Its me jon again lol..

Question
Dear Kelly,

Ok, I see, so should I remove the wheel for the time being? And you know, just 24h without the wheel they go active like crazy, climbing the wires, digging holes all around the cage. But if I dont remove it then he might keep urinating in it..?




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Followup To

Question -
Hi kelly!.. need help.

One of my hammies keeps urinating on the wheel. The first day, I took it out right away and washed it with detergent. And 2nd day, again, so I took the wheel out of the cage for the following day. And yesterday night I gave them back the wheel, and he urinates in it again! What can I do?

Answer -
Hi Jon,

Try setting up a separate "bathroom" for your hamster to use.  First, buy some unscented cat litter or hamster litter, and pour a little into a corner of the cage.  (Or, you can buy a hamster "potty" - sold in pet stores - and put the litter in the potty.  Encourage your hamster to use the litter by scooping up some of its droppings with a plastic spoon (or something like that), and placing them in the litter.  With this method, most hamsters become "potty-trained" - just change out the litter 2-3 times a week.  

As a side note - when you're cleaning out any part of the hamsters' cage, use regular hand soap instead of detergent.  Detergent tends to have a rather strong smell that can bother the hamster.  A few times a year, use special small animal disenfectant on the cage after you've cleaned it with soap.  

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Have a great day,

Kelly

Answer
Hi Jon,

The wheel should definitely stay in the cage, since it's so important to the health of the hamster.  However, your hamster should be "potty-trained" soon, so you shouldn't have to keep cleaning the wheel.  (He may still use the bathroom in the wheel until he learns to use the litter.)

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Kelly