Cage - What do I do about the smell of a dwarf hamster cage?

What do I do about the smell of a dwarf hamster cage?

I want a dwarf hamster and keeping in my room is almost out of the question. Where do I put it and what do I do about the smell of the cage.

Public Comments

Keep it clean, it won't smell.
I put one of those glade plug-ins next to my dwarf hamsters cage. There is virtually no smell except for the smell of spring flowers.
If you are worried about the smell don't get one. If you do change it regularly. Wash it when you change it.Take any veggie or fruit that haven't been eaten after a day out. Don't use pine bedding. Try the soft Kay Tee brand. Or soft-comfort.I have 4 animals in my room and as long as you keep your door open during the day and keep their habitats clean it wont stink .
When I had a hamster I kept it in my room and used cedar chips as bedding. In order to keep my room smelling nice I cleaned the cage every day and burned incense while I did the cleaning. My room smelled quite nice. Unfortunately, the hamster kept me awake by gnawing on her cage bars and running in her squeaky exercise wheel all night long. (Darn nocturnal critter!) It only got worse when she had 5 baby hamsters. I eventually moved the cage into the living room. I still cleaned the cage every day. This is a lot of work, but keeping any living creature is a big responsibility and if you want to keep the smell down, keeping the bedding clean is the best way.
if you keep it clean, then it wont smell. And dont keep it outside, if you were considering that. Maybe in a laundry room, or a dining room....somewhere out of drafts and direct sunlight. In a nice quiet room.
If it's clean, then it won't smell. Put it on a dresser that's not in direct sunlight, like on the side of the room.
keep it clean and it will have a better smell but it will always have a smell but do not put a glade air freshener near it the vet told me thats how mine died so dont put one next to it
You LITERALLY have to clean it about every other day. Thats the ONLY way to keep the smell minimal. DONT try putting it by a window to blow the smell out. The draft will get ur little hammy sick. If he's in a larger, more open room, the smell will also be alot less
Hamsters really don't smell that bad if there cage is moderately clean. He can go pretty much anywhere that doesn't have a lot of sunlight shining on him, somewhere that is not too drafty or around a heat/air duct. Also, if you have little kids at your house or other pets, he will need to be up a little high. Put him in a room that can be shut all the time if you have a cat. Also, try not to use cedar shavings. They smell nice but they have to be cleaned everyday. "The National Institute of Health discourages the use of pince and cedar shavings" because the aroma changes their liver function and blood chemistry. For my mouse I use Critter Care Oder Control. I clean his cage about once a week. With my hamster I only needed to clean hers once every 2 weeks. But every critter is different.
I have two dwarf hamsters. Their cages don't smell too bad, but I would recommend putting them in a quiet room, and clean the cage at least once a week to keep the smell away. I hope this answer you question!
Hamsters will clean themselves so that they will never require baths. What you are smelling is the build up of wastes and bacteria in the cage. Here are some tips to reduce this: Clean the cage at least once a week. This includes changing the bedding, washing the wheel, toys, and cage with soap, getting rid of uneaten/buried/hidden food, and disinfecting with diluted bleach (and rinsing well) maybe every 2-3 weeks. Remove fresh veggies and fruits after 3 hours of them being untouched. If left out for too long they will become breeding grounds for bugs and bacteria which will make your hamster ill. Get a well ventilated cage. If you have an aquarium cage, how about switching to a bared cage or maybe even try making a bin cage (http://www.geocities.com/calhamassoc/FeatureBin.html). Keep the cage out of the heat. The bacteria which creates the smell will grow slower (like how food rots slower in a fridge). This will also beneficial for your hamster because they cannot tolerate really hot summer temperatures and may become ill or even die. Do not use softwood shavings like pine or cedar or corn cob shavings because the softwoods may cause an upper respiratory infection and corn cob attracts more harmful bacteria than other types of bedding. Instead use aspen or beddings like Carefresh.
clean it
Clean the cage really good with mild soap and hot water clean out where he sleeps everyday and if your hamster coninues to smell then buy some chinchilla sand and have your hamster roll in it! It should help take the smell a way!
Clean the cage regularly, about once a week.
I work at my local animal shelter and take in a lot of foster and rescue animals. I recently took in 14 dwarf hamsters, many of them babies, so I'm dealing with this myself right now. I'm currently using Carefresh, since that's what I use for my guinea pigs, but it's not quite enough for the hamsters. I'm housing them in two large Crittertrail cages -- one for the boys and one for the girls -- with a lot of add-on tunnels and compartments. While the main parts of the cages don't smell bad, all the hammies like to cram themselves into a single observation tower to sleep in a giant pile, and that enclosed area starts smelling distinctly "mousy" pretty fast. So the hamsters themselves start smelling extremely mousy as well. I have to spend one-on-one time holding each of them every day so that they'll be socialized, and the smell on their fur is driving me crazy. It isn't surprising considering I'm dealing with 14 HAMSTERS! *lol* But I'd be much happier if I can figure out some way to make their sleeping chambers a little fresher and sweeter. So I've been researching whether I can deal with the odor by using aromatic oils and came across a page with great reviews of a product called Kaytee Soft Sorbent Natural Scented Bedding (http://reviews-cdn.petsmart.com/4830/14489/reviews.htm). It's blended with real flowers (comes in three scents: rose, mint, and lavender) and is available at Petsmart and some other online retailers. I'm definitely going to make a trip to my local Petsmart tomorrow to see if they have any in stock. If not, I'm ordering online. Maybe you might want to give it a try, too.
Be careful about the glade plugin, your hamster could he sensitive to it - and if the cage smells you should clean it not hide it. It's possible that your dwarf hamster has diabetes. There urine is more potent when they are diabetic. Does he drink an ounce or more of water a day? If so there is a good chance he is diabetic and should be tested. Really even less is possible. A single hamster should drink so little water that you can't even tell he drank any in a day. Please research this disease in dwarf hamsters so you can proceed.