Newbie with Questions

[zzbop]

Hello all! I'm a newbie Syrian owner and have several questions as I cannot seem to stop worrying. (I've read through many posts but for some reason feel like I need a personal answer to my questions.) I brought home my baby hammy about three days ago and have researched a lot but find myself feeling lost. For starters, she's been sneezing? Fairly often, and yesterday she had a little stream of sneezes that got me worried so I took a lot of her bedding out thinking it might be a dust issue (was using aspen shavings, and am now looking for an alternative). She immediately began sneezing less frequently, but today has started up again and sometimes she will paw at her face/nose. But she looks healthy and is still very active.

My other main question is, if she gets stressed by something (which I can't stop worrying about) how long might it take for the stress to wear off? I can't really tell if she's freaked out by anything, other than she's sometimes jumpy, which I assume is from not being handled much previously. Is running faster a sign of stress? I notice when I put my hand in her cage to spot clean she runs on her wheel crazy fast, faster than how she normally would. Am I overthinking this? I just want to do this right.

[cypher]

Hi & welcome to the forum.

It does sound as though your ham may be allergic to aspen so replacing that will probably resolve the sneezing problem, there are paper based substrates available in the US (not carefresh which is wood pulp & dusty) but I'm not sure what they are, I'm sure someone else from the US will know.

Running in the wheel is something they do when stressed, usually you can tell if they have their ears back or down or if they sit & groom a lot they are showing signs of stress.
I wouldn't worry though, 3 days is a very short time & your ham will still be adjusting to her new home so some signs of stress are almost inevitable, just talk to her quietly & gently while you do things like spot clean or change water, add food etc & she'll soon get used to you & calm down.

[AmityvilleHams]

Definitely get Kaytee Clean and Cozy.It's much better than Carefresh,as it is far less dusty which is extremely important for delicate respiratory systems,and because it isn't wood or something like that a hamster won't have an allergic reaction to it.It's also a lot cheaper than Carefresh,considering a tiny amount of Carefresh can easily run you upwards of $15 while a very large bale of Clean and Cozy is only $20 in a pet store.However,you can definitely check out some alternative online retailers and try to find a better deal if you'd like as that is definitely possible and would likely save you a lot of money

[zzbop]

Okay, paper-based bedding, got it! I was wondering if it might be an allergy, poor thing. I believe the brand I already purchased is a Carefresh brand, but I've been exploring different options to see what suits me best. Also I will try to work more on getting her used to me (gently), hopefully she will adjust soon. Thanks guys!

[Thin Lizzy]

Hi to you and your baby ham! Welcome to HC.

[zzbop]

Originally Posted by Thin Lizzy

Hi to you and your baby ham! Welcome to HC.

Hello! Thank you

[Pebbles82]

Hello and welcome! They need a bit of time to settle in Everything is new and strange and a bit scary. Usually it's recommended to leave them alone for 3 or 4 days - ie don't handle her or clean anything, but you can talk gently through the bars so she gets used to your voice. As you've needed to change the substrate, maybe start again with leaving her alone for 3 or 4 days (once you've got the substrate sorted!) Then move on to offering a treat on the palm of your hand. Let her come to you.

I believe Boxo is popular in the US - bought in bulk and cheap I think and it's paper. kaytee Clean n cozy is also popular. Not paper - I'm not sure what it is, maybe wood pulp again, but it's less dusty I believe. You can also get Oxbow Pure Comfort paper bedding. I've tried that and it's good. It has a very small amount of dust but not as bad as Carefresh and it's good paper substrate - comes in brown or white whichever you prefer! I got the brown assuming it's more natural

After leaving them for 3 or 4 days, and moving on to offering a treat on the hand, the other thing is - try not to clean anything for two weeks, let her have chance to scent mark her surroundings and get her house in order. Have a good depth of substrate - at least 3 to 4 " but as much as you can really. And just spot clean (maybe once or twice during that two week period) - ie take out a handful of wet substrate and replace it with a handful of new and mix it in a bit so it still smells familiar. Don't worry about poops - they're not dirty or smelly, they're like hard little seeds and sometimes they hoard them/eat them for extra vitamins. So stealing her poops too early on might stress her lol.

Basically if you have good depth of substrate and spot clean you don't need to do big cleans very often - maybe every couple of months or even longer, depending on her habits and how much substrate there is. Cleaning out is something that does really stress them and removes their scent marking and familiar smells. This video from Erin's Hamsters is really good on cage cleaning tips - how often, how and other hamstery tips!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jVnEjrXbww&t=37s

[AmityvilleHams]

Clean and Cozy is at least part recycled paper,according to claims made by Kaytee.Either way it is perfectly fine to use and is much easier to find than Boxo,so it might work out the better option in the end

[zzbop]

Okay, thanks so much guys! I've put into effect a lot of the tips you all gave me and I'm already seeing great improvement with both Peaches' health and behavior. For instance, today she only sneezed ONCE, which is a massive improvement from before. I really think the dusty bedding was bothering her. After I took it out you could visibly see all the wood dust everywhere and I felt so bad! I've also been trying to give her more space (I did leave her alone completely for the first three days until I realized the bedding/substrate problem). She seems visibly more comfortable, and she now eats little treats from my hand without a hitch; it's so cute! Everyone's advice put me and little Peaches at ease, so thank you again--I'll keep up what you all told me

[lolguy67]

Try Care Fresh its a paper based bedding I don't think all Hamsters like it but my Hamster certainly does (Note: Care Fresh is a bit expensive I paid about $19 to $20 for a medium sized bag that expands 2x the substrate )