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Old 01-11-2017, 12:26 PM   #1
pumpkin13
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Default New syrian owner needing advice please

Hi all.

We have recently bought a Syrian hamster for our 10 year old daughter. She is lovely and we have had her for about a week. She has a Little Friends Grosvenor Rat and hamster cage and a 12" silent spinner wheel. Her house is quite large and has a solid bottom. I am worried it may be dirty in there and she also has a hoard of food in there. I don't want to disturb her house as I don't want to distress her as we have only had her for one week. Reading on here I think a house with no solid bottom would be better. How long should I leave it before I change her house? I would also like to change the position of her house and rearrange the layout. Again should I leave it until she has settled in a bit more. Both my daughter and I have been talking to her. My daughter has tried the tissue with her scent on. If both of us are talking to her and hand feeding her, will it confuse her? I am better to leave it to just my daughter(with supervision). She is becoming more confident with us. She comes out of her house when she hears us and comes to the bars to get a treat.
Sorry to ask so much. Would greatly appreciate any advice.
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Old 01-11-2017, 12:48 PM   #2
Drago
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Default Re: New syrian owner needing advice please

I personally would leave her house alone a bit longer, if your ham feels it's really too dirty, she'll remove the soiled bedding or choose a new area for her nest. Both of you feeding and talking to her is actually better, the more people that handle your ham, the more socialized she will become. Whether you leave it up to just her or have it a joint commitment to tame, is your choice. Enjoy your new little one, they are lovely little balls of fur!
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Old 01-11-2017, 01:03 PM   #3
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Default Re: New syrian owner needing advice please

If you have another house with an open bottom she may move into that one.

If may be wise to check the food hoard. As the house has a bottom just in case she has peed inside the house. You could wait until she is out running on her wheel or playing etc and remove it to check.

Syrians often choose a corner to pee in. Once a corner is chosen. A litter tray put in that corner and some substrate with pee on put in the tray. The smell attracts the hamster to continue using the tray/pee corner.
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Old 01-11-2017, 03:43 PM   #4
Teddy001
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Default Re: New syrian owner needing advice please

I would replace the house to a house with no bottom. I clean my hamsters pantry ( food that's stored in their nest) at least once a week. I remove the soiled substrate, and food, then replace with some of the substrate in the cage, mixed with new substrate. I also put back pieces of the food, that's not gone bad, and add some food back in the nest.

Pups, and young hamsters will typically potty in their nest, until they are a bit older, then will find an corner in their cage to pee.

I'd not rearrange the cage, due to your hamster is still settling in, and moving things around, is stressful, in an already stressful time. X
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Old 01-12-2017, 01:55 PM   #5
pumpkin13
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Default Re: New syrian owner needing advice please

Quote:
Originally Posted by Drago View Post
I personally would leave her house alone a bit longer, if your ham feels it's really too dirty, she'll remove the soiled bedding or choose a new area for her nest. Both of you feeding and talking to her is actually better, the more people that handle your ham, the more socialized she will become. Whether you leave it up to just her or have it a joint commitment to tame, is your choice. Enjoy your new little one, they are lovely little balls of fur!
Thanks for your reply. I will leave her house alone for a little longer until she has settled a bit more. I think we will both carry on taming her because I can't wait to hold her, but we are not at that stage yet.
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Old 01-12-2017, 02:00 PM   #6
pumpkin13
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Default Re: New syrian owner needing advice please

Quote:
Originally Posted by CMB View Post
If you have another house with an open bottom she may move into that one.

If may be wise to check the food hoard. As the house has a bottom just in case she has peed inside the house. You could wait until she is out running on her wheel or playing etc and remove it to check.

Syrians often choose a corner to pee in. Once a corner is chosen. A litter tray put in that corner and some substrate with pee on put in the tray. The smell attracts the hamster to continue using the tray/pee corner.
Thanks for your reply. The house is quite large with a door and window. The bottom is solid, but also the roof doesn't come off either so would probably have to shake it a little to get anything out.
I think I have found the corner she pees in and will think about potty training, but didn't want to try too many things at once and bombard her.
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Old 01-12-2017, 02:07 PM   #7
pumpkin13
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Default Re: New syrian owner needing advice please

Quote:
Originally Posted by Teddy001 View Post
I would replace the house to a house with no bottom. I clean my hamsters pantry ( food that's stored in their nest) at least once a week. I remove the soiled substrate, and food, then replace with some of the substrate in the cage, mixed with new substrate. I also put back pieces of the food, that's not gone bad, and add some food back in the nest.

Pups, and young hamsters will typically potty in their nest, until they are a bit older, then will find an corner in their cage to pee.

I'd not rearrange the cage, due to your hamster is still settling in, and moving things around, is stressful, in an already stressful time. X
Thanks for your reply. I will definitely replace the house for one with no bottom. With the house we have not only is the bottom solid, but the roof doesn't come off either so not sure how I will get anything out and I am really anxious about stressing her out. I think I have found the corner she pees in. She is about 11 weeks old.

I will definitely not rearrange the cage until she is settled.
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Old 01-12-2017, 02:11 PM   #8
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Default Re: New syrian owner needing advice please

A temporary house could be made out of a cardboard box without a bottom. Cut an entrance hole.
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Old 01-12-2017, 04:01 PM   #9
Pebbles82
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Default Re: New syrian owner needing advice please

Hello there. It sounds like you're doing all the right things. Generally they need a couple of weeks to settle into the cage, so yes I'd wait a bit before changing anything. After that you could add a better house. You'll probably need to take the old one out or she might decide not to move into the new one. But you could put the new one over the top of her nest and put a bendy bridge or tunnel over the door so it tempts her inside (makes it nice and dark). I like the houses with lift off roofs for checking inside. But I think with the Grosvenor you have a shelf at one end and presumably the wheel at the other end so you'll need something that works with the cage. Maybe a house along one side that goes partly under the shelf. A lift off roof isn't essential but it means you can check inside without the nest falling apart. If she uses a litter tray then the house could stay clean and dry inside anyway. A potty litter tray is definitely worth having. Put it in the corner or place she has chosen as a toilet with some chinchilla bathing sand in and a little bit of wee'd on substrate on top so she knows it's still her toilet corner I have this one - it's easy for them to get in and out of. Then you just empty the potty every four or five days and don't need to spot clean so much. You could add that now - it's not the same as removing things or changing them around.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Houses-Ha...=hamster+potty
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Old 01-13-2017, 01:50 AM   #10
pumpkin13
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Default Re: New syrian owner needing advice please

Thanks for your advice. Bought some chinchilla sand yesterday and definitely know which corner she is peeing in so will be installing a potty for her. Yes you have the cage layout spot on. I have the house face on under the shelf and yes the house would be better side on. She has moved all the substrate into the corner next to her house (we use carefresh)so I have been adding a little more and mixing it with the substrate already in there. Have been looking for a house with a lift off roof.
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