New hamster need advice please

[Kaikorcha3]

Hi all . I'm new to the forum but not to hamsters we have had two Syrians a few years ago now .

My 11 year old wanted a pet and we thought a hamster would be a good first pet so we purchased another Syrian male . Aged 6-8 weeks we are told .

At first he was ok ish had a nosey around his cage etc pouched his bedding and food as they do . However he won't come out of his tube . I know tubes are a bad idea but I kinda forgot the trouble I'd had with them before and we are where we are .

This hamster has not left his tube well apart from to grab some food at all for three days solid . He doesn't come out at night because I've watched him from a distance u til 5 am . And he still stayed there .

So I am now going to remove the tube he's quite nervous of us yet but we are getting nowhere taming him if he doesn't come out .

So my question is ...

Do I remove the tubes and clean out the one piece he sleeps in , keep the bedding he has in there so he still has his smell and put that small piece of tube with his old bedding in it on the floor of cage so he has a smaller piece of tube and hopefully this will discourage him from using it but not too much of a change to stress him further and hopefully easier to entice him out

Or

Remove the tubes completely without giving him any tube at all and hope he finds a new place to sleep . He has a wooden house but usually just steals he bedding from it to put in the tube Or block up the ends of the tube so no one. Can get in. Lol

Thanks in advance



I need to do something soon I'm worried he's going to get sick in the tube from Wee etc and my daughter is losing heart because she hasn't seen him in the five days we've had him

[CMB]

Removing the tube(s) completely would be best. Put the nesting/bedding material that was in the tube in the hide/house. If it has been peed on. It would be better to throw it away and give new.

Syrians often use one corner of the cage to pee, so you can put a small animal litter tray in the chosen corner. It makes cleaning easier.

[cypher]

I agree it's best to remove the tube completely & put the bedding/nest into the house, if it's been peed on then I would still keep a little of that just so he has his familiar smell on it, hopefully it won't all be wet!
Putting a bendy bridge over the door of the house can often help to make them feel more secure in there.
He will be a bit upset but they do usually adjust fairly quickly when tubes are removed.

[Kaikorcha3]

Thanks for your replies . It actually took a while for my post to be allowed on and in the meantime I made the decision to just remove it all at once and seriously it's like we have a new hamster . He isn't bothered in the slightest he's been out and about taking food through the bars . Had a run in his little ball for a few minutes out of the cage and we've had him in the bath for an explore round there with some toys on a towel . He didn't want to go back to his cage after he had taster freedom he sat at the door waiting to be let out again but think he'd had enough excitement for his first time ��

We havent tried taming him to hands yet as he does nip if you get too close by accident but it's fab seeing him doing normal hamster things instead of just lying in his tubes.

Thanks

[Pebbles82]

Excellent news They have a tendency to block any entrance to their house so if the nest in a tube they block it up. Some hamsters can get stuck in tubes as well - so it's best they've been removed. Our last Syrian grew huge and got stuck in tubes. With full pouches they can be 7cm wide! And hamster tubes tend to be 6cm diameter. For floor toys or cage attachments they tend to do better with rat sized tunnels and a single length. It's time and patience with the taming - they all vary. Bathtub taming often helps (dry bathtub with the plug in and a couple of toys or hidey places. He may only nip if he thinks your hand is invading his cage - out of the cage they can be much better. I used to let ours hop into his hamster ball and then pop the lid on and carefully carry the ball to the bathroom and let him out in the bath. Then you can occasionally and gradually stroke him on the back with one finger. If he jerks around as if to nip or does nip then wait a bit longer and try again. It can take a few sessions of bathtub taming but once they accept being stroked on the back you can then move onto cupping a hand under the hamster, lifting about 1cm or so but not holding them and just let him walk off your hand. After that you should be able to pick him up and hold him but only for a short time at first until he's used to it and learns to trust you.

[Kaikorcha3]

Yes we will be trying over the next few days . Daughter is a little nervous of him which probably doesn't help when attempting to stroke him . We do transfer him in the ball to the bath and he's ok just still a little bit jumpy at the moment but with time I think he will be fine he seems quite placid.
He's been overly spoilt this week though trying to entice from the tubes etc he's now stopped eating his food and just wait is in the hope we will give him some veg so we are going to have to see how he goes with that but other than hat his behaviours good he's now up all night roaming his cage and playing on his wheel which he never did when he had the tube . I'm looking to upgrade his cage as well in the next few weeks he's in quite. A small one at moment while we tame him and although He's only a baby he's quite a big hamster already compared to the other two we had .

[Kaikorcha3]

Originally Posted by mehrfarbig

I personally don't recommend using a small cage for taming purposes as you're taming a miserable hamster. He need a cage of at least 50x80cm.

His cage meets the requirements it's just that we would like him to have a much bigger space in the future .

Hammy is doing fine to let everyone know he doesn't like having any cage cleaning done though 😂 He gets a tad upset and spends ages on his wheel running hoping that when it stops and he sniffs his cage will be dirty again if not he runs again . I wouldn't mind we left most of his bedding . All his stash of food apart from the poo mixed with it and even the substrate was only partially changed . I'm sure he will get used to it . He's friends again now though I bribed him with some cauliflower 😜