Ive noticed our male hamster has a strange odour sometimes. Its not offensive or anything but sometimes he smells a bit "farmy" as my son put it. His cage is spotless so I wonder why it happens sometimes

i have two males in seperate cages and ne of them stinks and the other one is fine. they are both cleaned out the same time and in the same way so its obviously little bert himself who is pongy. i dont know why it is though and will be interested to read any replies

Never had male Syrians so can't really comment, females normally smell quite a lot when they are on heat, but if I remember rightly some male urine can have a really strong smell?


Awww sounds like quite a character. I'd be careful with the cotton wool it can be dangerous if they get caught up in it or swallow it (cheap toilet roll is often used instead).

I love the smell of my hamster. All warm and malty and furry and..*cuteness overdose*

Do I shred them up or just put a bit of folded toilet paper in and he does the rest?

Up to you, some hamsters are a little lazy and like it shredded but others will have fun doing it themselves. I normally do half and half.

Thanks, best not have any risk's to him in a shot life-time.

No problem, I used to use it for my first hamster before I knew the issues with it.

Hope your new critter continues to settle in well.

Used to have loads when I was young but now im (reasonably) grown up I decided to get one the other day. Although it still seems very nervous (understandable, moving home for anyone is tough, particularly if you don't know its happening) and how long does it normally take for them to settle a bit? Like last night I had gone to bed and drifted off a bit and she started running in her wheel and it rousled me so I just turned over and the noise seemed to scare her and she stopped and didn't move (that I could hear) for quite a while.

Also would it help if I put her in another room until she's settled? I don't have music or the TV on particularly loud but I dunno if its a bit alarming for her?

Cheers.

(oh and with cleaning the cage what should I use? That specific cage cleaner stuff or just warm soapy water?)

I use soapy water and pet disinfectant, just to be on the safe side! White vinegar is also really handy to have in - hamster wee can stain the plastic but a few minutes soaked in white vinegar and it comes off really easily! You will need to use pet disinfectant after this though.

As for getting used to you, I'm assuming your new girl is from a pet shop? Pet shop hammies take longer to tame than ones form hamster breeders. My first hamster, Pumpkin, who we lost to a stroke last month, took about a month to tame, from petshop to cuddles, and a little longer for me to take the gloves off (she gave Mrs Fluff a nasty nip when we first had her, which made both of us a bit nervous). a couple of taming ideas - 'wear' some plain white loo roll round your hands for a bit, then leave it in the cage - she'll use it for bedding and then associate your smell with something nice, not something scary. You can also, if you have a bath where you live, sit in the bath empty, and let her have a run around in there with you in, again, so she gets used to you. Just take it slowly - she is, as you say, pretty scared, but it will be worth it in the end!

We welcomed a new little fuzzball to the family on Saturday. At the Bath Hamster Show, we collected Faun, a long haired Sable Roan girl from Leicester based Choclate Hams. She's a little sweetheart, and even at six weeks old, I can tell she's gonna be a big girl! I really recommend people going along to hamster shows, it's a great day out, we had lots of fun, and you're surrounded by more cuteness than you can shake a stick at! It's like Crufts for hammies, I guess, with different colours and patterns being in different classes, seperate categories for dwarf hamsters and Syrians, and a chance to mix with some of the most knowledgeable hammy people around! dates are normally up on http://www.towyvale.com, though the 2009 dates haven't quite yet been finalised. They have them all over England, and a few in south Wales, so there might be one near you!

Yeah she is from a pet shop. Took your advice and wrapped some toilet paper round my hand for about 40 minutes and shred it up and put it in her cage.

Few minutes ago she poked her head out and came to the edge of the cage and looked up at me so I said hello and made that kinda kissing noise you make to pets and moved a bit (foot was falling asleep) and she ran like hell back into her cage. Poor thing is all shook up

Aw, I used to have a lovely syrian hamster called Gus. He was really tame and would fall asleep on my arm while i watched a film.

In my old house we had a gas fire with bars. One day i couldnt find him in his cage and i found him in a paper bin. It turns out he had been building a nest inside the gas fire with paper from the bin and had been getting back in his cage upstairs every night!

Try feeding her treats through the bars of the cage, that way she gets used to your smell and links it with a good thing happening because shes getting food.

Gerbils don't smell.

Noticed our hamster has been getting darker ears.
They were pink when we got him in feb but now they are getting darker. Is this just because he's getting older?

Yeah I have a golden syrian hammy, and his ears have gone dark brown now. I think hes about 8 months old now.

Ours must be around 10-11 months. Must be an age thing.

My hamster is still really scared and nervous. I left the room for a while and came back in and she was stood in her cage and like normal she just froze for a while then darted back into her house. She did it last night too, she woke me up while she was doing something and I turned over in bed and could hear she stopped and didn't do anything again.

I've tried getting my smell on her bedding (cleaned her cage the other day and handled the bedding stuff for a fair while) and sat in an empty bath with her. I know, as others have said, it takes time but it saddens me to see her so nervous

I love hamsters, the most gorgeous creatures! I've had three in the last three years, I first wanted one when I was 13/14 but my mum didn't think I was being serious. She only offered to get me one when I was in hospital at 16. I was very excited!

First we had Toffee in 2005, he was so adorable, especially when we let him run on our kitchen table. Then one night he had terrible diaorrheoa (sp.) but we thought it would clear itself up. The next night we realised we hadn't seen him all day, I took his house out of the cage and he was crouched up, eyes were dull etc and he had a prolapsed intestine. Took him to the emergency vets that night, the next day my mum went to the vets to check up on him and she came back and told me he'd died from wet tail. Absolutely gutted, we'd had him exactly 6 months.

After we buried him, I was still upset but eager to have another hamster, so after 6 weeks we got Cookie (another pic here). She was gorgeous, and very cheeky! I remember she was always trying to escape from somewhere, the box the pet shop gave her, trying to escape from me and she even managed to work out how to escape from her new cage. I had to put a padlock on the door! Unfortunately she died 8 days before Christmas 2006, my mum didn't think she looked different, but I just knew something was wrong. By that time we were with PDSA, I rushed her in to their surgery by which time she was in organ failure. Had to put her down, bless her She's buried next to Toffee, and I often imagine them up there in hammy heaven having a lovely time :sleep:

Okay, so apologies for the rather saddenning tales of my hamster escapdes. But now I have Charlie, gorgeous gorgeous hamster! He's very cheeky, just like Cookie was, and he loves trying to 'dig' his way out of things. I've also called him a mini Indiana Jones on account of him trying acrobatic moves and daring jumps in his cage. We got him January 2007 and things have been going well. Hopefully (fingers crossed, touch wood) we'll have him for many more months to come.

I often take a sniff of Charlie's fur when I'm playing with him, lovely smell


I wasn't ware people could adopt hamsters. I've only heard of cats and dogs being up for adoption etc. I've always wanted to adopt a dog but haven't got time, money or space. But adopting a hamster must still be so rewarding!


I agree. I understand that not everyone has the space for a large cage and whatnot, but it upsets me when you've got the thought of a hamster living in tiny and sometimes inappropriate cages. Let 'em roam!


That bit made me cry, srsly. I'm actually dreading the day I go in my mum's room to check on Charlie and find he's passed away. We had a brief scare during summer this year as it was so hot in our flat, I ended up filling the bath with cold water and putting Charlie's cage in the bathroom to help keep him cool. He got so hot he was curled up in the corner and I didn't see him breathe for a few seconds. Now whenever I check on him nowadays I check to see if he's still breathing.

Apologies for my long posts, I just love hamsters and talking bout em

Don't apologise for long posts about hamsters, I'm the same- utterly obsessed by them!

I had a hamster when I was a child (13/14) and loved it. Bugsy. She was very affectionate, too (only with me, though). I remember she once bit a friend of mine on the finger and he cried hahaha! Well, it was his own fault for poking his finger through the cage at her.

I was gutted when she died, they don't live that long (nobody told me!)

Ours(Was my sons but he lost interest after a week despite his please for 1) came down with a dose of wet tail. Took her to the vets where she got an antibiotic. thats an eperience getting that stuff into them. Last dose she got she thought shed get some pay back on the wife for being held by the scruff of the next getting medicine squirted into her mouth so she sunk her teeth right into the wifes finger. Wife screaming that ill have to help her as toffee's got a hold of her. i mosied over to find Toffee covered in blood, blood pouring down the wifes hand and arm and her clothes covered in it. Was really surprised by how much blood came out that wee puncture wound but oh how i laughed. Delighted to say though that toffee is now over her wet tail and is doing great. Amazing how attached you get to a tiny nocturnal rodent.

I found out yesterday that my Robo Larry (who I thought was a girl - so pets at home told me) was actually a boy! Lol.

I had no idea there was anything wrong with using it until a few week ago, and ive been keeping hamsters for 10 years now and never had a problem with the bedding. My hammy Patrick suffered from a stroke poor little thing he couldn't climb or walk straight, he was always running in circles and falling over and his head was tilted. We were told to take everything out his cage whiles hes recovering which can take only a few weeks, and we had to take his bed out as well as he had to climb pipes to get to his bed. In the end we had to put the bedding in a corner of his cage. He must have done this from running around in circles, but the bedding get caught up around his leg very badly hes foot was all swollen and purple when my mum found him. We tried cutting it off but he wouldn't keep still so my grandparents came over. Gran held him round the middle with the scissors in her other hand (very small scissors), grandad had to hold his leg, and i stood facing him keeping him calm and stroking him, got it off in seconds. Wouldn't want to use that bedding again after that. He did recover from that and from his stroke (both happened in the same week, poor Patch), but about 3 weeks later he died in his sleep

We have a new hammy now, little Benji. Shes such a darling! Hehe, don't ask about the name! We named her in the car home and it wasn't til she was in her cage that I realised she was a girl Shes a right little nipper tho, only goes for me or my brother, shes fine with my dad. I think its coz he holds her every day and I've been put off doing that coz of the biting (she made me bleed ), so he is helping me get used to her. Amazing how something as small as a bite can put you off! When she first came home I thought "typical female, shes tidy and stubborn!" she would sleep in the some of the tubes rather than her bed (the cage is full of them, nice activity ) and she would eat her food at the bowl rather than storing them. Now shes a right pain! Peeing and pooing in the same place in her tubes so its all manky and smelly and hard to clean! Whats so wrong with the wee corner in her cage? And yes, before you ask, she gets cleaned out very very regularly so her corner shouldnt smell that bad