Confident to Skittish?

[ToastieHammy]

Hello again!

So I've had my hamster Summer for a few weeks now and she was a pretty confident, cheeky hamster initially. Last week I had to do some emergency repairs on her cage which required moving her to a different cage (the savic plaza) for a few days. I did my best to make this as stress-free as possible, and it seemed she was enjoying the cage at first, but after a day she became very frightened. It wasn't any of my movements that spooked her, she would just suddenly run away in a panic from seemingly nothing (but obviously something to her!!). I moved her back to her original cage a couple of days ago as I thought the temporary cage might be an issue as it is all wire compared to her original cage which has solid walls and perspex at the front.
However, so far she has not been her normal self again. She gets very scared suddenly so I have to tiptoe around when she's awake as I don't like seeing her panic like that. She is coming out and wandering around, just runs and hides for an hour every so often. She has also stopped burrowing apart from in her nest area (which she loved to do before, and has loads of bedding to so) and is not using her sand bath anymore. I have replaced her sand bath with a differently shaped tray today so will see if that encourages her.
Anyway, I'm not sure what to do to make her settled again at this point. I'm continuing taming but have not got very far with it since the move, but she is accepting food just is much more timid of my hand than she was before.
Feel like an awful hamster owner at the moment as I'm worried I stressed her out beyond repair, and I'm not sure how to gain her trust again!
Just to clarify, she is eating, drinking, pooping and peeing as normal so hopefully not a veterinary issue.

Thanks

[Teddy001]

Originally Posted by ToastieHammy

Hello again!

So I've had my hamster Summer for a few weeks now and she was a pretty confident, cheeky hamster initially. Last week I had to do some emergency repairs on her cage which required moving her to a different cage (the savic plaza) for a few days. I did my best to make this as stress-free as possible, and it seemed she was enjoying the cage at first, but after a day she became very frightened. It wasn't any of my movements that spooked her, she would just suddenly run away in a panic from seemingly nothing (but obviously something to her!!). I moved her back to her original cage a couple of days ago as I thought the temporary cage might be an issue as it is all wire compared to her original cage which has solid walls and perspex at the front.
However, so far she has not been her normal self again. She gets very scared suddenly so I have to tiptoe around when she's awake as I don't like seeing her panic like that. She is coming out and wandering around, just runs and hides for an hour every so often. She has also stopped burrowing apart from in her nest area (which she loved to do before, and has loads of bedding to so) and is not using her sand bath anymore. I have replaced her sand bath with a differently shaped tray today so will see if that encourages her.
Anyway, I'm not sure what to do to make her settled again at this point. I'm continuing taming but have not got very far with it since the move, but she is accepting food just is much more timid of my hand than she was before.
Feel like an awful hamster owner at the moment as I'm worried I stressed her out beyond repair, and I'm not sure how to gain her trust again!
Just to clarify, she is eating, drinking, pooping and peeing as normal so hopefully not a veterinary issue.

Thanks

Hi Toastie,
I’m sorry your furbaby seems out of sorts. Changing cages, can be and typically is an stress factor, until hamster familiarize, settles in which can take up to a week or more. Being hamster was switched twice, back to back, it may take time for your hamster to settle back into her permanent cage. I’d suggest allowing her to get re-settled, and a accustomed to her cage, and she should resume to the way she was before. I’d also limit all stress factors, such as taming, until she adjusts to her cage.

[cypher]

It does sound as though the cage change & then back to her old cage has stressed her out, try not to worry too much, give her time to settle & don't do any cleaning other than spot cleaning pee for a few weeks so she keeps her scent on everything & doesn't get disturbed again for a while.
I would just go back to the beginning with taming for now, spend time just talking to her quietly even if she runs & hides & she should come round again soon.

[ToastieHammy]

Thanks for the advice guys, I will leave her to her own devices for a bit and hope she settles in again soon!