toilet training a hamster

Question
Hi, I just got a russian dwarf hamster on Saturday. I know little about them. We notice he poops on his wheel and when we hold him unlike the other one we got that uses a little potty. I have cleaned the wheel extensively, but that is still where he goes. Any thoughts or suggestions would be helpful. It is not diarrhea; it's solid, but it happens often. It's a male and the store said he's pretty young.
Thanks so much!

Answer
hi sue,
Hi Mara,
hamsters are naturally terratorial and the place they choose to toilet is usually the place they will always toilet!
unfortunately for you, its his wheel.
the only thing you could try is another potty.
it is relatively easy to train a hamster to use a 'loo' you just need to add some of his pee and droppings to the litter in the loo, and place it in the same place or as near to the place that your hamster normally uses as a toilet.clean the wheel with hamster safe disinfectant, or better still remove it completely for a couple of days till he gets used to his new toilet area.
if your hamster is young you will find it takes very little time to train it to use a loo, however if your hamster is older then it may take several attempts as you are changing its normal habits.however percevere as my hamster got potty trained when he was nearly 2 and its just so much more convenient.
hope this helps and good luck with the potty training...