Cleaning Out!

[Hammy Chum]

I know there's been quite a lot of posts on this but I am always still so confused as to when is best to do a deep clean for Chumley (note- it greatly peturbs him!)

So, I tend to divide his cage into quarters so as not to mess things all up at once - the right hand two quarters front and back are fine as he doesnt really bury here so just needs a bit of a prune and top level replacement of bedding, replace his sand etc, so aside from the sand and daily poo picking this can kind of be every 6 weeks or so....

He doesnt wee in that area - only occasionally in his big sand bath which I remove pee lumps daily and change entirely every fortnight.

The two left hand quarters, he has his house in the back one where he goes in, but he then burrows down towards the front left of the cage too where his stash is currently

I tend to clean these quarter by quarter rather than ALL (ie half the cage) at the same time.

Now. I've seen some forums or advice that clean once a week... through to some that say every two / three months or so.

I think he does wee somewhere around these in the day when his sleeping as occasionally we can smell it but its definitely not 'too much' of a smell and he has a prune out occasionally. A lot of the time when I've thought right I actually really must now clean it - it's not actually been that bad when I've got in there. It's quite an awkward clean out though due to where his house is etc as he has to be out for a while in his play pen (he only tolerates about 5 mins) and I have to take quite a bit of stuff out to get to everything so its a bit of a mission.

SO. how often should I do be doing this? What do you guys all do?

 

[Maz]

Depending on the cage size, and where the hamster sleeps/pees, I tend to do "third" cage cleans. So divide it into thirds (back to front). A third at one end, a third at the other end and a third in the middle. The end away from the house tends to just stay clean and dry. The middle third mostly does but sometimes something from the other end third encroaches. The end where they are sleeping/nesting/hoarding/peeing (in my case under the house) is the end where the most needs sorting.

So I tend to spot clean the pee at that end as and when it starts to smell (assuming you have deep substrate). Then every 2 to 3 months I do a "third" clean. So the house end - everything out, based wiped, half the bedding back in - try to replace the nesting part where it was and half the hoard where it was, replace as much old bedding as possible and add new bedding.

Maybe a couple of months later, the middle third - usually managing to replace half if not more than that, of the bedding - sometimes a hoard is in this area at the bottom. A couple of months later - the far end - which usually is just clean and dry and just needs a bit of spot cleaning! So it varies with the hamster's habits.

In between all that, just spot cleaning the pee as and when needed.

For A robo I do a half cage clean - one half, then the other half. Because they tend to move nests between different halves. Hope that helps!

Basically it's just the pee that's unhygienic. However hoards that get left a very long time can get fusty near the bottom, so I prune out the bottom half of the hoard when doing a "main" clean at that end.

 

[Hammy Chum]

Maz you're super helpful as always!!

To be fair actually with thirds thats probably right, the far right third is 'fine' - middle needs a bit of attention and under his house (left thrid is where is needs a deep clean).

I'm glad you said every two - three months for a deep clean as thats what I've been doing but was worried I was leaving it too long. The only thing is, its impossible to locate any pee to spot clean in that section as you pretty much need to get everything out to find any....

I'm thinking perhaps every 6- 8 weeks best then?

 

[Maz]

Yes that sounds ok I sort of know where Tino pees - it's always the same area underneath a back room in his house and slightly forward underneath of the house. I can kind of spot clean it through the back room and feel around, but to properly get at it I need to lift the house out. You could try putting a corner toilet with sand in, in the house maybe? See if he'll use it.

 

[Hammy Chum]

Yes that sounds ok I sort of know where Tino pees - it's always the same area underneath a back room in his house and slightly forward underneath of the house. I can kind of spot clean it through the back room and feel around, but to properly get at it I need to lift the house out. You could try putting a corner toilet with sand in, in the house maybe? See if he'll use it.

Chum doesnt actually stay 'in' his house, he goes in the entrance then burrows straight beneath it so its more of just a frame haha!

So to clean I actually leave it there on its stilts and empty out the bedding underneath it if that makes sense? As its 'empty'

 

[Maz]

Same here. Although I find I still have to take the house out to get at the underneath - and also to make sure there isn't a big gap under the house when I refill!

To be honest it used to be easier when everyone just had 6" of bedding! The hamster would nest in the house and use a toilet in the house.

 

[Socks' Mum]

Yes, Socks has a near weekly upheaval, usually on Sunday late afternoon close to his normal supper time when he pouches his fresh veggies. I remove his Omlet multi chamber house and look under it for his pee area. Last time there was a lot of damp bedding. I think he might have some kidney issues as his sand corner loo is also very damp. Then he comes out with a slightly worried look and I pick him up in some of his bedding as he is getting a bit frail now. He sniffs my hands and then digs under the bedding in his carrier (it's much too early for the play pen) and goes straight back to sleep while I look for any damp hoard or stale food. Then I wake him up and set him down next to his food bowl. He usually has a look at it and may pouch a few veggies before going back to bed