Minx's thread

[clover]

I wondered if anyone might give me some advice on the following please:

We have now had Minx for a few weeks. She seems to have set up her nest in the 'house' at the back of her cage - it's not multichamber but pretty big and she has designated one corner for her food / poop store and one corner as her wet toilet which I have just been spot cleaning weekly and the rest of the cage has pretty much been left. The other place she seems to wee is on her wheel which is wood and cork so it has become rather smelly unfortunately. I'm wondering if it is possible to train her out of this. She has a sand box and a couple of other small hiding chambers eg a hut and a coconut shell. Would putting some of the wet bedding in there encourage her to use that maybe?

She doesn't seem to burrow at all, ignores the food puzzle treats we put in made from toilet rolls / an egg box and just seems to use her nest house and the wheel and that's it! I don't want her to be bored but she certainly hasn't taken to any of the extra environmental nourishment we have provided. Does this seem like a problem? I'd take the egg box etc out and change it but don't want to stress her by changing her environment too early.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[Maz]

Hello I'm afraid there is no way of stopping a hamster peeing in a wheel It's just what they do - not all of them but some of them. With a wood and cork wheel, it's usually ok if it's been painted with plastikote inside first. That is what I do - and then it's wipe clean. It's still possible to do this by giving the wheel a good wash - a light scrub (carefully so you don't damage the cork) with soapy water - eg fairy liquid - and then when it's completely dry you can then plastikote it - which will seal in any stains and help make it wipe clean. The downside with doing that is she is likely to be without her wheel as it can take some time for wood to dry properly.