Adopted Hamster - Very Afraid

[haushinkuh]

Hi all. I adopted a Syrian hamster on Saturday from a woman who could no longer care for him. She told me he is about a year old, and hasn't been handled much, so I knew that he would not be interested in being held or pet without some taming.

I've named him Octavius (or Gus Gus) and he's a white Syrian with dark grey ears and long whiskers. Adorable. No pictures yet, because he's quite anxious, but I did sneak a short video of him cleaning himself if you're interested. (Gus Gus Bath Time)

I have a few questions about his behavior and thought I'd ask here what I should do and what others have had luck with.

(By the way, I've left him alone since I got him, aside from making sure he has food and water. I know he needs time to adjust.)

First of all, he seems very afraid of such a large cage. I have plenty of hidey holes for him (boxes, tubes, a house, etc.), but he was previously kept in a very small CritterTrail cage, so I assume it feels massive to him. The reason I feel like he's afraid is that since Saturday, he has mostly stayed shut up in his burrow, tucked away nice and tight. He absolutely does not come out if we have any of the lights on in the room, so we've taken to leaving them off. He still doesn't generally come out if there is anything moving around, but if we're quiet on the couch watching TV for awhile, we can hear him use his wheel.

Do you think I should move him to a room that we use less often? Or would that actually make him even more anxious when we try to interact? Is there something else I can do to help make him comfortable?

The other thing I need help with is that the few times I've had to change his food or have otherwise disturbed him, he has lunged at me with his mouth open. He hasn't bitten me, and there have been times when my hand has been close to him and he's had zero interest in biting it, but he's definitely acting aggressive.

Is there something I should be doing about this? Will this just get better with the general approach to taming (feed treats from fingers, then from hand, then let him walk over hands, etc.)? Or is there something more? Someone mentioned to me a spray that can help animals be less stressed, but I'm afraid to try anything on such a tiny guy.

Thanks! Hopefully Gus Gus will learn that I'm not so scary and he'll live out the rest of his life in hammy luxury.

[CMB]

I wouldn’t use a spray. In time he should adjust to his new home. You may have better results taming him in a playpen. He could be acting aggressive to protect his territory/cage.

You could get him to climb into a box or something, using food to lure him in.

The tissue trick may help with taming. You put toilet paper up your sleeve and leave it there a while. Then tear it into strips and put them into the cage. The idea is that the hamster can get used to your scent on the tissue without your hand being there.

Talking to your hamster can help to.

The change of cage can be stressful to a hamster. Going from a small cage to a big cage can make them hide.I have just moved one of my hamsters into a big cage and he is hiding away too. I have one shelf in the cage but may add another. Giving more overhead cover may help. Food placed around the cage to distract him and encourage him to move about more.

I wouldn’t move the cage, as he needs to get used to normal household noise.

[cypher]

Congrats on getting Gus Gus & well done for giving the loving home he deserves.

You've only had him a few days & this is such a huge change for him, adjusting to all the sounds, scents etc of a new home as well as suddenly having a big cage is bound to be stressful for him but I wouldn't change the room or anything right now, just give him more time to adjust, talk to him quietly & when he seems ready begin offering him some treats as you mentioned.
I wouldn't use the spray, I think I know the one you mean but have no idea if it's safe or effective with hams.
Just time & patience I think.
If he won't come out when the lights are on once he's had a little more time to settle try just putting a low light lamp on to begin with & you should be able to increase the light levels gradually.
I think lunging for your hand is just fear at the moment, if he's not biting then I would just ignore it, talk to him while you do what you need to do then maybe leave a small treat down & walk away & he will begin to associate your hand with good things & not something to be afraid of.

He looks very sweet in the vid

[Pebbles82]

I would give him two weeks to settle into the new cage and don't move him to a different room, that will just be another change of environment. Put his food out when he's asleep if he's "seeing you off" For now.

We moved our last Syrian from a small rotostak thing to a nice 80cm cage and he was terrified. He would sit and shake. We got so worried about him we were thinking of moving him back to the small one, but stuck it out another few days, and by day 10 he was really happy and leaping around and enjoying the cage. Some Syrians don't come out much during the evening anyway.

I would give him two weeks - talking to him, then start taming - offer treats through the bars (if possible and as the others say, use a tube to lift him out with a treat at one end). I used to then lift my hand off one end of the tube and put it in a hamster ball so he walked into the hamster ball, then pop the lid on and use the ball to (carefully) carry him up to the bathroom and let him out in the dry bathtub with some toys and tunnels. And use that as a taming area. You could start by letting him run around in there and then occasionally stroking him on the back with one finger. If he goes for you, then just leave it and try again later. We did this for a while and then one day he accepted being stroked on the back by one finger without jerking as if he would bite. From there things moved quickly and we could cup a hand under him while he was in the bathtub. Just lift your hand 1cm or so and let him walk off. From there we were able to start picking him up and he was as a tame as anything.

He just needs to learn to trust you and get used to your scent, presence and the way you handle him. He's just scared at the moment. He'll soon settle in.

I bet he's out exploring in the middle of the night. You could scatter feed a bit so he gets interested in the cage and forages for the food.

Also make sure there are lots of toys and hidey places in - a large cage with lots of open space can be intimidating. A shelf or platform helps as well. You could add the odd thing now but I wouldn't change much for the first two weeks and definitely don't do any cleaning for the first two weeks - except maybe to add a litter tray with chinchilla sand if he doesn't have one