smelly hamstewr urine

[OrkyBetta]

My hamster's urine smells HORRIBLE. I have had many hamsters and none of them stunk like this. It's almost acidic smelling and like its infected. Her wheel sometimes has a milky white substance in it, and it dries into this gross gunky buildup. Is somehting wrong with her? If so, what can I do?

My only thought was to try and give her cranberries, since cranberries are good for urinary tracts. But these are probably poison to hamsters, right?

 

[OrkyBetta]

I just looked online and it says cranberries are safe for hamsters. Should I pick some up?

 

[b.c.f.c]

if its a milky white substance on her wheel its probly her coming in to heat.(ready for her to breed)but i may be wrong.about the horrible smell i dnt know.this wouldnt be produced by the white substance so i would reasearch more or take her to a vet.my male smells a bit but not that bad but thats wat males do,smell lol.but females hardly smell at all unless u forget to clean her out for a few weeks.im sure other people on here will help u further as im only going on past experiance.well thats about it i hope u get the problem sorted out.

 

[OrkyBetta]

thanks for the advice. I had no idea the white stuff was associated with heat cycles. That explains alot, she's the first female I've had. But I cleaned everything thoroughly yesterday and it still smells.

 

[Bloo]

Mmm to be honest it really shouldn't smell that bad
I've had loads of females and yes the do secrete a white (ish) fluid, but none of them have ever noticeably smelt bad.....
I'd be inclined to take her to a vet for a check up in case she has a bacterial infection.

 

[bubbles12003]

i also have a female hamster that smells really bad. i was told because the go in heat their urine is stonger. i could also be wrong but i know how you feel about the smell. i clean my hamster every week, wash everything with fantasitk and within a few days it starts again.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yep she's just in heat and its perfectly normal- what kinds of hamster house bedding and hamster cage bedding do you use? You'll find that your hamster will tend to pee in a particular area of their cage and if you put a jar there that the hamster can get into, it'll start peeing in the jar instead so you can take the jar out every day or so and clean it out and hey presto- no smelly hamster pee .
Do you feed your hamster any fresh fruit or veg and if so, what and how often? If its realy strong hamster pee smell it can apparently indicate the hamster is lacking in somthing in her diet and altering it can make it better.