Hamsters are low-maintenance pets because they don’t require as much care as other animals. However, their beds can get particularly dirty, so it’s essential to know how often you should change their bedding.
You should change your hamster’s bedding once a week in most cases. If the bedding is filthy and soiled, you might need to replace it more than once a week. Keep an eye on the bedding daily to ensure it remains somewhat clean.
This article will discuss why hamster bedding should be changed once a week in more detail. Keep reading to learn more!
Hamster Bedding Should Be Changed Once a Week
As I’ve briefly mentioned, it’s best to replace hamster bedding approximately once per week to keep your furry pet happy and comfortable. Leaving an old bed in the cage for too long allows urine and stale food to get caught up in it.
As a result, bad smells will form, which won’t be fun for your hamster. After all, hamster’s have excellent senses of smell. It’s also not good health-wise. Therefore, it’s best to change the bedding regularly.
Thankfully, it’s super easy to change hamster bedding once per week. All you need to do is:
- Remove the old bedding
- Clean the cage
- Add the new bedding
Repeat the process once weekly, and your hamster should remain happy.
Below is a table demonstrating how often you should replace a hamster’s bedding:
| Hamster type/temperament | How often to replace the bedding |
| Highly nervous. | As infrequently as possible while keeping the cage hygienic at the same time (twice a month is ideal). |
| A normal-behaving hamster (Syrian and dwarf). | Around once a week. More frequently if the bedding gets dirty quickly. Once every two weeks is OK in some cases. |
Changing a Hamster’s Bedding More or Less Than Once per Week
Although it’s generally acceptable to change a hamster’s bedding once per week, there might be times when you’ll need to change it multiple times in the same week. For example, if your hamster constantly goes to the toilet on their bedding, you’ll need to replace it more frequently.
Also, if it likes to hide food and dirt around the bedding, you’ll need to replace it more often to prevent foul odors from developing. Hamsters will often hide food in their bedding to keep it safe and to ensure it’s close by.
Keeping a close eye on the cage is an excellent way to know whether or not the bedding needs to go.
You might also realize that once a week is too much, in which case you could replace the bedding once every second week.
Be Careful if Your Hamster Gets Nervous Easily
Although it’s sometimes necessary to change hamster bedding once a week or more, pay attention to your hamster’s behavior. Some hamsters don’t react well to change (including changing cleaning schedules), so they can become anxious.
If you notice your hamster becomes increasingly anxious the more you change its bedding, consider reducing the number of times you replace it in a week or month.
For example, you might realize it makes more sense to change the bedding twice a month rather than once a week if your hamster gets too scared when you change it too frequently. However, you’d still need to replace the bedding more than twice a month if it were to get particularly dirty.
FAQs
Below are some frequently asked questions regarding hamster bedding.
How Often Should You Change a Dwarf Hamster’s Bedding?
You should change a dwarf hamster’s bedding around once a week in most cases. Since dwarf hamsters are the smallest, their cages are often slightly smaller than a Syrian hamster’s cage. As a result, it will be easy to clean.
When cleaning a dwarf hamster’s cage and replacing the bedding, you want to remove any waste (like food, feces, and urine). It’s also good to clean the area before putting in new bedding and other items.
A dwarf hamster should be placed somewhere safe while you change its bedding. Otherwise, it might become overly stressed.
How Often Should You Change a Syrian Hamster Bedding?
You should change a Syrian hamster’s cage approximately once a week, but you could get away with changing it less than this if the cage is relatively large. Since Syrian hamsters are bigger than dwarf hamsters, their cages are often bigger, taking a little more time to clean.
Like any type of hamster, keeping a close eye on your Syrian hamster’s cage is essential to ensure it remains clean. Although once a week is a rough guideline, you may realize the bedding is still clean after a week. In that case, you could leave the bedding for longer.
Is Changing a Hamster’s Bed Enough To Keep the Cage Clean?
Changing a hamster’s bed isn’t usually enough to keep the cage clean. It’s also vital that you clean other parts of the cage that might have feces and leftover food lying around. While changing the bedding when it gets dirty is essential, it’s equally important to maintain and keep a close eye on other parts of the cage.