Cleaning in a hamster cage: we also clean my pet’s home

Cleaning a hamster’s cage is an essential part of caring for a hamster of any breed. It is dangerous to be in a dirty cage, an unpleasant smell comes from it, such housing does not look aesthetically pleasing. It is necessary to clean systematically: if the dwelling is clean, the chances of picking up pathogenic microbes are minimal. But on the other hand, cleaning the hamster’s cage is stressful, because the baby “puts things in order” in the home to your taste.

The hamster is worried about everything that is wrong: he does not like the rearrangement, and also the fact that part of the stock is gone. Each owner needs to decide how often to clean the hamster’s cage and find a “golden mean” so as not to harm the pet and not tolerate an unpleasant smell.

The hamster cage is cleaned every 2-3 weeks. For a hamster, this is stress, in order to minimize it, you need to know the structure of the home. As in a people’s apartment, the rodent’s housing is divided into zones: in one corner there is a toilet, in the other – a bedroom, there are also places for training and eating. A special place is given to the pantry, food supplies are stored here, destroying them means dooming the baby to serious stress. Compared to a person, it is like a robbery. Therefore, in order to remove unpleasant odors and put things in order, you need to remove only spoiled products. If several pets live in a cage, you should not move their stocks.

Important steps in cleaning a rodent home

Cleaning the hamster cage begins with the fact that the owner removes the animal itself. You need to put him in a safe place so that he does not run away. To do this, use a carrier or jar. To begin with, we change the litter, while doing it in such a way as not to destroy the buildings of the animal or to do it to a minimum.

The tray is washed under clean running water. If the contamination is severe, you can use baby detergent or hamster shampoo. With detergents, you need to be careful not to cause an allergic reaction in the animal.

You need to know how to wash a hamster cage, a house for sleeping and dishes: a feeder, a drinking bowl. The main rule is to do it manually using a brush. After everything is washed, wipe dry. Then we change the bedding. To prevent the rodent smell from completely disappearing, leave some of the old shavings.

The care of the cage does not end there, you need to wipe the rods with a clean, damp cloth. In order for the cleaning to go right, pay attention to each device, wipe the wheel, labyrinths, stairs. Wooden accessories are wiped with a brush, a clean cloth or a napkin without the use of detergents, as the baby gnaws them. If you decide to clean the cage, do not forget to wash the drinker and fill it with clean water.

What should I look for?

You already know how to clean a hamster cage, but there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Dirty bedding and accumulation of excrement. These areas need to be cleaned more thoroughly.
2. Remove leftover feed scattered around the cage.
3. If the walls are dirty, wipe them thoroughly.
4. The unpleasant smell of the home cannot be filled with fresheners, you just need to wash the pan more thoroughly, dry it and ventilate it.

Before cleaning, you need to prepare the necessary equipment:

• clean rags;
• a gentle disinfectant that can be used to treat the cage, for example, laundry soap (you can’t use bleach, otherwise the hamster can get poisoned and die);
• clean bedding (shavings / special filler / clean wipes).

It is very important to wash everything that is in the home, even if the external accessories are clean. They can be sprayed with a cleaning agent diluted in water or a soda solution, then rinsed in running water and dried.

The cage will dry faster in direct sunlight, and it’s also a good disinfectant. You can assemble it and install accessories only after everything is clean and dry.

Now you know how to clean a hamster’s cage so that the stress of the procedure is minimal. The cleaning procedure is almost the same for different breeds: Dzungarian and Syrian kids equally do not like it when their supplies are touched. The only difference is that the jungarik is more aggressive, so be careful – your pet may be offended and, if possible, bite your finger.