hamster with odor

Question
Hi My name is Denise I work with the MRDD people one of my ladies had gotten a hamster she had it about two weeks the hamster is about 2 months old. The cage gets cleaned regularly once a week on Wed. . But, I notice that today the hamster had a foul odor it smelt like a skunk. I was wondering is that normal or if the hamster was sick hopefully you can help. Thank you

Answer
Hello Denise,
have you checked the hamster to make sure the hamster isn't having diarrhea. If the hamster has diarrhea than it has wettail which is a bacterial infection. There are two things that you can do. You can either buy dri-tail which is a 50/50 on whether it will work on not. I will admit the sooner you catch it the better it will work, but if you want to make sure your hamster gets better a vet is the place to go for antibiotics.
Also, sometimes a hamster may sleep in their own urine area and smell dirty a simple bath with warm water and a small animal shampoo will help.
Sometimes a strong urine odor can also indicate urinary problems.
Keep in contact with me so I can find out more about what's going on.