The Case of The Missing Pee

[Zenshii]

Hello everyone!

My new hamster Dango seems to be really enjoying his enclosure, he's made burrows and likes to go down low into his peek box. ( a hide up against the glass so you can see him sometimes. )

I'm having an issue though...Dango has not went pee or poop anywhere I can find...I'm guessing he's going in his burrows deep in his bedding. I did notice a little soiled bedding ( just barely any ) in his peek box, I think??? It's hard to tell. It was just slightly yellowed.

I really don't want to dig up all his tunnels and such to clean the soiled bedding and poop...He only just came home this week and searching through all his tunnels and maybe even destroying them would really stress him out I'm sure. His enclosure doesn't smell bad at all luckily, I can't even smell any urine at all...

I wanted to try potty training him with the sand bath method, but he doesn't go potty out in the open at all that I can see or smell.

What should I do? I don't want him to get sick from his urine...but at the same time I don't want to stress him out with a big clean.

 

[RainbowBrite]

I have never seen my hamster pee before and it took many months before I saw any poops. I suspect Dango is toileting underground. Soiled bedding does not need to be removed weekly anyway. Your tank is a great size and it could be months before you need to spot clean.

 

[elusive]

They do pee very little & it’s still early days so you may not find anything for a while.
It can take them a bit of time to decide on one spot to use so he may be just being a teeny bit in different places at the moment.
Don’t worry, it won’t be enough to harm him, if there was a build up somewhere you would certainly see or smell it.
Is he sleeping in a house? I found my Russians would pee in a small sand container in or near to the house where they slept.

 

[Zenshii]

Thank you elusive! I am used to dogs who pee a lot, haha! I forget how little hammies are...so that makes sense.

He seems to sleep deep in his bedding somewhere. He really likes his peek box which is at the lowest point in his bedding, so sadly I really can't tell where he's going potty. He also goes deep down in his bedding somewhere, where I'm sure he's made a nest or some tunnels to sleep in.

 

[Zenshii]

Thank you too RainbowBrite! I honestly thought I was supposed to be spot cleaning daily, so I was a little worried. But thank you for reassuring me that Dango is going to be okay!

 

[RainbowBrite]

Thank you too RainbowBrite! I honestly thought I was supposed to be spot cleaning daily, so I was a little worried. But thank you for reassuring me that Dango is going to be okay!

With hamsters their scent is so important so there is no need to be too clean.

Just to say, my hamster has been with me for 10 months and I only removed soiled bedding once and there was just a handful! I was surprised.

 

[elusive]

A bit different to dogs
Russians do pee more than robos so you may need to spot clean every week or so once he gets settled in but myabe not even that much I do find it varies but for now I wouldn’t worry about it, just wait & see if you can get an idea of where it might be after a bit more time.
The other thing with the sand is that you can’t always tell if they’ve peed in it if they dig or roll in it & break up any damp clumps but again not something to worry about, if the sand gets a bit smelly after a few weeks you can change it but may not need to.

 

[Zenshii]

RainbowBrite - Oh wow!! That is way different than what I was expecting. I would be surprised too! Then again, a lot of people have such tiny enclosures for their hamsters that they have to clean out a lot more. And yes, I completely understand about how scent is super important to hammies! Thank you for bringing that up as well! I feel better about this now for sure.

elusive - Thank you so much for this advice! It sounds like I just need to give it more time. I honestly had no idea what to expect! I'm trying not to worry or rush things but I have never done this before! I'm SO glad I found this forum! Thank you for your help!

 

[Maz]

The more substrate you have, the less often you need to do a big clean out. Partial cleanouts are better anyway, when needed, as then things always smell familiar to the hamster - as in clean some bits but not everything at the same time Hamsters leave scent trails around their cage and it actually helps them find their way round as they don't see that well. They usually scent mark quite a lot in the cage (via their scent glands rubbing things) , partly I think to claim it as their territory and partly to make little routes they can follow to find certain things. So if all the bedding is removed regularly it can really cause them some stress. The main thing is to keep familiarity and some scent. Any items in the cage - like the wheel or sand box - you can just clean as and when necessary - but maybe the wheel one week and the sandbox a different day again. With a lot of substrate, you can mainly spot clean the pee. It's only their pee that is unhygienic really and they do pee very small amounts. It can take time to work out if they have a particular pee place. If you find one, that makes it easier as you know where to spot clean in future. But they are also quite sensible little things and they like to keep their pee away from their sleeping area usually. It's a good sign if you have seen something in the sand box as it suggests he is using that to pee in. As Elusive mentioned, some hamsters will use a potty tray if you put it inside or near the house - if they are nesting in the house. Syrians will almost always use a potty tray! My robo uses his inside his house and has one pee area under his house that I spot clean - the rest of his cage stays clean and dry for a long time. Elusive knows more about Russian dwarf habits though

 

[Zenshii]

Thank you Maz for this amazing advice! I'm glad to learn more about hammy habits...I'm just worried that Dango is peeing way down deep in his bedding, so it would be hard for me to get to it without messing up his burrows...hopefully when he settles in more he will choose a place to go that is more accessible?? Thank you again Hamster Club Leader!

 

[Maz]

We all worry about that a bit - having to feel around under the substrate for damp patches and possibly messing up their burrows or tunnels - but at some point it needs to be done and you may not even find any damp patches! They just sort it out again afterwards, so don't worry! I worried quite a bit about this with my Robo who has deep bedding but when I actually came to do it, the whole cage was dry underneath the bedding except one small area where he clearly had a regular pee area so all I had to do was remove that part of the bedding underneath and stick some new bedding in there. But I would leave it at least 2 or 3 weeks after he has been in the cage and just observe for a while