Routine maintenance and care of your hamster

 Regular maintenance

The cleanliness of its domain

Hamsters are very clean animals and attach great importance to their hygiene. In their cage, they install their own cloaca and clean themselves often and carefully. In addition, they do not have a marked body odor that is unpleasant to humans, such as white mice for example.
It is important to invest in a hamster toilet/bath to facilitate the maintenance of the cage.

Of course, it is necessary to put quality sand inside to keep a hamster in good health.

Simplified cleaning plan

Once a day: clean the cloaca (with a discarded spoon or small shovel).

Once a week: clean with hot water all the accessories, feeder, wheel, various games, and pass the brush in the "bottle". Twice a week: change all the litter.

If your hamster's nest does not have a bottom, before lifting it, remember to slide a small board underneath to collect the provisions the animal has accumulated there, without them mixing with the litter.

Once a month: renew the materials of the nest, making sure to leave a small amount of the old materials. Wash the bars and the floor with warm water.

Important : Do not use any detergent, hot water is sufficient.

Daily maintenance

• Feed the hamster with fresh food, preferably in the evening.
• Filling the seed tank
• Check corners and nest; remove spoiled food from them
• Remove from the nest the seeds impregnated with urine, as well as the surplus wet provisions because they dry out quickly.
• Keep the saucer containing the food clean.
• Remove dirty litter from the toilet area
• Replace the drinking water after having cleaned the container beforehand.
• Let the hamster frolic in the room or in its play case.
• Checking the hamster's health

Maintenance once or twice a week

• Remove all litter
• Thoroughly clean the cage, pen or vivarium with warm water, or at most vinegar to remove the smell of urine (other detergents may be harmful to the hamster).
• Also wash accessories such as the wheel, toys or objects to be gnawed on.
• Scrub the trough with a brush and renew the water.
• Wash the bowl
• If necessary, change the nesting materials
• Replace branches and paper rolls
• Make sure that the incisors are filed by regularly offering the hamster things to gnaw on.

Body care : The toilet, privileged occupation

The hamster spends much of its time on body care. On waking up, all hamsters do a thorough and thorough grooming, after that it is more superficial. The toilet serves primarily to put the hair in order. A well-ordered coat is necessary to keep the body warm. The loss of heat to the outside is indeed less if the hairs are well smoothed against each other, thus retaining between them a large amount of air in tiny intervals. Furthermore, in cases of great emotion - in conflict situations, for example - the hamster can sometimes be seen to suddenly start feverishly cleaning its face. This is a kind of substitution reaction.

 

How do hamsters groom themselves?

Routine care and maintenance 3 For this grooming ceremony, the hamster usually does not put itself in the "squirrel position", i.e. standing on its hind legs, but rather sits on its hindquarters. He usually starts with his head. He extends his tongue, passes his legs over it in a circular motion, and rubs several times to the back of the coat, first the muzzle, then the entire head. In the meantime, he licks his legs several times. With more or less acrobatic contortions, he then rubs his belly, back, thighs and the top of the front legs. Then he uses his teeth and hind legs to comb the places he can no longer reach with his front legs.

 

The coat

Hamsters are clean animals that regularly groom themselves. You won't have to do anything except maintain the coat. A sand bath containing chinchilla sand. An exception: long-haired hamsters. Brush their fur with a baby brush or a soft toothbrush. Carefully cut any knots that cannot be undone. Never bathe them, it does more harm than good.

Important : Begin to maintain the coat of your teddy or your angora as soon as possible. Even youngsters with short coats should be combed regularly to get them used to it. This will become a routine and will save you a lot of trouble later on.

Teeth

Specifically, rodents' teeth are constantly growing. Your hamster must therefore always have something to gnaw on to wear them out. Beware of dental malocclusions.

The claws

In the wild, hamsters do not walk around with claws that are too long, as these wear out when they scratch or run on uneven ground. In captivity, however, the claws may grow too much and injure the animal. Have them shortened by the veterinarian. As a preventive measure, consider putting rough materials in the cage, such as unglazed raw clay or a flat stone.

Nose and eyes

Gently remove any droppings from the nose and eyes with a damp cloth, without rubbing. Do not use chamomile tea to wash the eyes, it irritates them instead of relieving them.