Minx's thread

[clover]

I wondered if anyone might give me some advice on the following please:

We have now had Minx for a few weeks. She seems to have set up her nest in the 'house' at the back of her cage - it's not multichamber but pretty big and she has designated one corner for her food / poop store and one corner as her wet toilet which I have just been spot cleaning weekly and the rest of the cage has pretty much been left. The other place she seems to wee is on her wheel which is wood and cork so it has become rather smelly unfortunately. I'm wondering if it is possible to train her out of this. She has a sand box and a couple of other small hiding chambers eg a hut and a coconut shell. Would putting some of the wet bedding in there encourage her to use that maybe?

She doesn't seem to burrow at all, ignores the food puzzle treats we put in made from toilet rolls / an egg box and just seems to use her nest house and the wheel and that's it! I don't want her to be bored but she certainly hasn't taken to any of the extra environmental nourishment we have provided. Does this seem like a problem? I'd take the egg box etc out and change it but don't want to stress her by changing her environment too early.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[Maz]

Hello I'm afraid there is no way of stopping a hamster peeing in a wheel It's just what they do - not all of them but some of them. With a wood and cork wheel, it's usually ok if it's been painted with plastikote inside first. That is what I do - and then it's wipe clean. It's still possible to do this by giving the wheel a good wash - a light scrub (carefully so you don't damage the cork) with soapy water - eg fairy liquid - and then when it's completely dry you can then plastikote it - which will seal in any stains and help make it wipe clean. The downside with doing that is she is likely to be without her wheel as it can take some time for wood to dry properly.

 

[Magpie]

She might change her habits at some point as she settles in a bit more?

I'm certainly no expert as Maggie is my first hamster, but he was originally a wheel pee-er. Once he settled in a bit more he started to use a corner of his sand to pee in.

I actually didn't mind him peeing in the wheel but that's because mine is plastic and easy to clean...

Long story... but I have had to take his sand away for the time being while he recovers from surgery to try and keep the would clean and he now still pees in the corner of his sand bath (which is just filled with paper bedding at the moment) but has mainly started peeing in one room of his multi-chamber hide and also in the corner of his cornflake box house. (incidentally this is in the corner of his tank so think that helps) He never pees in his wheel at all now?!

I have heard that people have had success by putting a small amount of wet bedding where they want to establish as a toilet so could be worth a try?

Could you maybe get another wheel to use as an alternate while you clean/dry and seal the original wheel? (aware this is perhaps a bit 'spenny'! but you could use it in future as an alternate for cleaning or for in a playpen etc.)

 

[clover]

Thanks for your reply Magpie! I'm sorry to hear that Maggie has had to have surgery I hope he is recovering well. I think I read about this - his pouch? Poor little thing. I have bought the plastikote spray now, I'm just debating when to remove the old wheel as I know Minx seems to love it so much! She does no digging or anything else in her cage despite loads of enrichment things in there and I don't want to upset her when she is still relatively new! She does seem to pee a bit in one corner of her nest hut so hopefully she will use that a bit more in preference eventually...