How long is too long? (adjusting to detolf)

[Oatmeal_Cupcake]

So it's been a week since I've placed Aria in the detolf and she just had a major scare.

I called her out from her home and scoped her up. She was already a bit scared. I placed her back and gave her a treat. She took the first treat just fine, then took the second treat. I placed the treats to the side and came back to her. I hadn't left her sight at all. But when I looked at her again, 5 seconds passed and she flipped out.

She was in her sandbox at the time and she jumped/rolled on her back from fear, accidentally hit the bendy bridge, regained her footing and took off across the detolf and wedged herself in between the pink elephant and the detolf glass.

There were no noises or sudden movements that provoked this. She's still pretty fearful of being in the detolf.

So how long should I wait for her to adjust?
is there a point in time when i should be concerned? Like how long is too long?
What else can I do to help her? I've used a blanket and I've got a radio during the day and night.
Should I even handle her at this time? Or just give her treats so she knows I'm here?
What should I do?

[cypher]

Each ham is different & I've only ever done a switch like this once, the other way around from a tank to a cage, & it took my ham about 2 weeks to really settle down, for the first couple of days she seemed quite excited by it but then basically went into hiding & didn't want much to do with me so I just let her get on with it, I was there if she wanted to interact but if she didn't seem to I left her to it basically.
I think you could give it a bit longer without being too worried, just keep observing her behaviour to see if there's any change at all, talk to her & offer her treats if she seems to want them & see how she goes for a bit longer.
It may be that she won't take to it but I do think it's still a bit early to be sure.

[velma]

I gave Hector 3 weeks when I upped his cage & he behaved just like a cypher said. Pretty excited for the first couple of days then reclusive. Maybe give her another week? Do you still have the glass shelves that came with the detolf? Maybe you could try halving the cage & seeing if that helps?

[Pebbles82]

I think it's supposed to take a couple of weeks as I remember counting the days till the two weeks was up when we changed Charlie over to a bigger cage. It was a nightmare - he seemed scared and weird all the time. Then suddenly on day 10 - he was happy, confident and exploring his cage and having fun. For a while afterwards his behaviour would revert again (scared and reclusive and jumpy) if I cleaned the cage or changed anything (unfortunately I had to take a couple of things out) and would take about a week again to adjust.

So for now I wouldn't make any changes at all - avoid doing any cleaning - not even spot cleaning unless one area is really bad - as little as possible. She's having a major culture shock and reminders such as normal time with you, treats etc will suddenly make her realise things have changed again (that's just my theory!) - she just needs adjustment time really. She'll be back to her old self soon. Maybe don't try to handle her for now and just talk gently. Have you got a shoe box you could put in with a bit cut out for a door? Maybe partway along the detolf - that would give her quite a big hide to 'retreat to' between one end of the detolf and the other. I'd say given it two weeks, but every time something changes the two weeks starts again (that was my experience).

Adding things seemed to be ok with Charlie, but any cleaning, moving things or taking anything out really freaked him. I wouldn't partition it right now as that will change the size of the environment again when she's getting used to it. as long as she has a few hides and enough space in them to stay there for a while she should be ok.

[Thin Lizzy]

Give her another week.
Hamsters can hear things we can't and maybe Aria heard something that made her react the way she did.
I know how worrying this is for you, you're doing everything you can to help her settle but, it's up to her. I really hope she settles. Have you tried giving her more cover/shade in the tank?

[Piebald]

You've also moved house and I'm sure the smells and noises are strange too. Then you've been stressed out and I'm sure she noticed that so it really hasn't been very long given all the changes. Relax, sit back, and just hang out for a while. All will come around.

[Thin Lizzy]

Hamsters sense how we feel.
Every house has its own smells and noises like Piebald said, in your old place she will have gotten so use to the house settling in a certain way. I know that the family dog we had years ago used to hear noises we couldn't like when the dog across the road was let out during the night she came up the driveway, ours started barking so loud that the burglar alarm went off and I'd looked out to see the dog run back across the road. At the time my parents were yelling at our dog and I told them why. The reason our dog barked was because the other dogs toenails had gotten long and made a noise on the concrete.Other things like when nextdoor had an attempted break in she wouldn't stop barking till it was checked out.
She knew our footsteps.
I know a dog is different to a hamster but, they hear and smell things we can't. I know Aria was acting strange before you moved and I do believe she picked up on the atmosphere between you and that awful landlord. Just remember how stressed you & your boyfriend were. Even though you're away from that, there's different noises and smells, different temperature and atmosphere.

[Oatmeal_Cupcake]

Thank you all very much. I did give her more things that provided cover to help it be less exposed. She's been moving around more and came out to groom herself. I think it's a little to early to tell but she might be better.

I also added a backing to make it seem less open as well.

[Oatmeal_Cupcake]

[Thin Lizzy]

WOW! That is sooo impressive!
That's a good sign she's moving about and grooming herself. Please, Please, Please let this be the start of Aria settling in! I've got my fingers crossed xx