Can i bathe my hammy w/water?

Question

my hamster smells REALLY bad. i saw this shampoo (the middle one) @ petsmart:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753363

it's in the hamster section

but this was there too:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753305

could i give my hamster a bath w/any of them?

i've heard of som powder thing where u put ur hamster in, but i don't really know what it is. does it work? & if it does, can i find @ a pet shop?

im thinking of using the instant shampoo spray.

if ur gana say i can't giv him a bath, don't. i've asked petsmart, petco, the vet, and the bottles even hav a hammy pic on them!!!!

how could ALL those be wrong?

youtube even has videos of ppl givin there hammys a bath!

& i know they groom themselves, but again, HE SMELLS BAD.

thnx =)

Answer 1

here is a better answer than i could give...

http://www.hamsterific.com/HamsterUniver...

Answer 2

No. You can NOT give him a water bath. Water will make them sick and they might die.

Use chinchilla sand. let him roll in it. It's bad for the hamster to use water.

Most of the problem is the bedding. Clean it out more often, it'll smell better.

To all your comments/questions:

No, you can't bathe a hamster. Bathing is dangerous.

There is powder, called chinchilla sand. You can probably get it at a pet store.

I would not use anything that involves water. Shampoo spray may harm him.

Although you CAN bathe a hamster in water, they will become sick and have a good chance of death.

Just change the bedding or something. NO PERFUME. It irritates animals.

Answer 3

your not cleaning his cage often enough or you're using cr@ppy litter

Answer 4

First off, this is a very strange situation since hamsters are very clean animals and they normally do not smell bad, especially male hamsters. From experience, I will advise you NOT to bathe your hamster with water. I had a hamster die of pneumonia because I gave it a bath. The best way to wash your hamster would be to use a wet rag and rub him with it. You can use a very mild soap on the rag as well, but make sure to wash it off very quickly with another wet rag that does not have soap. It's up to you if you want to risk your hammy's life.

Answer 5

Nooo, Too Risky. But what you can do is get a cotton swab, Damp it with mild hottish water, and then rub/wash/clean the hamster.

Good luck.

Answer 6

Is it a boy or girl? If its a girl then it will go into Heat every 4 days and will release a musky sent that is natural and a bath wont help. If that's not the case then instead of giving him a bath try and rub a damb cloth on him but make sure he gets completly dry

Answer 7

try cleaning the cage more often, thats usually the case.  

hamsters are naturally clean animals and they groom themselves on a daily basis.

if you give them a bath the water can REALLY REALLY dry out their skin.  after a while the hammie will itch itself to the point where it could cause himself to bleed.  

If you are desperate to get him clean, then try sprinkling no more than a few water droplets from your finger tips.  

~hope this helps.

Answer 8

Leave your hamster alone.  they do not want to be bathed.  they clean themselves.  no don't give your hamster a bath as I have had many many hamsters.  I never heard of a hamster taking a bath.  Try a different type of bedding and they have spray you can spray on the bedding to make the odor disappear (slightly).

Answer 9

well if you want to hurt your hamster go ahead and use water, but if you dont, listen to people trying to help you.

water is extremely frightening and dangerous for a hamster. they are not supposed to be bathed and that's that. apparently that product is not a good product because it advertises bathing hamsters which is not good. and Petco and Petsmart are not really known to be very knowledgeable about their animals, otherwise they would know how to treat them with respect and to hold them everyday. so that leaves your vet, who obviously is not very educated on hamsters, which is not surprising because they are a relatively new pet. and youtube has videos of everything, including slaughtering pigs and wringing chickens, but does that make it okay? No!

hamsters do groom themselves and if you keep the cage clean they should not smell. so the diagnosis is a dirty cage, the prognosis: clean it every week.