Many, many problems -- please help me, I've tried everything!

[PortalCat]

I don't get out much, so my husband bought me a hamster for Valentine's Day. I've wanted one for a long time. He's kept them before, and I've had other pets throughout my life. I was ready to take the best, best care of my new best, best friend. I called her Whisper.

Nothing has worked.

First, we bought her a National Geographic cage -- the one with no bars, just clear plastic walls. The day I got her, I converted a HUGE carboard box into a playground with her; complete with hidey-spaces, cardboard boxes and turrets, tunnels, chew toys, a second wheel, second water bottle, second bowl, treats, things to climb, lots and lots of shavings to burrow in... The idea was that we could take her out every day and handle her, then let her spend a long while in her playground.

The first problem came when she grew. It turns out that the cage was terrible for any hamster bigger than a baby; the wheel was so small compared to her eventual growth that it would have given her back problems, and she ran in it way too much due to not having enough room to herself. I went and bought the best and biggest cage I could find, despite what the pet shop owner tried to tell me about the super-cheap and tiny plastic cages she was showing me. It's an "exotic pet" cage, especially for chinchillas. Three tiers, a super deep base. I filled it with things for her to do. I thought it would be perfect.

Everything has only gotten worse. I guess it would be best to just list all the problems in order.

The worst is probably that she chews the bars a LOT. I know this is bad for her teeth, but she will not stop no matter what I try. I've bought her endless amounts of gnawing material -- loofas, blocks, balls, bells, a vitamin block, beads, apple wood sticks -- anything I could find that I thought she might be interested in. She refuses to chew any of it. In fact, since the day she arrived home, she's NEVER shown any interest in chewing anything until she moved to the bigger cage, and now it's only the bars. I even tried tying some of the chew toys to the cage bars with string, figuring it might be more interesting to her. Instead, she just chews next to them.

Another problem with her chewing is that she does it for a long time. It interrupts my husband and mine's sleep very badly; there's nowhere in the house we can put her cage except for our bedroom at the moment because we're living with other people. She will especially chew whenever I put her back after playing with her, which I do every single night. No matter how long I spend with her, when I put her back she will inevitably chew the cage door desperately and make that angry clicking noise with her teeth. In fact, she ALWAYS makes that noise when she chews the bars. She also has begun to chew on the plastic in a couple of areas; on the ramp by the door and the second tier's back corner. There's only so much attention I can give her.

Tunnels. She hates tunnels. She has never, ever wanted to use any kind of tunnel I bought her to play in. She doesn't want to burrow, either. The base of her cage has literally six or so inches of aspen shavings to play with and she completely ignores it, even when I bury treats in it. She also refuses to use her flying saucer. She used to use her wheel a lot when it was in her cardboard playground, but now that it's in her home, she often ignores it.

She abandons her den frequently. This happened in the old cage, and I put it down to a lack of knowledge on my part, although I've tried to learn everything I can; when I cleaned her cage for the first time, I replaced her bedding, which made her move around. Since moving her to the new cage, I made sure not to touch her bed for the first month, and then afterwards to always leave some of the bedding behind, as well as some old shavings so it doesn't stress her out. This hasn't worked. After a week or two, she just curls up somewhere different no matter what I do.

She refuses to go to the bathroom anywhere except on the corner of one of the tiers, which is solid plastic. This makes a terrible, poopy, soupy, smelly mess. Literally nothing I have tried helps this problem at all; she did it in her last den and insists on doing it in this one. Moving her leavings, hamster potties, sand, wiping the area with something scented to deter her, regular cleaning -- nothing. Even more lovely, she will sit in that corner and spit her night feces out of the cage that's in her cheeks right onto the floor.

She likes to climb the bars, and when she does this to reach other levels instead of using the ramps, that's fine -- but she often does it after I put her back in her cage after playtime, dropping very loudly down to the bottom of the cage. She also does it while we sleep. Sometimes she squeaks afterwards, like she hurt herself. She hasn't seemed to so far, but we worry ourselves sick that she's eventually going to hurt herself badly with one of these falls. Unlike most hamsters, she's not interested in doing the monkey bars along the top; it seems sometimes that she climbs up the side just to fall.

I keep making toys for her to keep her happy, out of carboard tubes and shoeboxes and soda bottles and popsicle sticks and anything else I can find, and I also put some hay in there sometimes for her to root around in; after ten minutes of examination, she ignores it all. I put her into a hamster ball the other night out of desperation, despite reading that they can be bad for hamsters; this is due to the fact that when I take her out of her cage she is uninterested in doing anything but falling off of the bed onto the hard floor (spending time with her basically entails trying to stop her from jumping off the bed for 30 minutes until we're exhausted) and, surprise surprise, she hated that too, so that's out of the question as well. She won't even play in her playground any more, but just tries to escape it.

Once or twice, she's thrown all of the food out of her bowl. Burrowed in it, really, which is bizarre since she refuses to burrow in her shavings. I give her a little bit of fresh food (only the safe ones) everyday and keep her water and food topped up, so...

The one good thing I can say is that she has never intentionally bitten either of us and was hand-trained very smoothly. She's only ever had quick nibbles when we were handling food before we interacted with her, a habit we stopped when we figured it out. Since then, she'll happily climb all over us and let us pick her up. Beyond that, though, I just can't make her happy. It's making me utterly miserable to see her chew on her bars all night like a crazed convict while a wood block sits right next to her, or chase her around my room every night, or wake up constantly at 4am when she falls off the bars and makes a loud bang. Even as I'm typing this, she's chewing on the bars desperately. I've played with her twice tonight already.

Please, please help me. I just want her to be a happy hamster.

[kyrilliondaemon]

Er... I have to say that while I see some of your problems as problems I kinda think a few others're just the consequences of a hamster being a hamster.

When we break them down I think they can be summarised as the following... I apologise if I miss anything, please do tell me if I have.
Bar chewing
Plastic chewing
Not using tunnels or digging tunnels
Changing where she's sleeping reguarly
Using the shelf as a toilet
Throwing poo out of the cage
Climbing the bars and falling
Constantly trying to explore when out
Throwing food out of her bowl

Bar chewing is definetly a problem, you say you've tried buying new chew toys and putting things in the way. Is there any chance you could put more things in the way to cover a bigger area of the cage? Some people try putting lemon juice or vinegar on the cage bars but I've got to admit my own hams've either decided its worth the horrible taste to continue chewing or in one case actually liked the taste of vinegar (made me glad I'd checked what she thought of it before I put it on her bars!)
What size is her wheel? I'm guessing its fairly big but if its smaller than 11" diameter then getting a bigger one might help.
Apart from that... I hate to say this as I know you won't want to hear it but some hamsters do just need to live in tank-style cages. We had one who bar chewed with bars and chewed through plastic/wood but when she was in a nice chewproof cage with lots of chew toys she stopped being as obsessed with chewing the cage and became really content with her cage instead

Chewing the plastic is a problem, could you try putting something over the plastic to protect it? Like substrate or a toy?

I'm afraid that not using or digging tunnels is just her not wanting to use or dig tunnels. Theres nothing inherently wrong with it, she's just got her own preferences - the same as some humans like to read and others like to watch TV. Changing where she's sleeping reguarly is also completely normal, some hams just like to have a change now and then, its nothing to worry about at all.

I can see the problem with her using the shelf as a toilet but I'm afraid that throwing poo out of the cage is again not an uncommon behaviour. With the poo, can't you just hoover it up reguarly? Or if its really bothering you put a box to catch it when she throws it out? As far as using the shelf as a toilet goes I'd try not cleaning it and leaving her to it, theres a slim chance she's doing it partially to mark the shelf as hers. If you wait a few days then put substrate over it or get substrate wet with her urine and move it elsewhere theres a slim chance she'll take the hint. Equally though she may be awkward and insist on going there anyway. Is there any way you could put a litter tray over the area and attatched to the bars so she can't move it and is forced to either go in the litter or go elsewhere in the cage?

Climbing and falling isn't great, it basically means you'll need to make sure there're plenty of extra levels and hammocks in the cage. Everywhere theres a gap, put a shelf or a hammock. If you keep the falls to a minimum and make sure she can't fall far she should be fairly safe

Constantly trying to explore when out isn't unusual, she's a hamster and its what some do. Can you make a larger playpen and try her in that one day? Or hamster-proof a room or hallway for her to use in playtime?

Lastly I'm afraid that some hams do just like to throw food out of the bowl/cage sometimes, theres not really much we can do to stop them when they live in a barred cage

[Pebbles82]

Hi there. What a naughty little ham she is!

The first thing that struck me is that she was originally in a solid sided cage and is now in a barred cage. It does sound like she preferred, and would be better in - a tank or solid sided cage. I'm guessing you are in the US is that right? Because I haven't heard of National Geographic cages and because of the difficulty in finding larger cages.

If you are, the good news is that apparently petco have a $1 a gallon sale on glass tanks at the moment. You'd need a 40 gallon tank and a lid for it. I think there are mesh lids that fit these tanks on Amazon.com. They come in various different sizes.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Second thing is - you are not alone! I had a few problems when we first got Charlie. Yes he used the corner of a plastic shelf as a toilet (and as it was a curved shaped shelf in the middle, the wee used to run all the way down it. I tried putting a potty in that corner and he just aquaplaned down the shelf in it and carried on weeing in the corner lol. Yes he would throw poo or food out of the cage - now he's matured a bit he doesn't do that any more (and now he doesn't have a shelf to do it from.

Bottom line is - I think the Chinchilla cage is too high - I know you were looking for a bigger cage, but high cages are risky for hams and yes she could really injure herself. The way round it would be to put more levels and bigger shelves in, or even a full level - a full shelf width, with an access hole in the middle and solid ladder entry. But that is such a faff and despite the extra cost, I think you'd be better selling the Chinchilla cage and buying a glass tank with a lid. There is a big advantage to these that you get more floor area all on one level. A mesh lid can allow for hanging toys like sputniks or kabobs. Our Syrian is quite big too and isn't interested in any toys, but he does like the kabob thingy because you can hide food in it.

My solution to weeing on the shelf was - I took the shelf out. I waited till the ladder broken and then instead of getting a shelf I got this big flat roofed guinea pig house, which made both a house and a shelf. He then moved his wee corner INSIDE the house. Which was great! Because the potty fitted inside the house and he now has an ensuite bathroom lol - and even better the rest of the cage stays dry and is easy to clean and doesn't need cleaning very often.

Because the door was so big on the guinea pig wood house, I put a bendy stick tunnel over the front - and that bagged it. He went straight down the tunnel and into the house because - it was nice and dark inside. They really like a nice big dark hide to build a nest in I think, especially the more reclusive hams. He had never used the other wooden house I put in before, but because this was bigger and dark inside he went straight in there.

I've added a pic of it below, but am thinking of moving ours into a solid sided type cage because he seemed to prefer it (he also came in one far too small originally) plus I think he needs more floor space and something bigger because he is such a large syrian I had to get rat sized stuff and it has filled the cage up a bit too much.

So here are my tips for now (until you decide whether to get a glass tank or not). I don't know what house type you have in there at the moment, but a shoe box is about the same size as the wood house I've got. So a shoe box with a big door cut in it and a bendy stick type bridge tunnel over the front - pop it over the top of her nest. The bridge tunnel also acts as access to the roof of the house. If she pees on it it's just cardboard and you can replace it easily and you'll know where her new wee corner is then.

I would say take the shelves out, but with a high cage you'll need something. I think breaking falls is quite urgent at the moment, so make sure you have the base of the cage full to the brim with substrate (Carefresh or whatever you are using) to give as soft a landing as possible. Obviously you can only go as high as the cage base as the edges or the litter will come through the bars, but you can pile it up into a big high mound in the centre of the cage as high as you can, and move anything that is on the floor of the cage to a position that is under a shelf, so she can't land on it. I really think though that you need to move her to a lower set up asap. Hams can get quite badly injured by falls especially if they land on something hard like a wood house or toy. You could also put some cardboard or plexi glass pieces round the inside of the cage near the base, so you can put deep substrate in thereby reducing the height of the cage and needing less levels. You can only go so high with this without blocking doors, but on the three sides with no doors on you can do this as high as you like and mound it all up towards the back. (This kind of converts your cage into a partial solid sided cage - there will be plenty of ventilation through the top.). In fact if you do it with plexi glass or acrylic it might be an option instead of getting a tank. You can just get pieces of plexi cut to size at a hardware store and prop them up - the substrate will hold them in place - or put a small dab of pet-safe aquarium sealant on the back which will stick them to the bars.

It's difficult to advise without seeing a pic of the cage. Some people use lots of hammocks to help prevent falls in high cages, but if yours is a chewer that wouldn't be a good thing - if they chew and eat material it can block their innards.

If you're not in the Uk there's quite a lot of choice in suitable sized 'cages' but not much choice in solid sided things and what there is tends to be expensive.

This is very good though.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

It would also have good second hand value if you didn't get another hamster in the future.

It's bigger than it looks on the picture.

If you have a large syrian hamster, like ours, the other problem is anything labelled 'hamster' is usually way too small - usually too small for all syrians never mind large ones, and that could be a reason why she doesn't use tubes - ours got stuck in a tube - he now has a cardboard rat tube tied to the roof of the cage with sisal string - it's 10cm in diameter. Look for rat sized houses, toys etc. My guinea pig house is a good size - reviewers say it's too small for a guinea pig so it's probably rat sized.

Avoid anything with windows - or round holes in that are too small (anything smaller than 6 or 7mm is too small) she could get her head stuck.

Finding chews they like can be a big distraction from chewing bars too - most hams go potty for these Antos Whimzee chews - available in the US and Uk - they're dog chews but suitable for hams and healthy. I defy any hamster not to chew these.

http://www.amazon.com/Whimzees-BC329...whimzees+small

This might be a good house - I have a couple of these and the hamster one is too small for a hamster to fit inside. It's just a cardboard box with hay stuck on it and carrot on top. It could be either fairly permanent or temporary, depending on whether she eats it or not (it is edible but she might not want to chew it).

Amazon.com : Rosewood Naturals Carrot Cottage Guinea Pig House, Medium : Pet Supplies

Anyway before I go any further it would be really helpful to know which country you're in because products supplies are so different in the US and UK.

But - a big dark hide encourages them into traditional hamster behaviour as they have space for a nest, for a few hoards and a toilet corner, and the cage becomes their environment, which is why labyrinth houses like this are popular.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trixie-6201-...xie+leif+house

My house with the stick bridge in front achieves a similar kind of thing. Here's the kind of stick bridge I mean (they bend to different shapes and sizes).

http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Petco-B...y+stick+bridge

I think yours just needs the right environment and her behaviour will settle down.

All these things can add up but the chews and hay house are quite reasonably priced and can be moved to a new cage.

For now, to help prevent falls, you could hang one of these rat sized sputniks from the roof of the cage. It's the size of a small football but doesn't look so big once hung up. It hangs down about 17cm so less of a fall if she jumps out of it and it will block the roof a bit.

http://www.amazon.com/Savic-Sputnik-...=savic+sputnik

If she is climbing up the sides and falling, add some extra shelves in between the current ones so she doesn't fall too far. Like these (if you look further down the page there are different shapes and sizes) round all four sides so there are no big gaps and she can get up the cage easily without climbing the bars and won't have so far to fall. They're wood so it might be an idea to paint them with childsafe waterproof paint or stick fablon on them or something.

Amazon.com : Small Pet Wooden Cage Platform Shelf Board for Chinchilla Hamster Rat : Pet Supplies

Here's the link to the 'Let's see your cages' thread from last year - lots of examples of set ups on there. Look for Mamble cage set-ups (they are 60cm high cages).

Let's see your cages (from January 2014)

It's a difficult decision. You could get your current cage set up safely and so she starts being happy in it and then still find she is a bar chewer. So to move her to a solid sided cage seems the best option, but I'd still spend a wee bit now just making it safer so she doesn't hurt herself falling, until you can get a tank or whatever sorted out.

If you're in the Uk there are a lot more options than tanks, like this Zoozone 2
(although the bars are too wide and would need meshing) which is a great sided cage - large floor area, low height but enough height for a 11" or 12" wheel. Or the Ferplast Duna Maxi (doesn't need meshing).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hagen-Zoozon...QK8DJ0DRATDH7G

Cage Maxi Duna Multy

What kind of wheel has she got?

The upshot is - the Hamster is stressed and doesn't sound too happy, and you are stressed and that can be a vicious circle - she'll pick up your tension. When a hamster has the right environment, they are visibly much happier and their behaviour improves - bar-biting doesn't always improve though.

[omgdes]

It seems like a lot of these problems might be solved by switching to a tub enclosure instead of a cage. She couldn't throw poop out, chew on the bars, she'd probably get more space for a really cheap price. Additionally, her pooping in one place seems like a good thing because its easier to clean then her pooping everywhere. Admittedly, we don't get choose their toilet but I doubt we would have much luck trying to convince them do their business in another place. I made an adorable rainbow Popsicle house with doors/windows for sleeping with soft bedding but she's decided its the outhouse. Just be glad, its all in one place. And the reason she's throwing out the cage is most likely not a behavior of displeasement, more of cleanliness.

[PortalCat]

Hi guys! Thank you all so much for your responses -- especially you, Serendipity. I really appreciate the trouble you went to with the links and they have been a big help!

Okay, so; I've been reeeeeeeal busy trying to sort out things for Whisper, but I think we've made some real progress. Where to start?

Right after I posted, my husband suggested we buy some sour apple chew deterrent spray for the bars, and so we did. I also took another really good look at her cage to see if anything was troubling her, at the suggestion of a post I saw on another forum -- and I realized that she had outgrown her wheel for the second time! She's a Syrian, which of course makes her large anyway (and accounts for her hyperactivity) but even for her kind, Whisper is flippin' huge and it had slipped my notice. Another problem was one everyone rightly pointed out, which was the unsafe enviroment of the cage layout and her tendency to throw herself from the platforms. Now, I have to admit, I felt incredibly, incredibly stupid once I realized this: we set up the cage the way the box told us to, but there was nothing stopping us from consolidating the three small tiers into one flat tier to give Whisper a two-floor cage that was safe AND way more roomy...

SERIOUSLY, WHAT AN IDIOT!

So, I attached a picture of what the deluxe cage looked like when it was first assembled. (I apologize for not attaching pictures in my first post, I'm sure it would have helped a lot...) There's also a picture of what it looked like when reassembled. The third one is the welcome home thing I did because I'm really, really silly.

Whisper settled pretty well into her new cage layout. She really seemed to enjoy the space, and figured out the new tunnel connecting the two floors pretty quickly. Unfortunately, this did absolutely nothing to stop the bar biting what-so-ever. We tried the sour spray for two nights and observed her; she would taste the sourness, take a drink and then bite where she was biting before having already licked up the bad taste. That or she would just climb up ridiculously high and chew the top corners of the cage, all while still ignoring the multitudes of chew toys she had. We sighed and resigned ourselves to getting a tank.

Serendipity, thank you so much for the tip on the 40-gallon tanks at Petco! I am British, but I moved to the USA just a little under a year ago to be with my now-husband. Whisper is an all-American ham, dare I say it! Anyway, you saved us so, so much trouble and money (which means a lot if you count up the hundreds already burned away) and I'm so very grateful. It turns out the 40-gallon tanks wouldn't fit on our dresser where we kept the cage, so we bought a 55-gallon tank instead. Wider, but less depth. If this tells you anything about how big the chinchilla cage was, the 55-gallon tank is actually a downsize in terms of open space, but it was definitely for the best.

So, she's been in her tank ever since. I'll make a list of the problems I had before.

- Chewing the bars. Obviously not an issue now!
- Peeing and pooping all over the shelves and refusing to be potty trained in any way what-so-ever. Well, the new tank HAS no shelves; it does have some flat slate-like rocks that I got, and she likes to sit in a couple of spots on them to groom, but she hasn't taken to pooping or peeing on them. I added a much bigger bowl of sand to her tank after I noticed that she seemed to like doing her business in there whenever I gave her a sand bath, and I also changed to kid-safe sand as opposed to chinchilla sand (I read it can cause respiratory problems, and it got EVERYWHERE when she used it). It's hard to tell for sure if she's using it as a toilet since it's so absorbent, but I haven't yet discovered another place where she's been going, so it seems the mission was a success!
- Spitting her poop out of the cage. Now, she still does this -- but of course, there's no cage to spit out of now! Instead, she sits on a little section of the rocks which is similarly positioned to where she was spitting it from in her cage (I swear, it's because she likes to watch the TV while she does it) and spits her night feces into a neat little corner when she wakes up. This is lovely, although it builds up FAST.
- Never nesting in the same place. This problem no longer concerns me. In fact, I've come to the conclusion that it's just one of her quirks; since we moved to the tank, she's made nests in different places every few days, switching it up whenever she feels like it. Since she was displaying so many other unsettling behaviours, I'd convinced myself that this too was a sign of some unhappiness, but I think that was paranoia. Something even better is that I can REALLY pile the aspen shavings into the tank, and as a consequence she has channeled her inner mole and taken to burrowing real dens some nights. The shavings in her old cage were deep, but not as deep, and I honestly think she likes having the tank walls like a little window, because she always sleeps where we can see her when she digs!
- Not chewing. Now, this is still a problem. I have positively packed her tank to the brim with wooden chewables, I have a little jar sitting next to the tank with reserve wooden chewables, and I've tried a few other things too. I gave her a little chalky candy bar chew; she HAS been chewing that, but very, very little. I also don't really want her to only chew unhealthy sugary treats, so that wasn't good. I ordered some of those Whimzees you recommended, Serendipity -- and I'm afraid she defied your expectations for the first time, as it sat untouched in her cage for two days before I removed it. She hasn't chewed her straw hut, either. Finally, today I tried putting in one of those indian corn cobs since she loves the corn kernels in her feed mixes, but I was becoming resigned to the fact that I might have to take her to get her teeth clipped reguarly if this turned out to be permanent. I have scruffed her to check her teeth, and they're reasonable now, but I'm sure they'd get out of hand quickly with absolutely no chewing. She ignored the cob all day and night. However, literally just as I was writing this post, I looked over to see her attacking the corn cob with a vengeance. I'm super happy! Fingers crossed...
- Throwing food out of her bowl. I decided to start scatter feeding her, as I love to think I'm encouraging her foraging instincts and it would give her something to keep her busy. It took her a few days to get used to it, but now she is a premium hoarder; she obsessively hoovers it all up before she trots off to bed. A lot of it seems to end up hidden in the coconut house, which is a terrible hiding place if you ask me.
- Being utterly obsessed with running around when out. This behaviour has settled down A TINY BIT since getting the tank. I also hamster-proofed the bedroom floor by clearing away all the dangerous stuff, and now I let her run down there a few times a night knowing I'm not going to lose her or something's not going to fall on top of her. She also doesn't try to jump off the bed all the time when I do put her on it, which is quite the relief. She's STILL a very active hammy, but now it's more of a playing-around active than a GETAWAYRUNRUNCLIMBRUNRUNNNN kind of active. We also got a better hamster ball (it's VERY clear, so she can see out of it) and one of those little tracks that go in a circle so she can't bump into things, but it's only for those times when we can't keep an eye on her for one reason or another and she needs some out-of-tank time.
- She outgrew her wheel. I ordered a Wodent Wheel after I noticed, since they don't make silent spinners both big enough for her and small enough for the tank, but for some stupid reason it hasn't arrived despite Amazon thinking it should have arrived on the 28th of last month. In fact, it hasn't even SHIPPED yet. Because of that, we had to go and get her a temporary Kaytee wheel for now, and I guess we'll try getting the Wodent Wheel from another seller. She seems to like the temporary wheel lots; before she would run for just a second and bounce out of it, but she runs in this one for minutes at a time, which is wonderful.

I think that's it? Our sleeping has been fixed, which makes us happier and makes Whisper happier too. Watching her do everything now is a joy, because she's burrowing and hoarding and running and cleaning and generally being more content. It's a shame her old cage didn't work out, as she really seemed to love the new arrangement I created, but in the end the tank was for the best. I haven't taken any pictures of the tank to post because it's still kind of "rough"; that is, I have lots of wonderful plans to make it as great as I can that includes lots of things that are still in the mail. It's just stuffed with all her old things and a buttload of shavings right now, but soon it's going to be a magical woodland. I'd love to show everyone!~

Thank you all again for your help. The reassurance was just as useful as the advice; I am VERY mollycoddling and it was heartbreaking to see my little Whisper seemingly so distressed despite my best efforts. I think things will be great from now on!

[Pebbles82]

Wow! That is such good news. I'm so glad your little hammy is more settled. It does sound like she needed a tank and the tunnel digging sounds really good (I need to get somethig like that for ours I think). And yes shame about the cage because your second set up looks really good. Some hams just need solid sides I think.

Would love to see more of your tank when you get chance. It doesn't have to be beautiful lol! Hams sometimes rearrange what you've put in place anyway. I'm really glad you got the $1 per gallon deal! I just wish there was one here in the Uk.

I've been having a thing with wheels recently after Charlie's broke - I got a new one the same (wood one) but after two faulty ones I've also been looking at Wodent Wheels. I tried the Silent Spinner 30" but it didn't spin very well. I really liked the wodetn wheels and just did a post on them, not sure if you've seen it, but I'm not sure which size to get. I'll probably have to get the massive one as Charlie is a really big hamster, because I'm not sure if the Senior Wodent 27cm will be quite big or deep enough for him. So if yours is a big hamster (how big? over 200g? over 6" long?) it might be tricky finding a wheel big enough that will fit the tank. I'm sure a 12" wheel would fit widthways though. Anyway sounds like she is happy with the one you have at the moment.

I'm so pleased you got something sorted. As for running around everywhere like mad - ours was like this at first. Partly he just needed taming, and partly it depended what time we got him out of the cage. Anything before 9pm and he's trying to run off and leap off things. Between 9pm and 10.30pm is his nap time I think and he's quite dopey and will just go to sleep in a blanket or sit still on your arm to be stroked. So maybe trying later in the evening for out of cage time might help.

Does sound like she maybe needs a bit of taming though, if you haven't done that already. Are you able to pick her up and hold her, or does she try and leap in the air and get away?

We spent the first 4 or 5 weeks taking Charlie up to the bathtub in his ball and letting him out in the dry bath with the plug in and a few toys in there. And he would just run up the side and slither down again all the time lol! Then little boy got in the bath first so Charlie could run all over him and get used to his smell (but then you have to watch they don't run up your arm and leap out). We were able to start stroking his back without him leaping away then, and from there we could pick him up by cupping a hand under him to lift him a couple of centimetres and then just letting him walk off your hand. Once we'd cracked that he was docile and we could just pick him up and he often goes to sleep in the crook of my arm now. But when we got him he was ferral!

You probably haven't got a bathtub in the US. A locking shower? Or just a huge cardboard box might do. Anyway that might all be irrelevant if she's already tamed.

[PortalCat]

Y'know, it's odd -- taming with Whispie has always been fantastic and really smooth. I remember when she came home; already she was out and curious about us, putting her paws on the sides of her cage and trying to meet us. My husband specifically said he picked her out because when he went to the pet store she came running up to the front and made a fuss over him! She seemed so eager, I even opened up the door to her cage after a while -- and wouldn't you know it, she popped right out. I laid out my hand semi-close to her with a treat on it and she took it, and then placidly sat in my hand. Never did I think I'd be able to hold a hammy the first day they came home, but she loved it.

She's never once been aggressive, either; she nibbled out fingers a few times, but it never hurt and it was always because our hands smelled of food (we learned to keep our hands clean eventually!). She never hid in her cage and was very rarely skittish. The only time she ever shrieked was on her second night at home; she was sleeping in her den peacefully and we were in our bed when she set up with an awful howling. I think she woke up disorientated and didn't recognise where she was. My husband went over and held the water bottle in front of her mouth, and she quietly had a drink and then cuddled straight back up in her bedding and went to sleep again! I sat in the bath with her a couple of times, and she clambered all over me with reckless abandon. The first night she came home, I converted a massive cardboard box into a playground with her and interacted with her a lot while she was in there for the first month or so. She's also never minded when I've had to quickly snatch her up before she jumped/fell/squeezed under/into/down something that would've been hazardous, like the edge of the bed. When I call her name, she gets excited and does the meerkat pose for me to pick her up, so I lay down my hand flat and she sits on it like a little budgie. Then she proceeds to scramble all over my shoulders and such before I let her down on the bed a few minutes later. She doesn't try to leap out of my hand onto the floor, but instead loves to race all over my arms and perch on my shoulder like a parrot.

Basically, she's always been... Unusually friendly! I love her for it; another weird quirk, along with not liking sweet foods and sleeping in multiple dens. Rather than being untamed, I think it's just that she doesn't like to sit still ever unless she's cleaning herself; there's always something new to climb! If I'm carrying her somewhere, she'll sit happily while I do so, and she will clamber up and sit on my leg or something for half a minute if I'm sat or laid next to her, but after a quick face-wipe it's back to zooming around like Sonic the Hedgehog. That being said, she isn't very fond of being stroked, but I figured that was just her.

You were definitely so right about the tank, though. I was just very attached to her old cage, as was she; it cost a pretty penny and it seemed so perfect and wonderful at the time, but at the end of the day, you've gotta do what's best for your little fluff! (And your peace of mind.)

As for the tank, well -- I just never do things by half, especially when it comes to caring for other living things. Whisper's always been a very climb-y, explore-y ham, so I'm planning to put up some wooden platforms and bridges, along with a swing if possible. I thought about a seesaw, but I've heard hammies can get their paws trapped. I've ordered a really nice, big wooden house from the UK (Trixie brand, I think it was?) to go with her coconut and straw hut, and I'm going to put three different kinds of substrate in the bottom of the tank: a nice sand layer, carefresh paper shreds on one side and a big deep well of aspen on the other. I'm absolutely bursting with excitement to get it all set up for her!~

Is there a specific place on the forum I could post her tank, by the by? I've only been signed up to HC since I posted this thread and I'm still finding my way around the forums.

Poor Charlie and his wheels! Sounds like a comedy of errors. (Off-topic, but Charlie is one of my favourite names!). I haven't weighed Whisper due to not having a scale, but I think she's between 5" and 6" in length. The temporary wheel claims to be an 8.5", which isn't perfectly comfortable but is reasonable for a week or two. I think the 11" Sr. Wodent Wheel will work perfectly for her; when I said the tank wasn't deep, I meant from back to front. In terms of height and length, it's huge! Perhaps that size of wheel would be big enough for Charlie also? Though there isn't much difference between 11" and 12", of course.

Oh, I think you have a point about the time I get her out, by the way! I ofter take her out right after she's woken up and cleaned herself up, half because she's so excited to come out and half because I can't wait to spend time with her. Of course, she then races up the walls like she's had ten shots of espresso. However, I don't think she'll ever be the cuddle-up-and-sleep kind of ham. Oh well, you can't change a leopard's spots!

[Pebbles82]

She sounds adorable! I have heard that female syrians can be a lot more active than males. No taming issues then. Yes I think the Senior 27cm wodent sounds just right. Charlie is 7" long and weighs 220g so he might need a bit extra width. I think I'm just faffing around with the wheels now and need to make a decision lol (it would have helped if the Wonderland wheel had been in better condition though).

You can post pics on a new thread under Hamster Chat, or you can do it on the link called 'Let's see your cages' which is under the housing section, but have posted the link below. There are lots of nice ideas to steal on there lol. The big house sounds good - maybe if she has that she will just keep one nest and not go looking for something better. I put a bendy stick tunnel over the door of Charlie's house and he seems to like that as it makes it dark inside, plus he wanted to go down the tunnel (like they do) and there was a house at the end of it lol. But they're all different and have their foibles.

Let's see your cages (from January 2014)

[PortalCat]

Charlie sounds like quite the big guy! What a cutieeeeeee. Does he do the fat hamster butt wobble when he runs? Whisper does if she runs on the bed where the footing is soft; wub wub wub, side to side, paws up in the air!

Thank you for the link to the thread! I'd love to look over it just out of curiosity before I post. I remember what you said about putting the tunnel over Charlie's den entrance. The house is approx. 31cm wide and has a little mini-house on top, so I think she'd feel pretty safe in there!~

[Pebbles82]

Ooh that sounds like a nice house. Charlie's doesn't seem to do a butt wobble, but when he's been asleep warm and cosy he does let his balls hang out a bit lol and they wobble. He's just kind of big all over so not fat or anything, just more the size of a small rat than a Hamster!