date: Nov 2021
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Default Re: New Hamster...3 days in...when and how to clean?

Thanks both for coming back to me and the guidance.

Not sure if you can attach from Google Drive images, but have attempted to below: *turns out it didnt like them added as images, so have just pasted the links in*

Setup (Above):

house1.jpg - Google Drive

Setup (Front):

housefront.jpg - Google Drive

Just after he was added:

justin.jpg.jpg - Google Drive

Sandpit/Tube End (see how the tube he went in first is now blocked)

IMG20220105083043.jpg - Google Drive

Maze End

IMG20220105083052.jpg - Google Drive

Yesterday my wife (before I posted) looked into the Maze house to see what has happening:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19Tg...ew?usp=sharing

As you can see, I had put the potty dish where Serendipity has since suggested he'd likely build a nest (so it seems maybe a nest is being built on top of the potty dish!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19Ru...ew?usp=sharing


Do you think I should remove the tube that is blocked (as suggested)? Do you think that I should lift out the potty dish, move the nesting material back into the compartment it was in, and then put the dish in the central back chamber, or just leave it for now (and maybe buy another potty dish....they're only cheap afterall).

One other noticed behaviour, he likes sitting in the sand dish digging about under the house at the shelf end, and chewing on the Hemp mat I'd used to line the cage sides to stop bedding being pushed out at that end...bets laid plans!

Thanks for any further help/guidance you guys can offer, and hope the pictures help to understand the setup.

One last one, of 'Hoover' himself!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19Xi...ew?usp=sharing
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Old 01-05-2022, 06:36 AM   #5
Ria P
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Default Re: New Hamster...3 days in...when and how to clean?

What a lovely and lucky boy Hoover is! I think the name is apt because they do hoover up the brown linseeds i give them to keep their fur in good condition.

The set up is fab and enriching. I like it a lot! He'll be so happy in there. As for the potty, that is trial and error as i know from own experience. Once he nominates and uses his pee corner, all you need to do is place his potty there with some peed on substrate in it.
One of ours has an en suite and uses it as his toilet and his bin so all i need to do is lift his corner toilet out once a week and replace it with a clean one.
Our other Syrian will only pee in his sand filled corner toilet which is in a corner across from his house.
They have different habits and their housekeeping varies so it's a matter of wait and see what Hoover does.

Keep in mind that hamsters are strong willed little creatures and rarely do what us mere humans think they ought to do.
A hamster will do what a hamster wants to do.

Is that the Rodipet Heurika wheel?

Last edited by Ria P; 01-05-2022 at 08:50 AM.
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Old 01-05-2022, 07:10 AM   #6
Stubbo
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Default Re: New Hamster...3 days in...when and how to clean?

Thanks for the feedback...hopefully the enclosure will work for him...I'm aware the tube that I have going round the top is a little small strictly speaking (it's the classic 'for syrian hamsters but not really'), though he went round it yesterday including turning round at one of the corners to go back the way he came so hopefully it will be ok, and if at point he shows signs of it benig too small/getting stuck I'll just remove it and replace with some kind of open makeshift walkway (will take a bit more DIY that the two shelves did to do that though).

Yes it's the Heureka wheel....he's not started using it yet but hopefully in time.

Sounds like it's a watching brief until he starts to display a true habit, and worst case in a couple of weeks we do a clean and find what we find.

Thanks again. All we need now if for him to wake up a little earlier, or us to accept my daughter going to bed a little later so she gets to actually see him, but that was always the risk (as I told my wife who's idea it was...I had suggested Gerbils for this reason but she had a hamster as a little girl and had romantic memories of that)!
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Old 01-05-2022, 09:03 AM   #7
Ria P
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Default Re: New Hamster...3 days in...when and how to clean?

A year old Syrian hamster i recently had in my foster care had the very same tube running inside his cage and run through it easily so it will depend on how big Hoover will grow.

Degus shelves and the long degus platforms from Amazon is what i use for runs along the sides of the cage. One hamster has the long degus platform with a wicker tunnel cable tied to the bars on top of it. I use the 55cm long Trixie bendy bridges as access.

I'm curious about the Heureka wheel because of its design is different from the usual upright wheels.

If your daughter wants to see what Hoover gets up to when she's asleep, you could get a recording night camera like an elf camera used for babies and pets.
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Old 01-05-2022, 09:20 AM   #8
Pebbles82
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Default Re: New Hamster...3 days in...when and how to clean?

“As you can see, I had put the potty dish where Serendipity has since suggested he'd likely build a nest (so it seems maybe a nest is being built on top of the potty dish!”

This is very likely! Yes I would move the potty dish to the centre back compartment. Empty it out first and put new sand in. If you can save a tiny bit of nest from it then out that in the front left compartment along with a smelly bit of food (cheese or cucumber) - just a tiny piece. I’d also put a small handful of hamster mix in the front right compartment. This will give him the idea to hoard in the house. Although they usually bury their hoards under the nest. Yes I’d take the blocked up tube out.

Nesting material - not sure what you have next to the house entrance but I’d replace it with plain white toilet paper. Tear a few sheets into strips and put them next to the house entrance. They love it as it’s soft (and also safe) - I had one hamster actually weave the strips into an amazing round nest with a hole in the middle! Usually they do arrange the longer strips into a cosy nest but also take bits of soft substrate in there too to pack out the compartment.

I think he’s just gone to the darkest corner he could find and hasn’t quite discovered the house yet. You could also take a bit of the substrate from the blocked up end of the tube and put that in the nesting compartment too - it will smell familiar snd he’ll associate it with “nest”.

It’s a great set up as Ria says. Another thing they do in the first few days is explore every inch of the cage to see if there is an escape route! Which may be the digging at the sand and hemp mat.

You could also move the bendy bridge (the one that’s over the tube) over the house entrance - tunnel tempts them in - and it gives easy access to the house roof as well.

One tip with that house though - is to avoid taking the roof off at first if he moves in. This can scare them into abandoning the house. They get used to the roof coming off wfeg more confident but avoid the temptation to keep peeking. You should know if he’s moved in - you’ll see him come out of it. And the toilet paper strips gone (add more). Also you might hear a lot of scratching and banging in the house. I have no idea what they do or why they do that but it’s like they are renovating! Probably scent marking and testing things out.

If he does move in he may go awol for a few days and stay in there (only coming out at night). But don’t worry - that’s just temporary.

To help with the frustration of the first couple of weeks I have a hamster cam . It’s just a small indoor security camera that records and streams to your phone - infrared. It’s great fun - you can sit in bed and watch what he’s up to after dark - or replay the video next day. Costs about £30 and takes a mini SD card.

Last edited by Pebbles82; 01-05-2022 at 09:34 AM.
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Old 01-05-2022, 09:29 AM   #9
Pebbles82
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Default Re: New Hamster...3 days in...when and how to clean?

The only other thing that might be an issue is the clear internal tubes across the front. Great for access - but just keep an eye in case he decides to nest in those tubes! Hopefully not when there’s a nice big house there.
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Old 01-05-2022, 09:32 AM   #10
Pebbles82
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Default Re: New Hamster...3 days in...when and how to clean?

Pictures. New posters can’t add photos until a certain number of links - then you can embed them. But the links worked fine
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