Dwarf hamster won't stop running on wheel?

Tazius · 03-05-2018, 11:24 AM

Hello everyone!

Our little dwarf hamster has been acting a little bit frantic today and thought it was worth just checking in here as she is our first ever non-Syrian!

We adopted Aurora from a friend about a month and a half ago. She came in a tiny plastic cage with barely any stimulation, being fed inappropriate food (food pellets and sugary treat sticks), and a broken wheel. She is about 5-6 months old.

We're in the process of building her a new cage which is much bigger and more appropriate for her. I also adapted her cage for the meantime putting in a new wooden wheel that was big enough for her to run in, a nice little wooden house, and some toys. Plus we started feeding her on dwarf specific food and stopped giving her any sugary treats!

She has always run a lot on her wheel since we put it in but it's never been concerning as she's never had one before/is young/is in a small cage but today she's just been completely frantic.

We came home at 2.30pm and she was already up running on her wheel. It is now 6.20pm and she hasn't stopped. She runs and runs and runs on the wheel, hops off, dashed frantically around her cage, goes back in the wheel and then repeats this process. She hasn't stopped to go to sleep during this time and has only had a drink once. We took her out for half an hour so she could have some human contact, run around in her exercise ball and get out of that little cage for a bit but it doesn't seem to have had any effect! Usually, she runs on her wheel a lot but it's in the evening/nighttime/early morning. If she goes on it during the day it's usually only for an hour or so before she goes back to bed.

Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts?

Thanks!

cypher · 03-05-2018, 01:27 PM

I'm really not sure what might be causing this kind of behaviour but I think while you try to figure it out it would probably be best to take the wheel out for a while & give her a break, she may just continue to be hyper in some other way if you do but it would be worth a try as she will get dehydrated & exhausted if she keeps that up for too long.
How has she been before this? Was she behaving normally, eating, drinking & peeing normally?

Tazius · 03-05-2018, 01:47 PM

Thanks Cypher. Have just taken the wheel out as she was still on so had been on it from 2.30pm-8.45pm!

She's been fine before. She's always been quite energetic but nothing like this. She usually just goes on her wheel when we're out/not using the frontroom but she's been on it constantly all day which isn't like her and running around her cage, digging the corners to escape, climbing on top of her house like she's looking for something?

Nothing has changed in the environment and it looks like she's eating and drinking normally. Not sure pee wise though, my partner has looked at the wheel though and it's covered in pee and it looks like she's been peeing on her plastic staging as well.

cypher · 03-05-2018, 02:05 PM

It might be worth doing a urine test for diabetes just to check on that.
Maybe leave the wheel in for an hour or two in the evening if the behaviour continues when you put it back in so she can still have a run & get some exercise without overdoing it.

Tazius · 03-05-2018, 02:14 PM

Yeah, we'll get a test in the next few days just to double check for Diabetes! She's currently running around digging in every corner she can and hasn't settled yet. Hopefully her new cage will be built by the weekend so if it's to do with space that should help.

Thanks so much Cypher!

Fluffagrams · 03-05-2018, 03:07 PM

I've heard of some cases where young hamsters, upon getting a wheel for the first time get a bit obsessed with them to the point where they just don't seem to be able to stop and in those cases, it's often better to remove the wheel and introduce it for shorter periods of time until they learn to use the wheel a little bit more responsibly.

When I introduce wheels to my young Chinese, we usually start off with the wheel at playtimes and then in their cage for a couple of evenings a week and we go from there.

I agree with Cypher though, it's worth checking her for diabetes too as that can cause behavioural changes.

Tazius · 03-08-2018, 03:43 AM

I'll be ordering the diabetes sticks ASAP as her behaviour is definitely weird. When she's not running on her wheel she's constantly running around her cage, digging at the plastic, sniffing the air, and generally frantically looking for an escape which is really unusual for her. It's something we havent seen in the month we've had her. Got up just now and she's awake trying to escape already!

Tazius · 03-08-2018, 04:42 AM

I just messaged the person we adopted her from and got a bit more information. She said that Aurora had originally been part of a pair but the other one died and she found it wuite hard without the other hamster and started becoming stressed in her cage so the owner began taking her out a lot during the day so she's become used to not being in there during the day!

cypher · 03-08-2018, 06:18 AM

If she was unsettled by not having the amount of out of cage time she was used to then I think you would have seen this behaviour from the start, as you've had her a while now it's far more likely to be something like diabetes or even a neurological issue. The sooner you can test her urine the better really.
What are you feeding her now?
If you want to give her more out of cage time don't put her in the ball, it can be dangerous & doesn't really have any benefit at all, either buy or make a playpen you can fill with toys for her or sit in the playpen with her & let her climb on you & interact with you.

Tazius · 03-11-2018, 08:12 AM

Unfortunately, she passed away very suddenly last night in her house