Ham stress - house move + vacation

[hamtarokid]

So, in about a week my partner and I are moving to a new apartment. Then a little over a week after that we are going out of town for about 10 days and Ambrose will be going to stay with a friend until we get back. It's really unfortunate that the timing is so close together, but it can't be helped. And since Ambrose is going to someone else's house while we're gone, he's going to have to be in his smaller, store-bought cage instead of his big tub cage during that time.

Do you guys have any recommendations for helping him stay relaxed during all this? Or any recommendations for preparing my friend to care for him? I'm planning on writing down all of his care information for her, as well as explaining it verbally. She's really responsible and has pet birds, so I trust her to do well, but she's never had a hamster before.

[Pygmypuff]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p4T8HA8pRE

This might help with the travelling part!

[cypher]

If you need to do any cage cleaning I would do it now then leave it until after all the upheaval is over before doing it again & use the substrate, nest & even his food hoard from his current cage to make the temporary one as familiar as possible with plenty of his scent around him, if you can give him a similar layout in the smaller cage that might help too.
He should be fine with the move & most hams do ok going to a stay with someone else if they have most of their usual things with them.
Writing things down for your friend is a good idea if she's not used to hams, it's easy to forget if someone just tells you something but she sounds as though she'll do a good job of caring for Ambrose.

[Pebbles82]

Ten days should be ok to settle after the move if you keep everything the same in the cage and don't clean it. Then when your hammy goes to your friend he will have settled at your new home a bit. When taking the smaller cage, put some familiar toys from his regular cage in (one or two anyway) and some of his existing substrate as well, so it smells familiar and put his nest in the smaller cage too (and lots of hidden treats!)

[hamtarokid]

Thanks, you guys!