New hamster running on the back of the wheel?!

sophiedoe · 05-07-2017, 01:19 PM

Hello!

First time posting here. We just got a new Syrian hamster yesterday afternoon. We have been giving her space to acclimate, only opening the cage to put in food. We have talked to her a bit, but she is still nervous. She has been very active, last night we could hear her running on her wheel. She is eating, drinking and doing normal poops.

She has a nice big wheel, it must be 10 - 12 inches in diameter. But today, I noticed her doing something strange. There is a 1 inch gap behind the wheel, between the back of the wheel and the bars. She runs behind there sometimes, I assume when she is scared. But she has been behind there, her back to the bars, and kind of 'running' on the back of the wheel? This seems strange, should I be concerned?

Many thanks,
Sophie

Drago · 05-07-2017, 02:10 PM

I may just be daft, but I don't quite understand what you mean by running on the back of the wheel. Do you mean that she is attempting to climb by shoving her back against the cage and pushing on the wheel to get up? Either way, I wouldn't be too concerned about it to be honest. She's still new and is likely stressed and would like to escape. Give her a few weeks to settle, plus this isn't a super concerning behavior anyways. Enjoy your new little one, and if you have any other questions, please ask

sophiedoe · 05-07-2017, 02:15 PM

Thanks for your reply! You aren't daft, I was very confused at first to see the wheel moving with no hamster inside. It's almost like she is using it like a flying saucer, except the surface is vertical.

Pebbles82 · 05-07-2017, 02:15 PM

They do do some funny things

As you say she is new. Generally it's recommended to leave them alone for 2 or 3 days to settle in and scent mark, and they can go a bit headless chicken at first. Bar climbing, trying to find a way out. Maybe she enjoys spinning the wheel with her feet from the back lol. But it does sound more like Drago said - that she's pushing off the wheel to try and shimmy up the cage.

She will be scared and nervous at first - everything's new. Also don't clean anything in the cage or move things around for the first two weeks as this can stress them too. You can just spot clean maybe once a week, if it gets whiffy (take a handful of wet substrate out and replace it with a handful of dry and mix it in).

sophiedoe · 05-07-2017, 02:22 PM

Thanks for your reply. She has been at it for a good two hours now. I don't think she's trying to shimmy up, sometimes she climbs the bars as high as she can go and then turns around and starts doing it again! Guess I will just continue to give her space, how long should I wait before I try to interact with her? We are getting her a bigger cage as they didn't have any properly big ones, how long should I wait to change the cage?

**Cinnamon Bear** · 05-07-2017, 03:26 PM

I put a bowl of chinchilla sand in my hammys cage & Heaven uses it for a potty. Makes life alot easier if you try to see if she'll pee in the sand?

Thin Lizzy · 05-07-2017, 07:40 PM

Hi Sophiedoe and Welcome to HC. Congratulations on your girl hammy.
One of my hams did that for a short while, it made me laugh, I would lift him of the outside and place him inside the wheel but, he'd climb back on the outside.

xFluffyHamsterx · 05-09-2017, 05:56 PM

My hamsters used to do this when they first got home! She will acclimatise soon