2 replies to this topic

[Krazyt]

So today was a quick cleaning day, and I just realized that my new hamster, Maple, has been peeing in her wheel. That's normal enough, I've heard that the wheel is a common peeing spot for hamsters. The thing is, I have no idea of the best way to go about cleaning this wheel.

 

The stand of the wheel is buried underneath a bit of bedding of course, to keep it stable and easy for Maple to reach. My first thought was to lift the wheel out of the cage for easier cleaning. I decided against this though, since that would take out a large chunk of bedding, which I don't want to happen while she's asleep underground. So I just decide to wipe it in the cage. That worked fine, but you see, the wheel was wobbling around quite a bit while I was wiping it. This was how I discovered that Maple was sleeping underneath the freaking wheel. 

 

She started hissing at me. Before this, I was not aware that hamsters could hiss. But she definitely left me worried for a bit. She did NOT like me cleaning this wheel that she was sleeping under. Once I finished wiping off the wheel, she came outside to investigate, and I didn't interfere with her. She eventually dug into a new spot away from the wheel, where she fell back asleep. 

 

So really, I'm not sure what to do here. I'm not sure if she'll return to her spot underneath the wheel, and if she does, how I can avoid making her angry at me. She's only been around for one week, so here's hoping she doesn't stay angry at me.

[Indico]

I personally find it best to do cleaning when my hamster is up doing something. I make sure to put his water, food, wheel, (the things he goes to most) far away from where he sleeps so that when he is awake I can clean out the left side of the tank (the side where he sleeps and is normally the most messy). I do this to ensure not to bother my hamster as when I do he normally makes a noise with his teeth (what he normally does when something is annoying him). I'm nowhere near as experienced as some of the other people on this forum but what I've found helps me best is to clean the cage while the hamster is active and not asleep or in their burrows. I try to do my cleaning around my hamster but if necessary I do sometimes set up his playpen to go in there while I clean or in his travel cage.

Hope this helps!

[Chalky&Otto]

Mine does exactly the same. Sleeps underneath his wheel stand, uses his wheel as a toilet, and my god is ever so vocal when i go to wipe it down (he is very nocturnal so spot cleaning has to happen when he’s asleep). I feel awful but I think it has to be done and they’ve got to learn that bedding can move around when they are asleep in case of future emergencies and needing to go hunting for them below the bedding. I just do it quickly, apologise, and leave the room. If you don’t make it a regular thing you should be okay!