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Old 05-22-2017, 08:33 PM   #1
ichijyushi
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Question Is my hamster playing or scared?

Hello! I am new to both this website and owning hamsters. I had gerbils when I was a kid but I've already noticed a lot of behavioral differences.

I have two Chinese hamsters, I'm still trying to tame them but they are very nervous animals.

I started to try to do playtime with them, every other day or so; one hamster at a time. This post is about my less nervous hamster, Ichi. Today was the second time I took him out and put him in a decent sized area with barriers so he couldn't escape, a few items for him to hide and climb on, and a wheel.

The first time I took him out he looked for a way to escape and hide under the items I had out, then after a while ran on the wheel the rest of the time.

Today he was running around in a manner that seemed panicky, when he wasn't on the wheel we was constantly trying to climb up a towel I had and squirming quite a bit when I tried to get him down before escaping the play area. He would go back as soon as I put him down and this went on for most of playtime, the other half having a blast on the wheel. I was afraid I was gonna drop him with how squirmy he was.

Long Story Short: Was his frantic running and climbing repeatedly because he was scared or in a playful mood? I mostly think he's scared but I've read how they like to climb and I've seen other small animals run laps when they're happy.
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Old 05-23-2017, 12:58 AM   #2
Fluffagrams
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Default Re: Is my hamster playing or scared?

I have noticed that Chinese hamsters can be particularly nervous with large and/or open spaces, particularly when they are young or are still settling after coming home but don't worry it's not necessarily a permanent behaviour and they can be content and confident pets with a little time, patience and finding the right caging for them.

I've found that to start with, giving them a smaller environment something that is not much larger than a Mini Duna cage (a Mini Duna measures 55x37 cm) has worked well for both taming and allowing them to enjoy a relaxed out-of-cage time. I'll then upgrade them gradually when they are more confident and settled.

Last edited by Fluffagrams; 05-23-2017 at 01:09 AM. Reason: Rewording to make more sense
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Old 05-23-2017, 01:14 AM   #3
cypher
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Default Re: Is my hamster playing or scared?

I would suggest using a large plastic storage box with plenty of substrate in & toys that they can pop in & out of as well as a wheel for out of cage time, as Fluffagrams said they do tend to be very nervous of open spaces & it does sound to me as though your ham was scared rather than playing.
It's probably better to have them out daily but just for short periods when they're getting used to being out of the cage.
None of my chineseys have ever really liked being out of the cage much & tend to prefer interacting with me while in the cage but if I do use a playpen they seem to do better with me in it so they can just climb all over me!

I'm not sure from your post if you mean you're keeping your boys as a pair or in separate cages?
Chinese are generally considered to be solitary & should be kept separately anyway but any pair should always be out of the cage together.
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Old 05-24-2017, 09:25 PM   #4
ichijyushi
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Default Re: Is my hamster playing or scared?

Thanks for the info you two! I do have them in a smaller cage for now but I would like to either get a fish tank or make a diy cage in the future that is very spacious.

I do have them housing together right now because when I went to the store to buy a hamster, I had my eyes set on a syrian but was open to getting dwarfs also. They didn't have a cage big enough in my opinion for a syrian that wasn't out of my price range and they didn't have dwarfs but Chinese hamsters and I thought they were the same as other dwarfs so I bought them together.

Now I know that they are more solitary and it worries me a bit but I'm keeping an eye on them until I can get some larger cages. I don't see any violent behavior but I do believe Ichi is more dominant and will use up the wheel more often.

I'm working on taming them and hope they will be more open with me soon, although I have read it can take months sometimes.
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Old 05-24-2017, 10:10 PM   #5
cypher
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Default Re: Is my hamster playing or scared?

Males are generally more laid back & less territorial than females so your boys may be ok for a while but it is unusual for Chinese to remain in pairs so do watch them carefully & have a second cage, even just a bin cage, ready as they can fall out & any fights can escalate quickly so you do need to be fully prepared.
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