New Syrian Hammy - odd behaviour?

[Beckieellen]

Hi there!

I got my Syrian male just over 2 weeks ago, pet shop advised he was around 7/8 weeks of age so he should be around 9/10 weeks at present.
He’s eating really well, taming I think is going slowly, will not willingly walk into my hand as of yet unless there is something tasty on it!!
If I pick him up, he gets very speedy and panicked so i’ll Always pop him back - i’ll Keep persisting!
He’s more recently starting darting about in his cage and rolling around in the plastic tube which is connected to the cage itself - is this anything to do with scent marking?
Pet shop also advised to spot clean every day, so I have been (and one big clean out once per week) - I don’t think he’s been enjoying this as he seems noticeably stressed when I pop him back from his ball - I occasionally remove overly soiled bedding (shredded paper) and the poo/uneaten food as it’s all mixed in - do I remove the house completely and just have open bedding?
I’m sorry for all the questions - I haven’t had hammy since I was probably 13, now 25 and I seem to be 10x more worried and observant than I was at a younger age!! Plus my previous hammy’s were super tame from day one so this is a very new experience!! Also super sensitive about wet tail as my last hammy passed from this!
I’ll really appreciate any suggestions you guys have, I’ve been recommended to come here from a YouTuber!!
I just want a happy tame hammy!

Thanks guys x

[minijeva]

how big is the cage? try to do a clean out every 2 weeks as clean outs are stressfull for the hamster

[Beckieellen]

Cage is 37.5 x 47 x 55cm - three story and spacious, can you over crowd a cage?

[cypher]

It does sound as though he's doing quite a lot of scent marking & he will be stressed by the cleaning.
Spot cleaning pee daily is fine, if you can find a regular pee spot you can put a litter tray there with some substrate or chinchilla sand in it then put some wet substrate on top & he may begin to use that which will make things easier.
Other than spot cleaning ideally you wouldn't do any cleaning at all (apart from removing any bits of veg or wet food) for at least a few weeks.
After that just doing partial cleans every few weeks or even less often is enough, if you clean out the nest area (you only really need do this if they pee in it) then always replace some of the old nest, the same goes with the food hoard, if you clean that area you put it back or replace it.
You don't need to keep cleaning up poo all the time as it's important that they eat some & the rest is dry so doesn't need to be removed too frequently.
If you clean less often he should settle down & be a lot happier, once he's settled a bit then you can begin taming more easily.

His cage is way too small, they don't need height or levels, what matters is floor space & ideally you want something around 80 or 100cm by 50cm.
Two of the most popular cages are the Barney & Alaska from Zooplus.

[Pebbles82]

Don't do weekly cleans, it will stress him. I would suggest getting a litter tray and putting chinchilla sand in it. Syrian hamsters will use it - if you put it in their chosen toilet area - often a corner of the cage. Then when they pee in that you just empty the litter tray every 5 days or so. The rest of the cage shouldn't need much spot cleaning at all. They tend not to poop in the litter tray much, but don't worry about poops - they're not dirty or smelly - they;re like little hard black seeds and sometimes they eat them or hoard them. They have two stomachs and can redigest nutrients and vitamins from their poops - which is why they sometimes hoard them with food. I'd just leave them - unless they start taking over in a big way then spot clean some of them.

Likewise if you take the hoard away it will very much stress them out. Unless the dry food hoard is pee'd on you can leave it - for really quite a long time - again until it starts taking over the cage. If you ever do have to remove it because it's pee'd on then try and leave a bit behind that isn't soiled and also add new food to replace what you've taken out, in exactly the same place.

They need to have these normal behaviours of hoarding and eating from their hoards and if everything gets cleaned out regularly and their hoards and nest are taken away they can start peeing on everything including their to deter predators from stealing their hoard etc! Then you get into a vicious circle.

The more substrate you have in, the less often you need to clean also - the bottom half usually stays dry so you don't need to do a subsrate change for 2 or 3 months then.

Cleaning tips are - when you do the substrate, don't clean everything else - do the other things a different time. So wheel another week, any toys another week etc - that way something always smells familiar and they handle the clean out better. Also when putting new substrate in, mix in some of the old clean substrate or sprinkle it on top - again so it smells familiar.

Nest and hoard are what they are most precious about. Again a nest can be left if not pee'd in.

Plastic tubes are a problem - hammies tend to block them up, pee in them, and they're an escape route as they can be pushed apart or pushed out.

As Cypher says - the cage isn't ideal - not enough floor space and too tall for safety (they aren't good climbers and tend to drop from a height and can get injured).

Is it the Rosewood Pico cage? Dimensions sound similar. The Alaska from Zooplus is good sized basic hamster cage and not expensive.

Housewise they do best with one that is open underneath and sat on top of the substrate - they can then burrow down to keep warm and also tend to bury hoards under the nest. If it's a plastic house with a filled in base and he pees in it, again you'll get a vicious circle as it will keep needing cleaned out and stress him.

An upturned shoe box with a hole cut in on top of the substrate is a good house.

Where did you get the cage? If you've only had him a couple of weeks you might be able to get a refund and take it back after the new cage arrives.

[Beckieellen]

Ah this is great help thank you! I’m looking forward to see if he’s happier over the next week or so.
So disappointed the cage is too small, i’ll Pop the link below; i’ll Contact them to see if I can get an exchange or a refund, last thing I want is an unhappy Bailey!
Rookie mistake listening to a pet shop, I could kick myself.



http://www.petsathome.com/webapp/wcs...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

[cypher]

It's a common mistake but don't worry about it too much, hopefully you can get a refund & a new cage & with less cleaning I'm sure your ham will soon settle down happily.

[CMB]

All the best with your new hamster. You may need to remove the tubei and block the holes where the tube attaches, if he sleeps, hoards food and pees in the tub.

Hope you can get him a bigger cage and bigger wheel soon (he needs to run in his wheel with a straight back). Have a look at wheels other people use.

[Beckieellen]

Thanks for all your advice - it’s been so so helpful.
I’ve just ordered the barney cage for him, hopefully he’ll love it!!
I’ve brought him the disk wheel which he seems to like, he enjoys his ball time a lot so he’s not too overly obsessed with the disk.
He also seems so much more relaxed since I’ve not been disturbing his space! So grateful for your suggestions and thoughts, it’s really put my mind at ease