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Old 11-21-2019, 05:48 AM  
Fluffagrams
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Default Re: Can large cages be good for Chinese hamsters?

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Originally Posted by sayaspice View Post

I haven't quite been able to understand my hamster's preferences yet. I have had my Chinese hamster for a month now and it feels like we have gone backwards in taming. For context, he is in a 576 sq in (3640 sq cm) bin cage. He was very skittish the first week which I understand is normal, and then he became very playful, curious, and energetic the second two weeks. He would run for hours in his wheel, and if I put my hand in the cage, he would run in the wheel for 10 seconds, come out and walk across my hand/wrist, explore his cage, then back into the wheel and repeat.

Now I rarely see him in his wheel and he usually runs to hide if I come near his cage. This has been happening for a few days. I know he isn't running in his wheel when I'm asleep because I've been awake for 20+ hrs at a time from insomnia and I never see him or hear him in his wheel even if the lights are off during that time. He does drink water and eat but only for a few minutes at a time and goes back to his hides. I have noticed that he has been burrowing a lot so I assume that is how he uses up his energy.

Would upgrading him to a larger cage make taming even harder? And is there evidence that shows that large cages are not as good for skittish hamsters? I wouldn't want to scare him and I'm afraid I'd be doing more harm than good even if a larger cage hypothetically sounds great. I could see more enrichment and space potentially giving him more fun things to do, but I can also see how so much space could be overwhelming.
I tend to feel that Chinese are often to most difficult to find the right caging for as they are the species that seem to vary the most. I've had some that have never been happy in anything smaller than a Hamster Heaven and others that won't settle unless they're in something much smaller like a Ferplast Mini Duna.

From what you've said already, I'd be fairly sure that for now, an upgrade will make him more skittish and I'd probably want to keep him where he is until he is less inclined to dart for cover. Perhaps look at adding more coverage in the cage you already have with some more hides... my Chinese seem happiest with cages that other people might consider to be a bit cluttered.

You may find that eventually he is more settled and can be upgraded to a larger cage but I've known Chinese that have refused to leave their nests in a cage too large and this has been with plenty of hides, coverage and substrate. One of my lads actually lost weight because of it but he was a particularly nervous hamster to begin with.
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