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Old 06-05-2018, 06:34 AM   #1
quisp65
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Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: San Diego California
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Default Lots of burrowing space has made my hamster more skittish

I feel that as I made my winter white hamster's environment more like out in the wild that his behavior has become more like out in the wild and usually but not always he hides in the presence of any human activity.

I got 1,500 sq inch cage with about 8 inches of substrate and I've also helped create many deep hides and he also creates extras. I got more deep hide space than what most people do and this might have created an unusual circumstance.

I want to give my hamster the best environment I can provide but I've got to admit there is a bit of selfishness on my part and I want to occasionally see my hamster. My wife jokes that I have a pet cage. I'm fine with a bit of skittishness but it seems to be getting worse regardless if its day or night.

My hamster takes treats from my hand and I sometimes take it out of the cage and I don't detect he dislikes it but this activity is minimal more because handling isn't in my nature. I'm over 50 and not that older people don't like holding animals but we do tend to be more watchers than holders.

I thought about decreasing the substrate level, or decreasing hides, or handling him more, but messing up his environment seems mean and a step back and I'm thinking handling more isn't really going to help. As of now I would have to go digging in his burrows to even get him.

Not sure there is really a solution other than screw up his environment and I'm not really expecting any solutions from this forum but sometimes me writing about a problem gets me to a resolution faster.

Also I'm writing to talk about something seldom ever mentioned that deep substrate and lots of hides might work against the hamster owner. Not that I want others to not seek at creating the best environment for their hamster but that it might become an issue.

Last edited by quisp65; 06-05-2018 at 06:51 AM.
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Old 06-05-2018, 08:38 AM   #2
cypher
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Join Date: May 2014
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Default Re: Lots of burrowing space has made my hamster more skittish

I understand your problem & I tend to agree that there aren't always easy solutions, although to some extent how this works will depend on the individual hamster as some are more interactive by nature than others.
Hamsters are easier to tame I think with a less natural environment & it's a bit of an individual thing, some favour less substrate & places to hide so they can have a more interactive experience with their hams while others favour more substrate & the chance you may not have as much interaction with your hamster as you might like.
I think you can find a middle ground but ideally you want to decide on this before you set everything up & let your ham settle in as changing the set up by removing a lot of substrate would be quite stressful for any hamster.
Things like scatter feeding & hiding food & treats in ways that your hamster has to work for them can help a lot with seeing more of them as well as providing enrichment for your ham.
If your ham seems happy out of the cage then you could make more of those times & creating a play area where you can interact with & enjoy watching your ham even if handling isn't your thing although I would recommend handling regularly even if just for short periods so you can do health checks & if your ham did ever need to see a vet it's far less stressful for a ham that has been used to being handled than one that isn't.
If you do want to go ahead & make changes to either the environment or the way you spend time with your ham I would do it gradually until you find what works best for both of you.
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