Weeing in tube and taming issues

[n_t]

i cleaned out the tube which he peed in, it definitely is urine i took a sawb of it into the lab for testing at university so im not worried about him. checked him over when he was walking up and down and his tail is not wet or any of his fur...his eyes are bright, fur nice and glossy and he spends a lot of time in his wheel, so i am glad he's ok. i'll stop using the vits because i have a salt lick in his cage anyway. today i gave him some hamster mix with a raw almond that i crushed slightly. he has dragged some of his bedding into a tube and has hoarded most of his food there, during the weekend when i clean his cage out i'll replace some of his used bedding plus food in his house so it might encourage him to sleep there, i have some of the litter stuff that can be used, i will definitely have to potty train him...there is droppings every where, even in his food bowl :( will definitely take pics of him soon, havent yet as he's a bit shy, but hopefully when he gets used to me it will be ok!

[souffle]

If he insists on using the tube to sleep in and store I would take it off if you can and seal off for now. They can get chest problems with the warm musty atmousphere in a restricted area. Once he starts sleeping in his nest you can put them back. He is a typical baby. :roll: He will pee in tubes, on his wheel, in bed! They never poop in the potty, just wee. Hammy poop is dry and harmless so dont worry if he does it all over the place :roll: Ours usually do it in bed :shock:

[n_t]

thanks for the advice and i took out all the tubes in his cage today and sealed them off, he was really upset about it, but once i put his house back in, he went straight into it! i put this peice of bedding he had dragged into his tube into the house to give him some comfort...what im worried is that he will get bored just with one level in his house and no tubes to crawl into, but i left his wheel in there...so it should be ok?

also, how long should i leave him without the tubes for? he is 7 weeks old :)

i've just disinfected all tubes and left them in a bag.

many thanks!

[souffle]

I would leave him without the tubes till he is a lot bigger, maybe 12-16weeks when he will not find them comfy to sleep in. What type of cage do you have? If the levels are only accessable by tubes could you put a ladder or something he could climb up. Also you can give him cardboard boxes with holes cut in and egg boxes, toilet roll tubes etc as play toys. You can put these on the floor for him and change them around when they are trashed. Give him lots of out time and interactive play with you and he will soon be nice and tame. What is he called. Do you have any piccies?

[n_t]

uhmm....i have a laura ferplast tube cage with wiring...i didnt think about the ladder, will definitely try and get one for him. in the meantime i will out toilet rolls etc in there for him. i tried to stroke him today and he was ok with it, sometimes if he senses im hesitant about handling him, he will get really nervous and run around the cage so i dont want to scare him too much. i havent exactly held him yet because he is really jumpy and nervous...how am i going to do this?

[souffle]

I have had a look at the Laura cage and I think if you get either a budgie or mouse ladder or use one of the bendy log bridges to form a platform he will be able to hop up from that. You could even make one yourself out of corregated cardboard for now. You may have to have a think how to attach it but if you loop the curved top over the shelf edge and then use a wire sandwich bag tie on to the side it should hold in place. He will out grow the wheel in this cage quite quickly so make sure you watch for his back bending when he runs. As for taming you should start this now. Here is our guide to taming
http://www.hamstercentral.com/wiki/Taming_tips
Try and be confident or he will sense you are nervous. He will be fast and jumpy at first so handle over a low soft area like a bed or on the floor. He may wee on you too!
I am going to split this topic down to two and put the taming part in behavior shortly n t as it is slipping off topic. :D

[n_t]

I already replaced his wheel and got him one of those medium silent spinners that pets at home sell because i wanted something that wouldnt be too noisy. i went out and got him a few dog biscuits today from the petshop so he could chew on one once a week for his teeth. thanks for the taming link, i'm going to try it out today, i cant help being nervous about him biting me, so i hope it goes well

[n_t]

i did exactly as that link told me to do and it worked wonderfully :D i was so happy! he was extremely jumpy at first, but then when i actually picked him up after a couple of minutes he was crawling all over my hands, but he's still a bit jumpy. i want to carry on handling for half an hour every day...is this too much or ok? i gave him his first dog biscuit yesterday and he loved it! he tried to bite my hand very softly yesterday trying to see if i was food or not, but i blew softly on his nose and he didnt do it again...so i'm very happy! i got yogurt drops for him, so today i'm going to give him a treat if he doesnt bite and it goes well!

[souffle]

Great news n t. He will soon get less jumpy if you keep up the handling. Half an hour is fine and even better if you do it in two sessions. Just take care your hands don't smell of yogurt drops in case he thinks your fingets are edible. :roll: If he starts on the bars again try pushing a dog biscuit through them so he chews at that. I am so pleased our article helped you. It always works for us :D

[n_t]

ok so when i tried to handle him today, things went ok except for when my phone vibrated on my desk close by and he got extremely scared, he bit my finger really hard! lol blood! aaahhhhh! nah only kidding it was a little bit of blood, thats all. just glad that his teeth are sharp! anyway he is being good for the meantime. i got him this wooden chew and he has chewed half of it off already in one day. i was worried he may have swallowed the wood but i looked in his bedding and it was all there. i guess he just spat it out or something. i put him in this ball today so he could walk around a bit, but he didnt really know what to do. he took a few steps forward, but then decided to clean himself so after, i helped him a bit by pushing the ball lightly and he started doing a few steps of his own inside it. so for now, everything going well - and he is drinking water a lot during the day - is this normal? hope so...

[souffle]

He is a baby and it will take a few weeks to tame him and for him to get used to things. Try and be sure there is nothing that might give him a fright and always make sure he knows you will pick him up by stroking his back first. How much water does he drink? Check the bottle is working well. Is he weeing lots or not? They do get up during the day for a drink and food every couple of hours as small animals need to do this to maintain their body temperature.

[n_t]

i couldnt actually see any pee in the bedding on the floor of his cage, but then when i opened his "sleeping home" it absolutely stank of pee - so i guess thats where all the water he is drinking is going :P anyway he is eating well and everything is going great!

also just wanted to say today is the second day i put him in his wheel and he is running around the room like crazy in his wheel, i swear he is really clever yesterday was his first time and he didnt have a clue what to do so i pushed him a little in his ball but today he racing around everywhere! and bumping into the wall, door etc...but weirdly he is not scared when that happens! so i'm enjoying this and i never knew taming a hammy could be so much fun, this is my first time in having such a young hamster :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[n_t]

sorry just forgot to say by "wheel" i actually meant that ball hamsters run around in outside the cage, for some reason i cant edit it

[souffle]

Baby hammies often wee in their beds. Put some of the stinky bedding in a corner or a jar where you want him to wee and he may follow the smell and go there. You will have to clean his bed out more frequently so he does not get smelly! Glad he is enjoying the ball. Always supervise him in a ball as the lids can pop off unexpectedly and the ham escape. Also only let him run for 10mins max then out for drinks, food and wee and a breather. What is he called and what colour is he?

[n_t]

oh no i had no idea only for ten minutes! he has been running around in it for 20 mins everyday! hmm well from now on i will let him out sooner. i cleaned out his cage today because even though it hasnt been that long it was smelling of wee :( so i disinfected it and i put some of his droppings into a bowl of chinchilla sand so maybe he will pee in there too? he is a gold colour with some white on his back and tummy! he has really long whiskers that tickle the back of my hand! sorry i havent had the chance to take any pics because it will have only been a week since i had him so i will try to take some pics next week. he is called Snipes! lol kind of name that makes you think of a hamster who's in the military i know :P but my boyfriend named him and when i called out "Snipes" to him, he looked up questioningly at me and i knew that was his name! actually he always looks up at me when i call out his name now, so i think he's getting used to me! i got him these treat sticks which he absolutely loves and he also loves his wheele too...actually he is a very "sporty" hammy, always running and he actually sprints in his ball!

[n_t]

good news! yesterday night he actually woke up at 8pm and was running around his cage, meaning he knows this is the time he will get into his ball for a runaround! so i put my hand in his cage and for the first time since getting him he didnt try to bolt or he didnt get scared, he wasa smelling my hand rather than running away and me having to pick him up. and he walked onto my palm aswell, so i think he must trust me now!

[stripeybea]

thats great news n_t.
it always feel lovely when they come to meet you for the first time and show you how much they trust you. :mrgreen:
hope he carries on trusting you like this