# Hamster play time



## Knighterist (Feb 10, 2020)

I may be tooting the success horn a bit too soon but, last night my hamster finally walked all over me and my partner on the couch when we had him out.
Now I am getting excited to get him out again tonight to do that again hopefully.
I also have a slight conflicting moment about cage clean. Since I take an hour to clean the cage, he spends his time outside the cage already, so does that mean no outside play time with his snack slaves on cage clean days?


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## -Lily- (Aug 3, 2020)

That’s great that the taming is going so well!

It depends on the hamster, if they want to come out, let them.

I have a few questions if you wouldn’t mind:
-how often do you clean the cage?
-how much bedding do you clean out?


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## Knighterist (Feb 10, 2020)

-Lily- said:


> That's great that the taming is going so well!
> 
> It depends on the hamster, if they want to come out, let them.
> 
> ...


I generally clean once a week, with hot soapy water followed by spray down with clean n safe and rinse. I'm not sure if that the best or correct way but generally my hamster hasn't shown any complaints about this method. I read on clean n safe that it is sufficient but I feel that Lord Marble deserves a squeaky clean home...I mean mansion.
For the bedding I try to stuff a carrier case with it and manually sort out any poop. Generally that's about a quarter or so of the total bedding. I am aiming to try out hemp bedding this week so the next couple of cleanings will be interesting with half paper and hemp bedding!


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## -Lily- (Aug 3, 2020)

I have a 3000sq inch cage and spot clean the bedding every week or two. To do this, I take out soiled pieces of bedding. You do not need to worry about poo - it hardens after leaving the body and falls to the bottom (it is not unsanitary and you don’t need to take them out). Then, every 3-4 months I switch the toys around and do a mega-spot clean, again taking out soiled bedding. I never take out bedding and wipe the cage down, even if you have a cage just over 450sq inches!

I don’t know how big your cage is but if you have a cage over 450sq in and at least 6 in or bedding in a part of the cage I would spot clean a couple of times a week and do a mega-spot clean once a month. I would not wipe the cage down or take any bedding out that’s not dirty (there’s not really any logic to that). Wiping down the cage every week is very stressful to hamsters, all of their scent is washed away and they feel like in a new environment. Even if he may not seem stressed from, he definitely will be.


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## Knighterist (Feb 10, 2020)

-Lily- said:


> I have a 3000sq inch cage and spot clean the bedding every week or two. To do this, I take out soiled pieces of bedding. You do not need to worry about poo - it hardens after leaving the body and falls to the bottom (it is not unsanitary and you don't need to take them out). Then, every 3-4 months I switch the toys around and do a mega-spot clean, again taking out soiled bedding. I never take out bedding and wipe the cage down, even if you have a cage just over 450sq inches!
> 
> I don't know how big your cage is but if you have a cage over 450sq in and at least 6 in or bedding in a part of the cage I would spot clean a couple of times a week and do a mega-spot clean once a month. I would not wipe the cage down or take any bedding out that's not dirty (there's not really any logic to that). Wiping down the cage every week is very stressful to hamsters, all of their scent is washed away and they feel like in a new environment. Even if he may not seem stressed from, he definitely will be.


I didn't know that you could do that. I read mixed things about how clean or dirty a hammy can be and so thought that if I didn't clean he will get I'll from being "unhygienic". I initially let it go on for about two weeks before cleaning cage and slowly increased it to about 1 week. But other than the pee corner I don't see too much "unclean" bits.
That also does give me a bit more me and him time if I don't have to do a dreaded 1 hour cage clean every week!
I guess for now since I cleaned last night, I can spot clean (if I can find his ever wandering pee corner...) Until next moth for mega clean. This will definitely save me a lot of snack money on bedding! Thank you for the advice!


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## -Lily- (Aug 3, 2020)

Yep. Poo is hard, doesn’t smell, and not unsanitary - hamsters cannot learn how to potty train poo so they’re is a lot in their nest and they do not mind at all!
You only need to clean the pee, as it can build up and smell bad. If your the cage doesn’t have a strong smell of urine, don’t worry about it. 

Unfortunately, yes there is a lot of misinformation out there, but I always remember that cleaning means to take/get rid of dirty bedding, so taking out clean bedding is not cleaning and as you said expensive!

How big is your cage?


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## Knighterist (Feb 10, 2020)

-Lily- said:


> Yep. Poo is hard, doesn't smell, and not unsanitary - hamsters cannot learn how to potty train poo so they're is a lot in their nest and they do not mind at all!
> You only need to clean the pee, as it can build up and smell bad. If your the cage doesn't have a strong smell of urine, don't worry about it.
> 
> Unfortunately, yes there is a lot of misinformation out there, but I always remember that cleaning means to take/get rid of dirty bedding, so taking out clean bedding is not cleaning and as you said expensive!
> ...


I need to find that pee corner! I changed to hemp bedding and it's a bit more difficult to find than paper bedding. Nonetheless I hope it is cooler for Lord Marble than paper bedding.
My cage is an Alaska, 80x50cm.
Recently revamped layout, I think he likes it because there are more toys in there now.


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## -Lily- (Aug 3, 2020)

It looks good! I love the name Lord Marble.


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## Knighterist (Feb 10, 2020)

-Lily- said:


> It looks good! I love the name Lord Marble.


Thanl you!
I have perceived Marble to have a rather lordly personality, so he is now Lord Marble  it also sounds kinda funny when I turn to my partner and say: "the Lord demands snacks and attention."


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## Knighterist (Feb 10, 2020)

-Lily- said:


> Yep. Poo is hard, doesn't smell, and not unsanitary - hamsters cannot learn how to potty train poo so they're is a lot in their nest and they do not mind at all!
> You only need to clean the pee, as it can build up and smell bad. If your the cage doesn't have a strong smell of urine, don't worry about it.
> 
> Unfortunately, yes there is a lot of misinformation out there, but I always remember that cleaning means to take/get rid of dirty bedding, so taking out clean bedding is not cleaning and as you said expensive!
> ...


I now have found the pee corner! It has migrated now that he likes to hang out in the pee tub (hamster is weird!) and take naps there. I have a question about spot cleaning. Do I have to get him out and then spot clean? Will he feel offended or threatened if I spot clean his pee corner whilst he's in there (he really didn't want to come out of the enclosure, not even with promises of treats!).


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## -Lily- (Aug 3, 2020)

It would be better to take him out for the sake of getting him out of the way, but if he doesn’t want to come out, spot cleaning while he is in there is perfectly fine.


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## Knighterist (Feb 10, 2020)

-Lily- said:


> It would be better to take him out for the sake of getting him out of the way, but if he doesn't want to come out, spot cleaning while he is in there is perfectly fine.


Thanks Lily! I worried a little that if I spot clean whilst he's there he might think his pee corner is not safe and will pee elsewhere and I have to find it again.


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