Leaving a hamster at home for a week?

[cauliflowercheese14]

We are away for a week and I am considering leaving the hamster in the house but asking a friend to come in every other day to top up her dried food and change her water, check everything's ok.
I usually clean out her toilet corner everyday but I don't want to ask friend to do this. If I put extra deep sawdust in before we go do people think the hamster will be ok with this if I clean her out as soon as we get back. Or should I just provide rubber gloves and ask friend to do it?

I think it depends on the weather. When it's warm like this it will be pretty whiffy after a week. Could you ask your friend just to do it once during the week? I'm sure they won't mind.

Won't it be lonely?

Where are you? I like hamsters.

That is what we used to do when we had hamsters more sawdust in toilet corner it does smell though but its fine,your friend might poop scoop our cat sitter would change toilet sawdust

Kingjoffrey I'm in Lancashire! I don't think she'll get lonely as she doesn't like being handled, she's a biter, so although we do interact with her, feed her her fresh food etc but we don't pick her up. I'd rather she was a bit lonely than stressed by being sent to someone else's house.

Yes I'll see if my friend can empty her corner every time she comes in or even just the once. I don't know how squeamish she is about such things, as she has no pets!

She just needs a teeny poop scoop my aunt who was the cat sitter used to just scoop with a spoon its only for a week hamsters dont like their house cleaned all every day it stresses them apparently.

Toilet corner will be fine. Better a bit whiffy than a bitten friend, stressed or escaping hamster. I presume your hamster also gets fresh food? Just don't give too much of that, so that it doesn't end up stored in vast quantities going manky in her house. I reckon a hamster is about the only pet who will barely care if you're there or not.

It will be fine not being cleaned out for a week. I've left ours with a big bowl of food and 2 water bottles (in case one falls off) for 3 or 4 days and it's been quite happy!

Yes she gets fresh food daily usually. I wasn't going to bother with asking friend to do that due to her then having to clear out old stuff, my hamster has tubes out from her cage so it can be a faff to clear out fresh food if she leaves it in them.
Anyway friend says she's happy to clean out toilet corner as she used to have rabbits.
The hamster will probably enjoy the peace of us not being here for a week.

Thanks for your help anyway!