# giving my hamster a bath?



## Forbidden (Apr 4, 2008)

hey guys, im new here. i was just wondering.. is it ok to give my hamster a bath.. just like to wash her over? or wud it cause any damage and stress her out? thanks


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## Guest (Apr 8, 2008)

Forbidden said:


> hey guys, im new here. i was just wondering.. is it ok to give my hamster a bath.. just like to wash her over? or wud it cause any damage and stress her out? thanks


I'm no expert but I would think it would stress them out, possibly scare them to death. Hamsters clean themselves anyway. If their cage is kept clean they shouldn't need a bath.


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## Kay73 (Mar 26, 2008)

i would only bath her if she had cling ons, and if you do watch out!
Hamsters can bite really hard.


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## Forbidden (Apr 4, 2008)

ah ok.. her cage is cleaned regularly and shes as tame as anything..  thanks


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## Spacemonkey (Feb 11, 2008)

NEVER bath your hamster! It causes stress and getting them wet can cause hypothermia. They are very clean animals and don't need to be bathed.


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## Glittery Moon (Apr 12, 2008)

Hamsters are quite capable of cleaning themselves. If she is long haired then you may need to brush her occasionaly but you should never bathe them. Even bathing them in warm water can cause hypethermia as Spacemonkey has already said, that's why it is so important to use vertical water bottles incase of spillages.


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## Guest (Aug 20, 2008)

if you REALLY need to clean her - chinchilla sand. they roll in it and bath themselves.


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## ChrisTheGerbilGuy (Aug 9, 2008)

chinchilla sand or dust can cause respiritory infections in hamsters and all sorts of problems.

You don't need to bath your hamster, they always clean themselves up just fine


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## Kat28 (Mar 19, 2008)

SazzyB said:


> if you REALLY need to clean her - chinchilla sand. they roll in it and bath themselves.


Ours loves rolling round in her chinchilla dust


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## Guest (Aug 21, 2008)

Kat28 said:


> Ours loves rolling round in her chinchilla dust


one of our hammys, the male one (any advice on how to stop this will be amazing) was adopted, and he was a little biter, and we think he never got cleaned by the previous owners and was left to run about in very wet bedding as he was greasey as well as smelly.

but we think he is weeing in his house - but its never wet  and his coat is gettin greasey/smelly again 

all we do is let him roll in it in his own time twice then he's back in his cage with fresh water (as always) and what not. this was recommended to us cos of how bad he gets.


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## Kat28 (Mar 19, 2008)

SazzyB said:


> one of our hammys, the male one (any advice on how to stop this will be amazing) was adopted, and he was a little biter, and we think he never got cleaned by the previous owners and was left to run about in very wet bedding as he was greasey as well as smelly.
> 
> but we think he is weeing in his house - but its never wet  and his coat is gettin greasey/smelly again
> 
> all we do is let him roll in it in his own time twice then he's back in his cage with fresh water (as always) and what not. this was recommended to us cos of how bad he gets.


We have put a small hamster litter tray in for ours which has helped. She uses it all the time. Have you tried one for him might help. We put a bit of soiled shavings in at first and she uses it all the time now


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## Guest (Aug 22, 2008)

this is the harder part, we can't really find where he uses the cage for the toilet, theres no wet patch etc.

We have one for the older girls,
we're gonna start wth the babies when we figure where they use too!!


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

She should be clean enough so long as she is kept in a clean cage and healthy


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## Jen26 (Apr 22, 2008)

I had hamsters about 15 years ago, i had one that could swim, he loved the water,(he had a mite so we had to bath him) he lived untill he was 4 so i dont think it hurt him.
Not sure if its genarally recommended though,


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## cavy_gal (Jan 2, 2008)

One of my hamsters actually drowned in my dogs water bowl when she escaped one night from her cage. She and her sister managed to get out of their cage through the bars, fall downstairs, climb over the bottom of the dog-gate at our kitchen door, run past my dog sleeping in the kitchen and into the larder where their food was one night. Only, one of the sisters came back out and what I can gather is she climbed into my dogs food bowl first which is lower than the water one and then climbed into the water bowl. My dad found her in there in the morning and when my mum came up to tell me, I didn't know whether to cry or laugh because it was upsetting and also rather funny how she managed to get in the water bowl!

My other hamsters really didn't understand sand-baths so I never let them have them, but bathing your hamster can lead to complications if the water is too cold or too hot. As bathing hamsters isn't a common thing, I doubt your hamster really needs a bath. Maybe if you really want to wash your little one, get some damp cotton wool and wipe it over him/her and have a flannel or small hand towel ready to dry and warm him/her up again  but as others have said, they keep themselves clean enough so you don't have to worry about bathing them.


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## Guest (Aug 22, 2008)

is yours a boy?? (this is to the op)

Cos I'm wondering - is it a boy thing his coat gets smelly/greasey so quickly when his cage is clean and cleaned every week...if so. I'm having girls from now on haha.


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

SazzyB said:


> is yours a boy?? (this is to the op)
> 
> Cos I'm wondering - is it a boy thing his coat gets smelly/greasey so quickly when his cage is clean and cleaned every week...if so. I'm having girls from now on haha.


I actually find females smell more than males do, especially when they come into season. That's why I stick with boys


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## Kat28 (Mar 19, 2008)

Mine is female


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