What is the BEST way to clean my dwarf hamster and hamster cage?

Question

My dwarf hamster and cage started smeeling bad and i dont know how to clean them. Can or may someone tell me how to?

My dwarf hamster started smelling weird and i dont know how to clean it. Thats not just the problem, but i have a cat and it keeps sneaking in my bedroom where it is. What should i do?

Answer 1

Cleaning your hamster:

1. Assess your reasons for giving your hamster a bath. Your average hamster will not need even a single bath in his or her lifetime. If your hamster is stinky, cleaning out the cage regularly (that means touching up daily, and changing all of the bedding weekly) should be sufficient. Female hamsters can also have a different odor when they are in heat. The only time you should give your hamster a bath is if there is something on their coat that could harm them, i.e. something toxic or something that they could choke on if they tried to clean themselves. If you've spilled, say, antifreeze on your hamster, you will probably wish to bathe it.

2. If your hamster is not life-threateningly dirty, a sand bath should be sufficient. Get some chinchilla sand (make sure it's sand, not dust, which can cause respiratory problems) at the pet store and put it in a little bowl for your hamster. If the sand is a permanent fixture in your hamster's cage or playpen, make sure to check it daily as your hamster may start using it as a litterbox. If the hamster has something toxic or sticky on its coat, proceed to step three.

3. If there is something sticky or toxic on your hamster, make sure there is no other way to remove it. If your long-haired hamster has gum in its fur, you might be able to simply cut it out.

4. If you absolutely must bathe your hamster, get a bowl and fill it with one or two inches of lukewarm water.

5. Very gently, moisten your hamster, taking care to keep the water away from your hamster's face area.

6. If water alone will not remove the toxic and/or sticky substance, you can use a very small amount of the mildest baby shampoo you can find. Be very careful to keep the suds away from your hamster's face.

7. Rinse the hamster.

8. Place your hamster on a towel and gently pat it dry.

9. Get a hairdryer and put it on the lowest possible setting. Hold it a couple of feet away from your hamster. Make sure to keep a hand between the the hairdryer and your hamster to prevent burns.

10. Give your hamster a seed and put it back in its cage to sleep off its annoyance.


Tips

* Do this on a warm day if you can, as hamsters are very susceptible to chills.

* If you have a skittish sort of hamster, you may want to conscript a friend or family member to help you, especially when you're drying the hamster off.

* Do not put the hamster back in its cage until it is completely dry.

* There is no good reason you should ever have to do this. Don't let your hamster near anything toxic. Don't spill things on your hamster. Don't let your hamster run around in the garage. Don't attach gum to your hamster. Life is weird and stuff happens, but a little common sense goes a long way.


Warnings

* Hamsters are, as mentioned above, very susceptible to chills. If you give your hamster a bath, it can catch a chill and die. Do not give your hamster a bath unless it is absolutely necessary.

* In addition to causing chills, water can strip necessary oils from a hamster's fur and skin. Again, do not bathe your hamster unless you need to for your hamster's health.

* There are no 100% safe ways to bathe a hamster.

Cleaning your hamster cage:

1. Take your hamster out of its cage and put it somewhere such as a hamster ball, a box or an enclosed space where it can run around.

2. Take the top off the cage and remove the water bottle and the food bowl. Empty the bottle, and rinse it out. Use a thin brush to clean the inside and then fill it back up with fresh, cold water. Empty the food bowl into the bin and clean it out, then put in some fresh food.

3. If the cage has any tubes or ladders etc, take them out and clean them with warm water and a cleaner that will be safe for your hamster.

4. Empty out the sawdust or shavings and bedding from your hamsters cage and empty them into the bin. Your hamster usually has a corner which it goes to the toilet in, this should be cleaned out daily. Wash the cage thoroughly.

5. Line the bottom of the cage with sawdust or wooden shavings and put in some fresh papery bedding.

6. Replace the food bowl, water bottle and re-attach all the tubes and compartments if your cage has them. Replace any toys or chews.

7. Put your hamster back in his clean cage and let him remake his bed!


Tips

* It helps if you have a big cage with lots of space for your hamster to move around, as it will make your pet happier!

* You should change the hamsters water every day.

* Using vinegar also works. Please make sure you rinse well before putting your hamster back into the cage.

* Some people use a disinfecting wipe and then rinse.

* Habitrail, CritterTrail, and SAM cages are all dishwasher safe! Take the cage apart as far as you possibly can, place in dish washer and run the washer (you can use regular dishwasher detergent). This cleans the cage far better then any other method. If you do not have one of these types of cages, just do it the old-fashioned way.

* Never use any citrus-scented disinfectants seeing as it can damage your hamster.

Answer 2

Every 2 Weeks One Thing Of Bedding Will Last About 6 Cleanings

Answer 3

Hamsters cages need cleaning out on a regular weekly basis. Empty out all the sawdust and bedding and use either a disinfectant spray specifically designed to clean rodents cages from your pet store, or soak the cage in hot soapy water.

Hamster cages will start smelling if not cleaned as its a daily build up of urine. Would you really like to live in your own mess?? neither do animals, so please, for the sake of your poor hamsters health and welbeing, start cleaning his home out more often.

Hamsters have very weak ammune systems and pick up infections easily which is why its so important to take extra care of smaller animals.

Answer 4

you need to clean the cage at least once a week. if the cage has any little houses with the flip top lids like on the critter trails... those need to be cleaned twice a week because hamsters tend to sleep eat and live in confined spaces like those.... also... are you hamsters female... sometimes when the female hamster goes into heat they give off a musky odor for usually about a week.....
there are bath wipes availabel for hamsters at petsmart i know about... also there is like a dust bath.. mainly for gerbils.. but it doesnt hurt hamsters than you can put in the cage.. my hamster loved it.. especially when she was going into heat... it kind of smells like baby powder.. but it dries the oil in their fur so they arent too greasy.
There are products too at pet stores that you can use to help breakdown residue on the cage.. hamsters have a very nasty urine that will litterally stick to and stain the cage. Use warm water when rinsing the cage.. and always make sure the cage is completely dry.

Answer 5

My children had hamsters although not dwarf ones. They would fall asleep and rest in the tube part of their cages and unrinate, it got real smelly. We just took them out and put them in a seperate box and put their cages in the bath tub with hot water and an anitbacterial soap. Rinse several times with very hotwater so there isn't any chemical residue left behind. You can also call a vet about how to clean the hamsters but i would imagine a very soft cloth with a little soap and water gently wiping them would be okay. Don't get them too wet or let them stay wet or get cold.

Answer 6

You need to clean them weekly - I hope they haven't gone too long without being cleaned!

All bedding and base covering needs to be thrown away and replaced. Clean and dry the base and all houses/toys/food bowls that are inside - but use a special pet disinfectant from a pet store - they don't have the phenols in them that our disinfectants have that are harmful to small animals.

I have a wire rodent cage, and I clean the bars too about once a month - tricky, but necessary.

Chalice

Answer 7

Just take out the old bedding and put in new bedding. If they peed somewhere you may have to rinse it. You should scrub it with soap and water once a month, but change the bedding once a week. If it still stinks you may want to look into a different kind of bedding.