Luna was hyper this morning at 08:00 UK time...

[Matt_S]

I said to her gently, go to sleep, you shouldn't be awake at this time.

She walked off slowly and then burrowed her body with her head sticking out staring at me!

Such a character & handful at times!

The amount of boredom breakers we've gone through!

I know females are more needy and active, but she's on another level, would never stop us love her!

She had a deep cage clean last night so she's also not amused

 

[Socks' Mum]

Lovely picture! She looks very at home in her nice deep bedding!

 

[Matt_S]

Lovely picture! She looks very at home in her nice deep bedding!

Yeah she is, one side of the cage I put more bedding in, I use 85 litres plus half of another 85 litre bag, takes forever to clean but if she can burrow and hide, I am happy. She's a cute little thing. She is totally different to our previous female Syrian who was dopey and always cuddly.

Luna loves being handled but shes not a cuddly girl, she kicks you with her back legs when she wants you to put her down so we respect this.

We can hold her for a while, then a little kick with the back leg, that means time to put her down and she slowly walks off.

2/3 years is not enough!

 

[Maz]

It's a gorgeous photo Some hamsters are still up at breakfast time! Maybe she wants some breakfast . Not sure if you've seen the cleaning tips article on the home page, but it isn't really necessary to do a deep clean or replace all the bedding - if you know where she's peeing you can just spot clean that area mainly. Some Syrians will use a litter tray with sand in as well - which makes it even easier! You just empty the litter tray a couple of times a week and the rest of the cage stays clean and dry.

I often go 4 to 6 months without changing the substrate, with spot cleaning. And then tend to just do one half of the cage and replace some of the old clean bedding so it smells familiar. Then do the second half 2 to 4 weeks later. The half without the nesting area is usually clean and dry anyway.

With hoards I tend to just prune them from underneath, when doing that half of the cage and remove the older food, leaving the newer there on top.

The longer we can avoid destroying their tunnels and burrows, the better, but sometimes it can't be helped, if having to spot clean the pee

She is such a beautiful girl. I know a few people who say their female Syrian is an unbeleivable level of high energy

Hamster cage cleaning

Tips on how to clean your hamster cage and avoid causing stress to your hamster. It's best to have plenty of depth of substrate and mainly spot clean your hamster cage. Avoid disturbing your hamster's nest and hoard.

www.thehamsterforum.com

 

[Hank]

Beautiful picture.
My little girl did that last weekend, she came out at 9:30, I did the same, telling her she shouldn't be awake and she was just looking at me, she was clearly sleepy, until she agreed with me and went back to her burrow.

 

[Zara]

Hello lovely Luna, great to hear your keeping your household busy with your high energy.

Super photo, Luna looks very cosy

 

[ilguy]

That is a nice spot she has, how big is the bendy bridge? I'm impressed a Syrian can fit under it

 

[Matt_S]

It's a gorgeous photo Some hamsters are still up at breakfast time! Maybe she wants some breakfast . Not sure if you've seen the cleaning tips article on the home page, but it isn't really necessary to do a deep clean or replace all the bedding - if you know where she's peeing you can just spot clean that area mainly. Some Syrians will use a litter tray with sand in as well - which makes it even easier! You just empty the litter tray a couple of times a week and the rest of the cage stays clean and dry.

I often go 4 to 6 months without changing the substrate, with spot cleaning. And then tend to just do one half of the cage and replace some of the old clean bedding so it smells familiar. Then do the second half 2 to 4 weeks later. The half without the nesting area is usually clean and dry anyway.

With hoards I tend to just prune them from underneath, when doing that half of the cage and remove the older food, leaving the newer there on top.

The longer we can avoid destroying their tunnels and burrows, the better, but sometimes it can't be helped, if having to spot clean the pee

She is such a beautiful girl. I know a few people who say their female Syrian is an unbeleivable level of high energy

Hamster cage cleaning

Tips on how to clean your hamster cage and avoid causing stress to your hamster. It's best to have plenty of depth of substrate and mainly spot clean your hamster cage. Avoid disturbing your hamster's nest and hoard.

www.thehamsterforum.com

Hello, I have just taken advice from hamster rescue centres, my hamster pees and poos underneath so it's hard to see what it is without messing her burrows out so every 4-5 weeks I clean it, I can try the suggestion above but it will be messing down below the bedding lol

 

[Maz]

It can be tricky if you're not sure where they are peeing. I really wouldn't worry about poops though. They're not really unhygienic or smelly - hamsters can actually eat their own poops They have two stomachs and can redigest nutrients from their poops. Nature's way of providing for them when supplies are scarce and why they are such avid hoarders. Because we provide them with plenty of food they might not eat their poops very often but can sometimes get a bit upset if ALL the poops are removed! Anxiety sets in. I remember when we had our first hamster being really surprised that he would take the food out of the bowl and then turn round and poop in the bowl! I learned that the bowl wasn't big enough (it was a horrible rotostak thing with a built in tiny food dish).

If they burrow down in deep bedding and are toiletting underground then yes you do need to "spot clean" regularly down there. Once you find out where they're peeing it's easy enough just to rummage around underneath and remove the wet area each time. But often they will pee well away from their nesting area and hoards, so their burrow doesn't get destroyed. Some of them will use a litter tray if provided and not pee underground.

So you just kind of work it out as you go along, depending on your hamster's habits. But there isn't a need to clean the whole cage that often - just the area where the pee is I just spot clean out poops (eg a handful of bedding with poops or pick some out) if they look like they're starting to take over.

It's also important to try not to destroy their nesting area when cleaning out pee etc as that is usually clean and dry and no need to destroy it (although some younger hamsters will pee in their nesting area and then you have no option but to destroy it).

And also important not to remove all of their hoard and leave a bit behind. If the hoard is pee'd on then you do need to remove it but then put a handful of new food back where the hoard was.

They get stressed so easily. So it's a balance between avoiding levels of stress that could affect their immune system and well-being - and ensuring it's not unhygienic.

Have you tried a corner litter tray with sand in? When a hamster uses that it makes life so much easier! No looking for the pee - you just empty the litter tray a couple of times a week

I suspect rescues might need to clean out more often - they constantly have hamsters coming and going.