Giving Up Hamster Keeping.

I have many different types of animals and would never consider getting rid of any to make room for different ones.

If you cannot keep your hamsters AND have GPs at the same time then stick to your hamsters. They do not deserve being dumped in favor of a new pet.

If the problem is that your hamsters smell then you may not be cleaning up after them as often as you should. If this is the problem then you will have the same problem with GPs. ALL animals will smell if their environment is not kept clean.

I agree completely.
Except with the problem is I have three dwarfs, so the smell is really enhanced by having two female and one male next to eachother.
I don't want to give them away because I agree with you.
What I want to know (And I am sorry I wasn't too clear) Is if there are any tips on how I convince them I can keep them?

I completely agree that you should never give up any animal to replace it with another. I also believe that as you chose to take on these hamsters it is your responsibility to look after them.

It sounds like your parents have 2 problems with the hamsters, so here are 2 ideas to keep them happy:

1) The smell: See if you can get bigger cages, clean them out more often, maybe try a different bedding. As VoodooJoint said they shouldn't smell if they are kept clean. That way your parents shouldn't have any smell to complain about and they will be able to see you are taking responsibility for your pets.

2) They hold no interest for you: You don't say if thi is your opinion or your parents. If you make a point of looking after them properly, watching them play and handling them every day your parents won't have any reason to think they don't hold your interest.

Hope that helps, good luck.

I use wood shavings, carefresh and alot of tissue paper (They love to make nests with it) I am aware it isn't too absorbant.
Thanks so much you have no idea how useful this is to me, I am going to talk to my parents. (I got them as a present and one gave birth)

To cut down the smell, remove wet litter daily. Also when you clean the whole cage, wipe it down with vinegar (followed by water, then dry it) or a commercial small animal cage cleaner. This helped a lot with my stinky little dwarf hamster Fuzznugget.

Hey there. Sounds like you might be housing them in cages that are too small, or not changing their bedding enough. Could be both..

What is the dimensions of their cages?

What types of cages are they in?

I have had all types of hamsters, and as long as I kept them in a good sized cage, and changed their bedding once a week, they didn't stink..

I also use just plain carefresh, wood bedding also might be adding to the smell.. I really cant comment a lot on that, because I have never used it. What type of wood bedding are you mixing with the carefresh?

I have a dwarf hamster (male) on Aspen, and never noticed a smell from him. But he has a nice size bin, and I change it out about once a week. I think if you can get your hamsters from not smelling, it may impress your parent enough to let you have both.
I have 2 guinea pigs, a hamster, and a mouse in my room and you cant smell anything.

Moving the male to a location further from the females may help. Males tend to have stronger urine smell so maybe upping his spot cleaning and giving him two cleans a week should help. The biggest arguement in favor of your decision to keep them is that pets are not disposable and to give them up in favor of another type of pet screams that is the way you feel. Tell your parents that you have a commitment to the hamsters and want to see it through. As your parents are encouraging you towards another animal, they obviously like pets, could their upset about the hamsters stem from your lack of interest in them? The arguement that they have about the hamsters not offering much stimulation sounds remarkably similar to the one I had with my daughter when she started slacking off on spending quality time with her hamster. Maybe stepping up the cleaning and going that extra mile with the hamsters will show responsibility enough to care for both types of pets.

(All my dwarfs are housed seperatly due to fighting)
My hamsters use carefresh mixed with tissue paper and aspen bedding.
They are housed in rat cages attached to a 10 gallon. I clean the cage once a week. I myself notice the smell as I go out and go into the computer room. I defiantly do not show lack of intrest and if it appears that way my parents dont pay enough attention. I have had hamsters for five years, now and I think my parents are just getting sick of the odor.
That may be a good idea though. My male smells about double the females.
There cages are in a row near each other.

I wasn't being mean, I was just maybe trying to put myself into your parents shoes, I am unsure why they think that getting rid of one type of pet just to get another would teach you any life lessons. I would seperate the male away from the girls. Also, I have found that carefresh often seems to react with the urine of hamsters in a funky way. I have ours on aspen and I don't even notice the smell. On the carefresh he was stinking horribly, it got very bad practically the day after he was changed, I swear by day three I could smell him the minute I came into the front door in spite of spot cleaning. Changing the bedding may help to solve the problem alone. Carefresh is a great product but I just haven't found it to be helpful with the hamsters at all.

I didn't think you were being mean, I just dont think thats the real issue.
But after talking with my parents, I am aloud to keep my hamsters, when it comes down to it, and I have only two hamsters instead of three, I am alloud a pair of pigs. They said this I guess because my favorite ham, Dusty is 2 years and six months old now. Poor girl. She is silvering and just eating enough to live. I have been to the vet aswel, there is nothing to do except feed her some baby food and things like that.

Something I noticed recently with my Syrian, is that different bedding can make a huge difference. I was using only carefresh for her to begin with, and noticed the smell. It could get kind of strong. Then last week I changed to the Aspen, and the smell is gone! I don't use a mix or stuff, just the Aspen. I clean our her little house everyday where she sleeps and poops, and its amazing the difference that makes with the smell. I would say try just one type of bedding at a time, and that may help you pinpoint which one of the two is the least smelly.

Okay.
I am trying to coax my dad into being on my side and get him to agree I can have a pair of piggies and my hams, as the oldest hamster I have ever had was unfortunatly 3 and one month.

If you give your hamster a shallow dish of chin sand they will bath in it, but mostly use it for a potty so you just change that once or twice a day.

Thanks.
I have a dish and have had sand in the past.
They love it.
I just stopped buying it.

Sorry to play devil's advocate here but...

What will happen if your parents start to think your piggies smell when/if you get them? It is their decision whether or not to keep them as they are ultimately responsible for you and your pets.

I have a Syrian hamster and she is kept in an open cage. She is spot cleaned several times weekly and completely cleaned out once a week. She does not smell. I do not believe that tanks and modular cages provide adequate ventilation for hamsters, contrary to what some think. I also used to clean out tanks and cages of dwarf hamsters at my local SSPCA and never noticed a smell unless I was right up close. In a well ventilated small animal room there were 40 dwarf hamsters (the only noticable smell was the shavings) - I can't understand why your room would smell with only 3.

I agree with smartorl - show your parents that you are responsible for your hamsters by cleaning them out more regularly and handling them where appropriate. If you are finding it difficult to maintain 3 hamsters then you will struggle with guinea pigs as they are far more high maintenence.

I am not finding it difficult to maintain them?
Where did you get that from?
My parents have had guinea pigs befor as I menchioned.
And bin cages are highly recomended. I drill holes in them all over the top. and the aquarium is just for digging, and sleeping.

.Cavy Slave said:

I am not finding it difficult to maintain them?
Where did you get that from?
My parents have had guinea pigs befor as I menchioned.
And bin cages are highly recomended. I drill holes in them all over the top. and the aquarium is just for digging, and sleeping.

Click to expand...

If the smell of three tiny hamsters is hitting you when you walk into the room then yes, I would say you are having some difficulty maintaining them.

Wait a moment, I can smell my hamsters yes, but that doesn't automatically make me having difficulty. I am having difficulty keeping the smells to a minimum. I do clean there cages once a week, but it isn't really affecting me maintaining them. Sorry I don't understand.