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Old 04-14-2018, 04:13 PM   #1
confusedman
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 6
Unhappy I am really confused. Don't understand her behaviour

Hello everyone. First post ever.

We got a Syrian hamster a couple of months ago. Around ten weeks old, female. We started with a small cage and very soon after we upgraded to an Alexander cage.
The poor creature was super jumpy. Still is. The behaviour varies drastically from one day to the other. I wouldnt say she is friendly nor she is aggressive.
Her only purpose in life at the beginning was to escape, and trying to do that she would happily jump in my hand.
Sometimes she goes hyper, she looks friendlier and pays more attention to us. At the beginning we thought these were her happy moments, now Im getting more and more convinced that this is a display of stress, because it normally happens after we clean the cage. We don't touch it much, we clean only the necessary and we don't change the substrate unless she's peed on it.
She's got hideouts, toys, tubes, whimzees chew etc, everything we think she might need
Last week we bought her a big wheel and she hasn't stopped using it since.
She doesn't like us. She hides. But then the day after she's curious about us.
And the day after she doesn't recognise us anymore. Its a bit like if she didn't have memory.
Today we had de television on (probably first time for her) and she didn't come out. We consider that as normal. A while after tv was off and friend went away she came out and I started speaking as I normally do. She run out of the house went flat (not good sign I read) jumped in the wheel and started running like mad. Stopped to check on us, kept running stopped and on and on and on..
She seems to be stressed all the time.
I thought if she was scared she would hide in the house but she looked very panicky and run run run..

Sorry if the post its a bit messy. I am just trying to give a general idea.
My questions are: why she acts so differently from one day to the other and, could she be using the wheel as a way to escape from us?

Any advise appreciated.

Thank you,
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Old 04-18-2018, 01:30 PM   #2
Pebbles82
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: I am really confused. Don't understand her behaviour

Hi there. I think she will be stressed by the cage change and the cleaning. Regular cleaning isn't recommended really as it stresses them so much. You can use a litter tray and spot clean mostly - that way the substrate can go 2 or 3 months easily.

It's great that you upgraded her to the Alexander- but it can take a good two weeks for them to settle after a cage change and it's best not to clean anything or disturb anything in that time.

Probably the best thing now is go back to square one and give her 2 or 3 days left alone. You can talk to her through the bars so she gets used to your voice. If she wants to come out fine, but otherwise leave her alone maybe. They are quite clean little things really. They tend to choose an area as a toilet to pee in - often a corner of the cage. If you put a litter tray there she will most likely use it - if you put it anywhere else she won't! You put Chinchilla bathing sand in the litter tray - that soaks up the pee. I empty it about every 5 days and the rest of the cage stays clean. If it's a bit whiffy for a couple of weeks it doesn't matter really and you can spot clean the pee corner when she's had some settling in time.

It isn't just the upheaval of cage cleans that stresses them - it's because it removes all their scent. They scent mark a route around the cage because they don't see well so they feel a bit lost when it all smells different.

A good method is to also not clean everything at the same time. So when you do need to change the substrate, don't clean the toys, wheel etc at the same time - do the wheel a different week, and the toys a different week again.

The other thing that stresses them a lot is having their nest and hoard disturbed. So if you've been doing big clean outs and chucking her nest and hoard she will be very stressed and will start to see you as a thief!

I leave the nest alone for a very long time unless it's pee'd in. Hoards of dry hamster mix can also be left where they are - unless they are pee'd on and wet. If they are pee'd on and you have to remove the hoard, try and leave a little bit of the old hoard behind and add new food to replace what you've removed in exactly the same place. They tend to eat from their hoards and mainly pouch from their food bowl.

The more substrate you have, the less often the cage needs cleaning also so it works out cheaper in the long run putting more in and helps them have normal behaviours.

I am sure she will settle down. Is she a baby? They get scared quite easily and can be quite funny - friendly one day and running away the next. It's just time and patience with bonding - gradually she'll get used to your smell and your voice and they can tell if someone is kind or gentle by the way they speak and handle them.

Don't worry about poops - you can leave those - they eat them sometimes and they're extra food supplies and she may even hoard them. They are like little hard black seeds and not smelly or dirty. They have two stomachs and can redigest vitamins etc from their poops.
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Old 04-18-2018, 01:41 PM   #3
Pebbles82
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Posts: 23,533
Default Re: I am really confused. Don't understand her behaviour

Just wanted to add - they all have different personalities too! Some are shy, some are lazy, some are maverick! She is also a girl and they come on heat every four days. I think the clean outs is the main issue so things should settle down when she feels in control of her own territory more.

You could also do the tissue trick - you put some sheets of plain white toilet paper up your sleeve against your skin, leave them there a couple of hours then tear them into strips and put the pile in the cage somewhere - not in the house but just in a pile - she will gradually take some - pouch it probably - and take it to her nest to line it and make it cosy, and that'll help her get familiar with your scent.

They are often better out of the cage than in it as they're quite territorial in their own cage and don't really like hands in it!

Sometimes a lot of open space can make them a bit nervy as well so large floor toys like cork logs can be good as they have some overhead cover while running around.
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Old 04-18-2018, 01:45 PM   #4
Pebbles82
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Default Re: I am really confused. Don't understand her behaviour

Litter tray - I have one of these - it's a good size for a Syrian and good for a corner. Our hammies have always pee'd in the very back corner (which is higher at the back) and then sat in the front and had a wash When you put one in, put chinchilla bathing sand in it and a very small bit of pee'd on substrate on top so she knows it's still her toilet corner and she'll probably use it straight away.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamster-cor...=hamster+potty

This is the sand that is safe. I sometimes get it from Viovet two at a time as it's a bit cheaper and you only pay one lot of postage.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supreme-Pet...a+bathing+sand
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Old 04-19-2018, 09:48 AM   #5
confusedman
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 6
Default Re: I am really confused. Don't understand her behaviour

we guess she might be around 5 months old.
She's been in the alexander for more than three weeks.

We haven't changed the bedding since then, only cleaning the dirty corner once a week.
The only major change has been the wheel and she seems to like it.
She used to go to all over the cage and climb. Now she hides or she runs in the wheel only to stop and look out like she is super stressed and then keep running.
we follow all the advice given on the forum: talk to her,do no touch much of her stuff, but she seems to be jumpier and jumpier every day.
The feeling we are doing something wrong is not good.

Thank you for all your advice.
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Old 04-19-2018, 10:50 AM   #6
SimonandSyril
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Default Re: I am really confused. Don't understand her behaviour

You are definitely not doing anything wrong; don't be so hard on yourself. My past hamster, Mila, took 5 months to get tame so be persistent. All hamsters have different personalities and will behave differently
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Old 04-19-2018, 01:35 PM   #7
confusedman
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Join Date: Mar 2018
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Default Re: I am really confused. Don't understand her behaviour

She's got dual personality. Definitely.
She went from being jumpy (jumping at everything in her cage including her food bowl) to not minding to climb on me (trying to escape, but still not minding me handling her). I'm reeeeallly confused
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