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Old 10-10-2019, 12:56 AM  
Pebbles82
Hamster Antics
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: My young hamster is a weirdo??

Hi. It’s what they do wherever they choose to nest. Block up the entrance. Makes sense really - keeps the draughts and light out so it’s cosy and dark inside.

It is a problem when a hamster nests in a tube or tunnel though as it gets messy and then needs cleaning out regularly and then they get stressed about their nest being messed with.

To help him have normal behaviours you could do the following

1) Give him a large house that is dark inside. A shoebox house is ideal. Cut the base out of the shoe box and cut a hole near one end of a long side for a door. At least 5 or 6 Cm wide. Use the lid as a lift off roof so you can check inside and it also makes a platform for a good bowl eg. Use a bendy bridge tunnel over the house entrance. This makes it dark inside and also provides a ramp onto the roof. Then put some treats inside it to tempt him in there. He will probably move into it overnight on the first or second night.

2. Make sure he has lots of nesting material but don’t put it in the house. Torn up strips of plain white toilet paper are safest and they like it. A big pile in the cage near the house. He will take some to build a big cosy nest with to keep warm . They tend to build a big nest at this time of year as they sense the cooler evenings and nights. He may pouch some of the toilet paper strips. This is Normal foraging behaviour - they forage for nesting materials and food, pouch them and take them to their nest.

3. If the house is large he is likely to move his toilet area inside it. So put a litter tray in one corner of the house (at the back opposite the door because they nest at the end away from the door where it’s darkest). With chinchilla bathing sand in the litter tray. I’ll link an ideal corner litter tray later. Any dish will do but the corner ones fit well and contain the pee at the back as they are high at the back. He will almost certainly use it. Then you just empty the litter tray once or twice a week and put new sand in, by taking the house roof off. That way you don’t have to take the house out and it keeps their nest in tact.

4. Make sure there is plenty of substrate - at least 3 to 4” deep. That way the cage stays clean longer and it enables normal behaviours like digging and burying hoards under the nest. With a litter tray the cage will stay clean and dry for weeks so no need to clean out as often . You can easily go a couple of months with just spot cleaning and emptying the litter tray and hut cleaning the wheel every few weeks (if it gets peed in as that is one place they do sometimes pee other than the litter tray.)

5. Spot cleaning is just taking out the odd handful of substrate and replacing it with a new handful and mixing it in a bit so it smells familiar. Don’t worry about poops unless they really start taking over. They are not smelly or dirty really - they are often eaten for extra vitamins or nutrients too which is another normal behaviour - they have two stomachs and can redigest nutrients from their poops. They may hoard some poops too (emergency food supply).

5. I would take out the tunne system at the same time as you put the house in. Your hammy may be a bit stress for a few days at the change so leave him alone for two or three days until he has settled in the house and avoid changing anything else in the cage for a while. They do need toys and tunnels and other hidey places - eg under a shelf - but rat tunnels are a better size for Syrians and a single one as a floor toy or attached to bars as a route from one shelf to another eg.

I like the large cork logs which make a big tunnel and also something to climb over and an interesting texture. Or you can get plastic or cardboard rat tunnels.

6. Safety. Avoid toys with chains or open rung ladders (you can adapt them by removing chains or filling in gaps between rungs.) any toys with entrance holes, the holes need to be 6cm diameter or more or they can get stuck.
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