Um, does your hamster pong a bit?

[sanschocolat]

New member of family.

Tiny thing (male).

Cage cleaned out Mon and Thurs - using wood shavings.

The cage is in the sitting room atm. Hamster spends most of its time in a sort of hut (plastic) that came with the cage when we bought it.

The cage doesn't smell generally - not much evidence of droppings - and I don't mind the mild wood shavings aroma - but every so often I will be sitting on the sofa/or come in through the door and catch a whiff of something hamsterish that isn't very pleasant.

So, just wanted to know if they (instrinsically) smell (ifyswim)?

Thanks!

But Rodent + Male = stinky IMO

Actually you could apply anything + male = stinky.
Speshly teenage sons.

Thanks 70isaLimitedNotaTarget

[Stares at pile of dh's discarded socks and pinches nose and nods vigorously]

Just knew we should have got a girl!!

[And why, oh why, didn't I remember that the male hamster my siblings and I had as a child was called "Pooh" ]

Probably if your hamster is new he's doing a bit of territory marking?
When you clean his cage, don't use anything too strong or he'll try and outdo it (I use a steamer for my Pigs because I worry about any chemicals on their feet

Thanks again 70s -

Yes, so far have only needed hot water and a tiny drop of w-up liq for cleaning as he is so very tiny.

Steamer is a great idea!!! (would definitely come in useful for rabbits enclosure atm too !!)

And will try 'bit of dirty bedding trick ' (do this already with rabbits)

And eugh - no - live in old house and when it's really cold we already have the occasional visit from feral mice - therefore have no wish accommodate a domesticated one as well!

Aarrgh - having just written all of the above - dd has looked again at 'How to look after your hamster' book and dh and she have done further inspection. We think she might be a girl!! I'm sure the shop said it was male!! Totally now!!

Ours does. She wees mainly in one corner and that's the smelly bit. But she does also wee in her bed.

Maybe when your little one grows up a bit it will wee in one place and you can just clean that bit out.

Thanks AgnesF!

Interesting to know that yours is female and pongs a bit. I am seriously considering relocating her (but dd will be very disappointed if I do).

Yes, ours seems to pee and poo largely in his little hut thing which is in one corner. At least it makes the skipping out between cleans a bit easier!

Should add that he/she (really must find out definitively) is very sweet though!

Soft grey/black fur and very kind (so far) no nipping

OK have just cleaned out the hamster's cage again (a day late) and had a bit of a sniff once all the bedding was changed and fresh etc and I can verify that it is the actually hamster that whiffs a bit! It's funny, because it is not a continuous smell, it just comes in occasional wafts!!

ours is the same

female hamsters can smell as they go into heat, so may be that. sometimes they can smell if they get fresh food stuck in their cheek pouches, but that's unlikely to be the case.
all hamsters have scent glands on their hips, you may notice if they've been grooming their hips look wet. some smell stronger than others, so could be that.
what our hamsters love is a bath in chinchilla sand. put some chinchilla sand in a shallowish tub/bowl and they'll have a bath or a dig, might help the smell.

also, you should only really need to clean out the cage once a week fully. we use carefresh instead of sawdust, its more absorbent and they love a good burrow around. you can get scent granules to sprinkle on the base of the cage which are meant to be good as well.
our oldest hamster smells after cage cleaning as he prepares to scent mark his territory again. the others don't seem fazed

Thanks for those really useful tips OnceuponaThyme- much appreciated! Will definitely look out for chinchilla sand and the carefresh product! Hope we haven't acquired a particularly pongy one!

Sympathies Southeastastra!!

forgot to add, it'll become clear if lots a boy soon, hamsters have huge balls, they're hard to miss at times

That's reassuring to know OnceuponaThyme!!