don't understand he's behaviour

[Pebbles82]

I would get him a labyrinth house and put it on the substrate under the shelf. Hams love big dark houses with room inside to chavel about, and dig little hoards in privacy plus they are like tunnels and burrows inside those houses. Or you could put it at the opposite side of the cage to the shelf and use the roof as a platform to put the sand bath and the grass nest on, so freeing up some of the substrate. They like a house that sits on the substrate rather than on a shelf - the one on the shelf is a nice place to go for a bit but to be comfy and do his ham stuff he needs one on the substrate that has a bit of room in I reckon. Something like one of these (have a look at the reviews for the Lief one! The rodipet one has a little video showing how hamsters use them. It's more expensive but very well made and no floor in it, plus a nice flat roof for putting things on. I reckon if she has somewhere to feel safe, bury hoards and build a nest in the dark in he will be much happier and can then come out and enjoy the rest of the cage when he wants to - the labyrinth house will become his home and the rest of the cage will become his 'outside world' or environment to explore. I think if they get chance to develop natural ham habits (ie a dark burrow big enough to have separate areas for hoards and nesting and more than one entrance) then they get more confident.

Playhouse and Cabin Leif: Great Deals on Small Pet Cabins at Zooplus

Rodipet® Wohnlabyrinth PiCO (Häuser) - Rodipet® Heimtierzubehör Shop

[racinghamster]

Your cage is fine Max but remember too that Chinese hamsters are naturally shy and can exhibit behaviour that seems a bit odd. Some will climb all over the cage bars, while others will prefer to dart between hiding places and accessories and some will prefer to burrow down into their deep substrate. Try not to do full cage cleans. Spot clean around him and allow him to be part of the experience. To much cleaning and making a fuss of what is essentially, his home, can provoke tantrums or changes in behaviour. I would be the same if someone decided to re-arrange my bedroom or wake me up when I didn`t want to be!

Allow him to sleep during the day where possible and interact when he`s awake only. My female Chinese had a daily routine and I tried to stick to it. Hamsters have a built in clock just as we do, so keeping a regular schedule works, although I`m not one of those people who go into my hamsters cage each day and tidy up or do much. He likes to come out and see me and I take that opportunity to tidy up his shelf or basically just check things are okay. I`m very much a, `do as you want to do`with my hamster and I`m sure he appreciates it.

Read through the section on here about Chinese hamsters and what others have asked and replied about. Sometimes this alone gives more information on the species.

Chinese hamsters are wonderful. They are very mouse-like and intelligent. x

[Pebbles82]

I just looked at your photo again - the roof of the cage is quite exposed maybe - I know mine felt scared by having nothing 'over his head' and was much happier when there was a sputnik and a tube hanging from the roof because that made him feel kind of 'covered up' from above I think. Have attached a pic of my cage - which has far too much big stuff in at the moment because our hamster is a large syrian, so the toys are bigger and it's only an 80cm cage, but it'll give you an idea of the roof looking less 'open' and also an idea of a bigger house in there - mine isn't a labyrinth house it's just a large guinea pig house - about the same size as a labyrinth house although a bit less deep, and the tunnel is to cover the doorway which is huge - but it makes the house dark inside like a labyrinth house. Our hamster immediately dived into the tunnel and loves his dark hideaway. He still comes out and explores the rest of the cage, but that's his personal den where he feels safe and can move around inside. He has made a few hoards in there, burying them underneath the house, so he can get at them easily (and no-one else can get at them because they're in his house! Or so he thinks!). He also has a potty tray inside there so has an ensuite bathroom as well lol!

If you wanted to leave all the other cage toys where they are then maybe under the shelf would be a good place for the labyrinth house. Then it's just an addition, without changing much else. They are about 25cm x 35cm but also quite low so it would easily go under the shelf with headroom for him to come out of the top hole. Also you could set a labyrinth house down into the substrate partially so he can 'tunnel' into it. Or put it under the substrate mostly with a tube leading to the entrance (like the cardboard tube you have in there).

Cypher has a chinese ham and I think she has a hanging basked in her cage if you look at her threads (is it zephyr's thread cypher? I get their names muddled!). My tube is a 10cm rat tube from Viovet with holes punched into the top to thread sisal string through and then just tied to the top of the cage. You could have one end near the shelf/platform and the other end opening out into a rat sputnik like mine. Although they're quite big sputniks they also hang lower, so less distance to jump out of - you'd need something on the other side of the sputnik for him to climb onto or for a soft landing, and maybe you could put deeper substrate in as well so the distance between the substrate and the top of the cage is less. The Barney is higher than my cage. I got a hemp mat and cut a circle out to line my rat sputnik so it makes it less big inside and cosy as well.

Hope this helps.

[maxdawn]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

I would get him a labyrinth house and put it on the substrate under the shelf. Hams love big dark houses with room inside to chavel about, and dig little hoards in privacy plus they are like tunnels and burrows inside those houses. Or you could put it at the opposite side of the cage to the shelf and use the roof as a platform to put the sand bath and the grass nest on, so freeing up some of the substrate. They like a house that sits on the substrate rather than on a shelf - the one on the shelf is a nice place to go for a bit but to be comfy and do his ham stuff he needs one on the substrate that has a bit of room in I reckon. Something like one of these (have a look at the reviews for the Lief one! The rodipet one has a little video showing how hamsters use them. It's more expensive but very well made and no floor in it, plus a nice flat roof for putting things on. I reckon if she has somewhere to feel safe, bury hoards and build a nest in the dark in he will be much happier and can then come out and enjoy the rest of the cage when he wants to - the labyrinth house will become his home and the rest of the cage will become his 'outside world' or environment to explore. I think if they get chance to develop natural ham habits (ie a dark burrow big enough to have separate areas for hoards and nesting and more than one entrance) then they get more confident.

Playhouse and Cabin Leif: Great Deals on Small Pet Cabins at Zooplus

Rodipet® Wohnlabyrinth PiCO (Häuser) - Rodipet® Heimtierzubehör Shop

I have ordered a labyrinth and bendy bridges from zooplus today. JJ doesn't sleep in the little house on the shelf he hides behind it, bless. He sleeps under the shelf where the bedding is really deep. I have today also made the bedding in the rest of he's cage really deep too. Thanks for your help

[maxdawn]

Originally Posted by racinghamster

Your cage is fine Max but remember too that Chinese hamsters are naturally shy and can exhibit behaviour that seems a bit odd. Some will climb all over the cage bars, while others will prefer to dart between hiding places and accessories and some will prefer to burrow down into their deep substrate. Try not to do full cage cleans. Spot clean around him and allow him to be part of the experience. To much cleaning and making a fuss of what is essentially, his home, can provoke tantrums or changes in behaviour. I would be the same if someone decided to re-arrange my bedroom or wake me up when I didn`t want to be!

Allow him to sleep during the day where possible and interact when he`s awake only. My female Chinese had a daily routine and I tried to stick to it. Hamsters have a built in clock just as we do, so keeping a regular schedule works, although I`m not one of those people who go into my hamsters cage each day and tidy up or do much. He likes to come out and see me and I take that opportunity to tidy up his shelf or basically just check things are okay. I`m very much a, `do as you want to do`with my hamster and I`m sure he appreciates it.

Read through the section on here about Chinese hamsters and what others have asked and replied about. Sometimes this alone gives more information on the species.

Chinese hamsters are wonderful. They are very mouse-like and intelligent. x

Thank you. I found your post very encouraging. I'm used to guinea pig I can understand their body language and the different noises they make but little jj is the first hamster i've ever owned. So it a strange new world for him and me

[maxdawn]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

I just looked at your photo again - the roof of the cage is quite exposed maybe - I know mine felt scared by having nothing 'over his head' and was much happier when there was a sputnik and a tube hanging from the roof because that made him feel kind of 'covered up' from above I think. Have attached a pic of my cage - which has far too much big stuff in at the moment because our hamster is a large syrian, so the toys are bigger and it's only an 80cm cage, but it'll give you an idea of the roof looking less 'open' and also an idea of a bigger house in there - mine isn't a labyrinth house it's just a large guinea pig house - about the same size as a labyrinth house although a bit less deep, and the tunnel is to cover the doorway which is huge - but it makes the house dark inside like a labyrinth house. Our hamster immediately dived into the tunnel and loves his dark hideaway. He still comes out and explores the rest of the cage, but that's his personal den where he feels safe and can move around inside. He has made a few hoards in there, burying them underneath the house, so he can get at them easily (and no-one else can get at them because they're in his house! Or so he thinks!). He also has a potty tray inside there so has an ensuite bathroom as well lol!

If you wanted to leave all the other cage toys where they are then maybe under the shelf would be a good place for the labyrinth house. Then it's just an addition, without changing much else. They are about 25cm x 35cm but also quite low so it would easily go under the shelf with headroom for him to come out of the top hole. Also you could set a labyrinth house down into the substrate partially so he can 'tunnel' into it. Or put it under the substrate mostly with a tube leading to the entrance (like the cardboard tube you have in there).

Cypher has a chinese ham and I think she has a hanging basked in her cage if you look at her threads (is it zephyr's thread cypher? I get their names muddled!). My tube is a 10cm rat tube from Viovet with holes punched into the top to thread sisal string through and then just tied to the top of the cage. You could have one end near the shelf/platform and the other end opening out into a rat sputnik like mine. Although they're quite big sputniks they also hang lower, so less distance to jump out of - you'd need something on the other side of the sputnik for him to climb onto or for a soft landing, and maybe you could put deeper substrate in as well so the distance between the substrate and the top of the cage is less. The Barney is higher than my cage. I got a hemp mat and cut a circle out to line my rat sputnik so it makes it less big inside and cosy as well.

Hope this helps.

Iv ordered a labyrinth from zooplus today. JJ like to sleep under the shelf in the day where he's bedding is really deep. I have made the rest of the cage just as deep today.
At night he likes to sit beside the house on the shelf. The funny thing was that last night I was looking though the cage set up post and I saw your photo there and thought he might like some things up high. So i was already in the process of dealing stealing your ideas. Today I went to B&Q to get some wood so I make some more shelf's tomorrow. And I got one of the hanging hidey things, like your. For got to say thanks, for the advice and the ideas

[Thin Lizzy]

Maxdawn can't wait to see your D.I.Y skills.

[racinghamster]

I love the tube leading up to the sputnik house! Very good idea! You may find that he will sleep under the shelf where it`s deep and dark as most hamsters like to feel secure in a dark place while sleeping. Just think `mouse` with a Chinese hamster and you won`t go far wrong. I kept mice for ten years or more as pets and when I took in an adopted Chinese hamster, she was almost just like my mice only without the long tail! x

[Thin Lizzy]

Love the cage!