Quote:
Originally Posted by cypher
There could be a few things going on really, if she was handled badly in her first home that may be partly why she's nervous in the cage, a month still isn't that long for her to adjust to a new home & get over anything that may have scared her previously.
Some hams do sleep in open nests & some will have more than one nest but it does sound as though she may be a bit unsettled in the cage, does she have a good deep layer of substrate under her house or hideouts where she can burrow down?
A photo of your cage might help with any suggestions for things that could work better for her, it's hard to say without seeing it really.
I wouldn't put any ham in a ball personally but for a nervous ham it can be particularly stressful so I would stop using that, if she enjoys time out in the bath then keep that up for taming & bonding.
Some hams really don't like hands in the cage much even when they're tame & if you do put your hand in it's generally best to just keep it still & wait to see if they will come to you. Probably best for now to not put your hands in the cage any more than you need to & just interact with her out of the cage.
Not using the wheel when it's big enough & works ok is very unusual but not unheard of & some do sleep more than others although females do tend to be more active so that is quite unusual.
I'd give her more time anyway & see how it goes with out of cage taming, as she gets more confident with that she may be better when you're around & she's in her cage.
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Hi thanks for the reply
She does have a deep layer of hemp bedding in her cage which id say is around 4 inches deep and then she also has a substrate similar to carefresh which I got from pets at home on top,then I put in ripped up tissue for her to nest with. It’s really quite deep so I think she definitely has enough room to burrow - sometimes she does burrow in it, but the main concern was that she’s changing her nest every night. Her cage is a type of big tank, I’m in the UK so it’s not a 40 gallon one but it does have 450 sq inches of floor space and I try to get her out of the cage as regularly as possible. She does bite which is another issue with taming. There’s no way I can put my hand flat on the ground without her biting it as many times as possible - the only thing I can do when she’s in the bath is just watch her, feed her treats and stroke her back. If she gets anywhere near my hand she will bite it continuously until you move it. Maybe she’s just never going to Be tamed :/ I think her previous home has made her nervous which has caused all her strange behaviours.