Hamsters are generally clean creatures by nature, but their urine does have a pungent odor that can be disgusting if you’re new to it. However, your hamster’s pungent urine isn’t necessarily a sign of illness.
If your hamster’s pee smells bad, it could be several reasons, including your pet’s diet, gender, or living conditions. Additionally, if your hamster is stressed, pregnant, or sick, those things could cause its pee to smell bad, as well.
Despite the smell, hamsters are generally pretty clean animals, so it isn’t usually an issue of hygiene. This article will look at the causes of stinky hamster pee in more detail. Keep reading to learn more.
Causes of Foul Pee Smell in Hamsters
There are several reasons why your hamster’s pee may smell abnormal. Let’s look at them now.
Diet
The first and most important reason for pungent-smelling hamster pee is diet.
Just like humans, what hamsters eat affects the way their urine smells. Hamsters can eat pretty much anything they get in their hands. Unfortunately, this also includes waste products from other animals, contributing to the bad smell.
Your Hamster’s Gender
A male hamster’s urine smells more potent than a female’s since he uses it to mark territories. However, females don’t excrete concentrated urine, but instead, their scent glands produce a smelly substance that you can easily mistake for urine.
Urine Marking
Hamsters are territorial animals. They scent-mark their territory with urine, especially if a new hamster gets added to the cage.
In some cases, this will subside after a few days, but it may continue for much longer if the hamsters do not get along. That is one reason why you should never house two male hamsters together, as they tend to fight over territory and dominance.
Pregnancy
If your female hamster is pregnant, she could be more likely to pee than usual, causing the cage to smell strongly of pee. If your hamster doesn’t have a cage, try to get one with plenty of room. I recommend the Ferplast Favola Hamster Cage (available on Amazon.com). It’s large, open size will make it easier for you to clean and reduce the smell of pee.
Stress
Stress can cause your hamster’s urine to smell rancid. If you notice your hamster’s pee has a foul odor, try to figure out what is causing the stress and eliminate it from your pet’s life if possible.
That could be anything from too many toys in the cage to an aggressive cage mate. It could even be an overly curious cat lurking around outside.
Urinary Tract Infection
Another reason your hamster’s pee may smell like ammonia is that she has a urinary tract infection. A urinary tract infection can be due to various problems, including stress, poor diet, diabetes, and more.
If you suspect that your hamster has a urinary tract infection, take her to the vet right away to get the problem resolved before it becomes serious.
Kidney Disease
Kidney disease is another possible culprit behind the strong ammonia odor from your hamster’s urine. But, again, this is a severe condition that deserves immediate treatment by a veterinarian. The treatment would involve antibiotics and fluids to help flush out toxins from your hamster’s kidneys.
Read Why Is My Hamster Limping?
Sometimes, the Stinky Pee Smell Isn’t Coming From Your Hamster At All
Occasionally, the foul odor that you think is urine isn’t coming from your hamster. Instead, it could be coming from its cage or from something in its cage.
Stinky Cages
It’s easy to overlook a hamster’s cage, assuming that no matter how bad it smells, it can’t be as bad as a dog or cat’s accident. But you’d be wrong. Hamsters have ammonia in their urine which gives off a potent odor. And while they tend to pee in one area of the cage, it doesn’t take long before the whole thing gets saturated with their scent. It can even make its way into the air, permeating your home and living space.
No one wants their home smelling like rodent urine, but what if there was a way to avoid this problem altogether? It turns out there might be a solution: making the bedding in your pet’s cage absorbent and keeping the cage clean can go a long way toward eliminating the smell of hamster pee. Check out this Youtube video to see how to properly clean your hamster’s cage:
Rotten Food
If the hamster has a small piece of food hidden in his hideout and hasn’t eaten it, the food may rot, making the hamster’s surroundings smelly. So it’s always a good idea to check the cage for old food or any droppings that your hamster might have missed with their tongue when cleaning themselves.
Ensure you remove them and wash the cage thoroughly, including all of the accessories and toys. Doing so regularly can help keep the odor down to a minimum.
Read Why Is My Hamster Hissing?
How To Control Odors in Hamster Cages
As mentioned earlier, hamsters are adorable pets, although their cages may get smelly! This is the last thing you would wish to experience, so here are actionable control tips you can use to keep your hamster happy and healthy, no matter where in the United States you live!
Use a Cage Liner
Cage liners make cleaning easier by catching all waste and bedding instead of letting them fall on the bottom of the cage. The liners are made from non-toxic materials like fleece or paper towels that you can easily wash or replace as needed.
Additionally, you’ll still have to clean out your hamster’s bedding every day or two, although you won’t have to scrub every inch of the bottom of its cage each time. Furthermore, using a liner is also beneficial since it prevents your pet from coming into contact with urine and feces, which may cause health problems over time.
Find a High-Quality Air Freshener for Hamsters
High-quality air fresheners are designed specifically for small pets like hamsters and work well at neutralizing odors. In addition, they don’t contain chemicals that can harm your pet, so you won’t have to worry about using them in your hamster’s home.
And the good thing is that you can get a high-quality air freshener at an affordable price. Just be sure you get one made specifically for hamsters. A regular old air freshener meant to freshen your car is not okay. It can make your hamster very sick.
Toss Out Bedding Often
Hamsters need bedding so that they can burrow and sleep comfortably. However, while bedding is necessary for your hamster, it can also be an odor source if not changed often enough.
The two most common types of hamster bedding are aspen shavings, which come from aspen trees, and sawdust shavings from pine or cedar trees. Both are fine for use in a hamster cage, although aspen shavings tend to be more expensive and less aromatic than sawdust.
Regardless of which type of bedding you use, you will need to change it frequently. A good rule of thumb is to change out all the bedding at least once every week or two.
Air Out the Room
To get rid of the smell in your hamster’s cage, you should consider airing out the room. For instance, leaving the room for ten minutes to allow fresh air to flow through will help remove unwanted odors.
If possible, you should leave your hamster cage near an open window or door for about a half an hour each day. This will allow fresh air to pass over the contents of the cage and reduce some of the odors that may build up overnight.