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Old 03-17-2017, 05:12 AM   #1
HamsterHenry
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Default Tube sleeping, pooing, hand taming issues

Hi
OK, this is going to be fairly loaded I’m afraid! So we have had our first dwarf hamster (Henry) for 3 weeks now. He is housed in a plastic Ferplast cage with basic tubing. We had a small plastic house for him and he used to sleep there but then decided to move to the tube. He takes his bedding and food into the tube and stays there all the time and poos there. We recently bought him a wooden log bed to replace the plastic house thinking he might like it better and could chew on the wood. He’s not that interested and still sleeps in the tube. This is a bit of a hassle to clean as we need to dismantle it all and clean it with the special disinfectant spray. Also, Henry isn’t at all interested in the toilet we bought for him (the Potty N Litta Toilet Litter), ignoring it mostly. Henry has not been tamed yet and he bit my wife’s finger a couple of times, but I think this is because she approached him from above. Also, he sleeps all day and gets up at 11pm.
Q: What should we do, if anything, about him staying in the tube all day? How should we try and move him? Do we remove the tubing (I imagine not)?
Q: Do we carry on trying to make him poo in the toilet? How?
Q: Any thoughts on other approaches to taming him? Does he need to be hand tamed before we can try a hamster play pen ? I saw that the first step is laying your hand pal upwards (running your hand through the wood shavings first) and allow him to climb on and explore.

Thank you
Josh
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Old 03-17-2017, 03:52 PM   #2
chesca_27
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Default Re: Tube sleeping, pooing, hand taming issues

Hi! Welcome to the forum and congratulations on Henry !

Most Ferplast cages with tubing are unfortunately too small and inconvenient to clean. Which cage do you have? We recommend approximately an 80cm by 50cm cage for a dwarf. I would disconnect the tubes as soon as possible because it is unhealthy for them to live in the tubes. What species of Dwarf do you have? He really only needs cleaning out every month or so depending on substrate depth and cage size. The spray is unnecessary and can be more safely cleaned with vinegar and water.

Most hamsters will ignore the potty litter and it is quite often dangerous or toxic if ingested (as some bedding or nesting material is). Henry is more likely to potty train himself if given a sand bath, which is totally safe and allows them to wash and dig. Most dwarfs love a sand bath.

You can tame him by offering treats through the cage bars. I wouldn't attempt to pick him up yet. You will find hundreds of threads on here which will advise more specifically on taming.

11pm is a perfectly normal time for him to wake up, but every ham is different. My dwarf wakes up about 7 and comes out every so often between 7pm and 10pm, then he's awake all night as far as I know.

1) Please disconnect all tubing as soon as possible. Giving him a safe nesting material like ripped up strips of unscented white toilet paper and put that in his wooden house to encourage him to use it. Wait until he is out of the tube to disconnect the tube.

2) Provide a sand bath instead of the potty. A sand bath is hamster safe sand (like chinchilla sand NOT dust) in some form or dish. Most hamsters will poop anywhere and can't be trained for that. They can be taught to pee in a sand bath, although some will train themselves.

3) I would not disrupt the bedding as it can wake him up or he may become territorial with you disturbing his nest (if he digs). You can rub your hands in his bedding so you smell of his scent to him. You may find it easier to tame him out of the cage so a play pen like a bath would be a good idea. They cannot scale the smooth sides of a bath.
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Old 03-18-2017, 05:31 AM   #3
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Tube sleeping, pooing, hand taming issues

Chesca has said it all there really Plastic tubes connected to cages aren't that great for hammies really as they do tend to do this - block them up and nest in them. It's their instinct to block off any tubes to stop predators getting in

They do better with tubes or tunnels as floor toys. A simple kitchen roll inner tube is popular and can also be chewed, which is good for their teeth and fun for them.

Is the Ferplast mini duna? Do you have stoppers to block off the tubes? If so I would remove them and block them off. Your hammy will then rebuild his nest elsewhere - maybe in the house. A house that is open underneath and on top of the substrate is best as they like to bury hoards under the nest.

I believe dwarf hamsters are a bit more difficult to toilet train than Syrians. As Chesca says if you give him a sand bath he will probably use that to both roll in (it helps clean their fur) and as a toilet as well. Then you can just scoop out the wet bit and leave most of the sand. You need to use Chinchilla bathing sand though, not just any old sand, and not "dust". It's sterilised and suitable for Hamsters.

An old ice cream plastic tube or any pyrex dish eg would do as a sand bath. The tubs of sand last quite a while.

The other thing they need to have normal behaviours is plenty of deep substrate - at least 3 to 4 inches but as much as you can fit it. It makes them happy - they can dig and burrow in it and if it's deep enough they can even dig their own tunnels and burrows. If you're using pine shavings (assume that's what you mean rather than actual sawdust) then check that they are kiln dried and dust extracted.

Poops - don't worry about those They aren't dirty or smelly - they are like little hard seeds and hamsters sometimes hoard them and/or eat them. They have two stomachs and can redigest extra vitamins from their poops - it's an instinct in case there is a food shortage! So every time you take the hoard away during a clean out your hammy will probably hoard more poops in case there's a famine lol.

Anyway rule of thumb is - deep substrate and spot clean, rather than a big clean out. Spot cleaning is just removing the odd handful of pee'd in substrate and replacing it with a new handful, then mix it in a bit so it smells familiar. They scent mark to find their way around as their eyesight isn't great, so removing all their familiar smells in one go is stressful. You can mainly spot clean and then do a bigger clean less often which helps their stress levels. Plus if your hammy starts using the sand bath as a toilet it will help, and when the substrate is deep the bottom of the cage often stays dry anyway.

Cleaning - there's no need to use pet disinfectant. Just a warm damp cloth will do or warm soapy water (eg washing up liquid soapy water) then rinse and dry. They only need disinfectant if there is illness or disease. Scents can cause problems for them in terms of breathing and stress as their sense of smell is much more powerful than ours.

I would try and get him settled a bit in the current plastic cage with the tubes removed and then look at upgrading it to something bigger. Something like the Ferplast Duna Multy is a good upgrade (no tubes with that one). Not too big, not too small.

Cage Duna Multy

When you upgrade you could just put the whole cage base inside the newly set up new cage and let the hammy explore out from there, so it still feels and smells familiar.

Enrichment is the keyword for a happy hamster with normal behaviours. That means lots of variety in the cage, levels, textures, things to do and places to go - so lots of substrate, a good house big enough to build a nest in, a suitable sized wheel that works properly, food and water obviously, a sand bath and plenty of hidey places and floor tunnels/toys to climb over, run through, plus some kind of shelf or level is good so they don't feel too exposed from above and can sit under it or climb on top of it. For a tank style like the duna multy you can just make one out of a piece of wood with four dowels stuck on for legs (kiln dried untreated pine is fine).

If you get a new cage all set up and ready before moving the hamster in it helps as it's best not to make any changes for the first two weeks when they settle into a cage. And no cleaning for the first two weeks except a little bit of spot cleaning.

Your hammy is probably trying to avoid his nest and hoard being taken away so he's blocked himself into the tubes.

They generally are very clean little things - they groom regularly. I think when they are young they do tend to just pee in all sorts of places at first until they get into a bit of a routine and often pee in the wheel, but just giving it a wipe now and then will do and only a full wash every month or so.

When doing a big clean, even then it's best to only replace half the substrate and replace the dry half and mix it in with the new. Plus clean toys at a different time to the substrate - eg a week or two later - and the wheel at a different time again. So something always smells familiar.

Also if they are cleaned out all in one go, too often, they will start peeing on everything to scent mark it again so it can become an itch scratch situation!

This is the Chinchilla bathing sand

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supreme-Pet...a+bathing+sand
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Old 03-18-2017, 06:22 AM   #4
InkyPen
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Default Re: Tube sleeping, pooing, hand taming issues

The others have said it all, but just to follow up - we started out with a Ferplast Laura cage that had housed several generations of hamsters during my partner's teenage years.

"A great cage" - the pet shop
"A great cage" - my partner
"A crap cage" - me
"A prison cell" - Inky the hamster

It sounds like you could have the same / a very similar model. I initially upgraded it by adding a bin cage Photo Guide to Making a Bin Cage as an extension and diverting a tube into it. At the time, my partner was wedded to the idea that the Ferplast Laura was excellence itself, so it was the best available option.

However, like you, I found that
(a) her hoarding in the tube became a problem, even though we were brutal in removing any food hoarded there asap and putting it in her regular hoarding place, and
(b) the cage wasn't big enough to house a suitably sized wheel - most Syrians need one of about 12", as if it's too small they have to bend their back to run, and that causes spinal problems. Dwarves don't need a 12" wheel, but the same principle about bent spines remains.

I looked around for a better option, and via this forum I found the Zooplus cages. The Alaska, Barney and Alexander models are all excellent options and great value for money - far larger than some of the crud Ferplast makes, at the same / lower price Hamster Cages | great selection at zooplus We eventually settled on the Alexander (it was on sale at £70 at the time) and it's a great cage - Inky clearly appreciates the upgrade in space, and there are no plastic tubes to cause problems. For a dwarf, I'd opt for the Barney, as it has smaller bar spacing (7mm) to prevent tiny escapees.

Does your hamster chew on the bars a lot? If so, that's a sign of boredom / stress related to a cage that is too small and lacks sufficient enrichment, and it means that they are really in need of an upgrade.
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Old 03-18-2017, 08:04 AM   #5
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Tube sleeping, pooing, hand taming issues

Good point! An Alexander would be amazing for a dwarf hamster - if you block the gap in the shelves with a piece of wood to make a full level.

Yes have a look on Zooplus I linked the Duna Multy because it's about the smallest you'd want to go and isn't too expensive.
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Old 03-19-2017, 11:24 AM   #6
HamsterHenry
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Default Re: Tube sleeping, pooing, hand taming issues

Hi everyone. Thank you very much for the replies. I will go through these and I'm sure take on board a lot of what has been recommended. I probably have a few more questions and some questions I need to answer, all of which I'll do shortly.
All the best.
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