syrian hamster scratching

Question
Hi, my son has a new Syrian hamster. We were told by the pet store that they thought he was male and he was 6 weeks old. We have had him now for 2 weeks and have noticed that he scratches alot and that he smells, its like a cat urine musty type of odour. When you hold him you can smell it from his fur and from your hands once he is back in his cage. He is otherwise healthy eats and drinks normally and is active. We thought he was quite large for a 6 week old hamster though the pet store assured us that he wasnt. Is the smell and scratching normal?
Thanks


Answer
I would say so, hamsters can be very stinky little animals. Also they tend to scratch alot, but they also use this as a way to clean themselves. They do it very fast, but sometimes you can catch them licking their paws before they scratch. In this way they are cleaning themselves just like a cat would.