Hamster Clubhouse

Hi I could not find the right topic but I will just get into it. Ever since we got Houdini and found him two days after he got lost and he ran away into his hideout right away he has been pretty shy but not so shy that he constantly runs away and he is getting better. We used to do full clean cage outs like every month or so because my mom would smell that the cage stinks but he only seems to actually stay on one side so when I cleaned his cage on Sunday August 20th 2022 I only took out the bedding on the half of his cage that he seems to stay in either all the time or most of the time and so I was wondering what is the best way I can spot clean that side when I'm pretty sure he pees under the top layer of bedding in his burrow? I didn't see very much pee at the top but I also don't want him to get sick or anything. Any suggestions? Btw he is in the 776 square inch Niteangel Cage and he has lots of bedding and he is an almost 8 month old Hamster that is assuming the family who had him, his sibling and I'm assuming got the right age lol and of course hopefully I did the math right. Btw I know his cage is empty but he prefers sleeping and burrowing and does not like flowers or sprays which is okay because I don't like how they looked in the cage when I put them in for decoration lol. And he only has a water bowl because when I had both he never touched the water bottle and it was taking up room. He also has an 11 inch Niteangel Wheel and a new Large 6 room Multichamber Niteangel Hamster Hideout. He also is fed in a bowl but that is because scatter feeding didn't really work out and it's much better considering most of the food he has he won't eat bc he doesn't like it so when he won't eat anymore of it I know he doesn't like it and I am working on hopefully trying new foods but no luck so far but luckily Kikya is sending me some food for him to try I also hope one day to be able to afford to make my own hamster food based off what he likes and also hopefully get some help with the math and stuff lol. Btw I have tried Robins Gourmet, Chubby Hamster Cheeks, I even tried looking at websites that repackage German food, etc and they didn't seem to have what I needed plus they also had a few things he does not like and I have asked some people not to put certain foods in a mix and they said okay and it ended up having the foods he doesn't like. I am keeping him on Higgins Sunburst for now and I am also hoping to get more purebites chicken soon.

Here is his cage: https://imgur.com/a/9Hte3oa

Here is me measuring the outside of the cage to measure the bedding on the side he stays on because I don't want to stick it in the bedding and their is bedding all the way from where you see it and down I'm pretty sure. Maybe one day I will measure it in the cage: https://imgur.com/a/xshUwFx

Sorry if this isn't helpful, I got a little confused about the question
Try to only remove the bedding that smells or is yellow, instead of just taking out all the bedding or half of it.
I think the best way to reduce smell is to have more bedding. While my past hammy did pee more then Eric, I think that now that I add 10 inches of bedding it has been a really big help with smell. You can also try adding some hay that smells nice or some aspen bedding. Adding plenty of flower forage can make the cage smell really nice too.
The food situation sounds frustrating. It's nice of Kikya to send you some to try! I hope that you can find a good food soon.
Hopefully this could help!

TinyPaws wrote: Mon Sep 04, 2023 1:57 pm Sorry if this isn't helpful, I got a little confused about the question
Try to only remove the bedding that smells or is yellow, instead of just taking out all the bedding or half of it.
I think the best way to reduce smell is to have more bedding. While my past hammy did pee more then Eric, I think that now that I add 10 inches of bedding it has been a really big help with smell. You can also try adding some hay that smells nice or some aspen bedding. Adding plenty of flower forage can make the cage smell really nice too.
The food situation sounds frustrating. It's nice of Kikya to send you some to try! I hope that you can find a good food soon.
Hopefully this could help!

Thank you for answering and it's okay. Oh yes I was saying I did to that but I am trying not to do that. Yes I want to remove the smelly bedding or yellow bedding but I kept taking bedding out and I think he peed all the way on the bottom. But idk for sure. My mom says she can smell that it smells in there but for some reason I can't smell it lol. The problem with having more bedding is that it will take longer to find the pee for me lol. My mom is allergic to hay and idk if I am but also tbh I don't want the pretty smell to cover it up because then I will forget to change the bedding lol and he also does not like flowers or forage mixes. Yes it is a little frustrating but I am willing to try more things. Yes it is very nice of her. I'm so excited. Thank you! I still don't know what I should do lol.