Sudden change in behaviour

madkatherine · 05-16-2018, 09:53 AM

Hi guys!
It has been around 3 weeks since I got my baby Seed, and I am proceeding with taming rather slowly in order not to stress him out.
He's taking treats from me, comes to my voice and even is not afraid of getting on my palm.

But today something weird happened.
He was awake in the morning, it happens from time to time, but usually he just gets out of his house to get food and goes back. But today he was running in his wheel and when I approached his cage he kind of jump as if he was scared.
During the whole day he was sleeping/snoozing in the corner or even inside the wheel. And when I opened the cage (gently) to put some veg, he again jumped weirdly.
He is taking food from my and even my boyfriend's hands, eats and grooms himself a lot.

I just don't really understand whether something is wrong or he's now more comfortable to sleep outside his hidey... or he's just not liking his house anymore

Any advice/ideas?

Seed 🐹

IamKat · 05-16-2018, 11:39 AM

Hey! Congrats on welcoming Seed (cute name!) he is so adorable

I love his little face!

It sounds like you are making good progress with taming and being nice and patient which is perfect. It's still early days, and sometimes hamsters like to move their nest about until they find a 'forever' spot but sometimes they just do whatever they want haha. Just a thought, did you do a big cage clean or clean his bed or anything recently? This can massively influence things and I'd change my advice slightly if that's the case.

I also wouldn't worry about him deciding to be active in the day sometimes, hamsters are crepuscular so although it's a bit weird for them to be up and about in the middle of the day it's not a huge deal, unless they look to be unwell of course... it never hurts to monitor if he is eating, drinking and pooping as normal etc etc. Still being a little jumpy every now and then at this stage is also kinda normal and I wouldn't worry.

madkatherine · 05-16-2018, 12:00 PM

Thank you for your reply and nice words

I haven't made any big cleanups yet, just changing his toiler area every 2-3 days, so probably he's just experimenting haha

By the way, now he is back to his normal self, since it's evening I suppose. We even made a short taming session.
I think what made me worried was also what I now think was just his sleepiness. Before that, I always saw him wide awake, so today felt weird - he was a little grumpy furry ball.
I am trying not to overreact on such things, but sometimes becoming too anxious anyway.

Thank you!

IamKat · 05-16-2018, 03:20 PM

Great

Pleased to hear you managed to get him out and have a taming session! It sounds like you're doing all the right things. He is probably just still settling in and finding his feet.

But there is no harm in reaching out to the community if you ever feel worried. It's nice that you care so much about your little guy and I totally understand about the anxiety. I can't wait to hear more about how he is getting on and seeing some more pics at some point!

madkatherine · 05-17-2018, 02:22 AM

I am planning to build a new cage for him soon, so you'll definitely see more of our adventures

dreamtree1234 · 05-17-2018, 08:03 AM

Congrats on giving your beloved Seed his loving, forever home with you. He sounds absolutely marvelous and is as cute as can be. I totally love his coloring and his sweet face. He has a great name, too. He sounds like he is doing great and taming is going well, too. As IamKat mentioned, never hesitate to ask questions because we are all here to help one another out. I look forward to getting to know Seed better, see more of his precious pics, and see you around the forum. Good luck with your DIY cage plans; I'm sure it will make Seed extra, EXTRA happy to live in the palace you have planned for him.