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Old 11-18-2018, 07:44 AM   #1
Rokulydian
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Post New Hamster - Various Behaviour Questions

Hi all,

I'm a first time hamster owner so I'm not sure how to understand my new hamster's various behaviours. She is a 6 month old female Syrian and I got her two days ago. She seems friendly, hasn't tried to bite or run away from me if I'm cleaning her wheel or fluffing her bedding etc. she'll even take treats from my hand already, however, she does always seem to be trying to get out of her terrarium (with mesh lid for ventilation) and it's 18"x18"x12". She's quite small now so when she gets a little bigger I'll upgrade her cage size. I'm going to ask my brother to make her a big playpen or bigger cage in the next month or so.

She'll run on her wheel (8" comfort wheel) for hours on end in the evening (like 5pm-3am) and early morning (6 or 7am-10am) only stopping once in a while to run around her cage seeming to sniff or look about then she goes back to her wheel. Is it possible for her to run too much on her wheel? I'm worried she'll run herself to death or something - but the comfort wheel is loud too so I feel like probably sounds more uncomfortable than it actually is to her.

She's got a whimzee chew that she's eaten a lot of over the past two days, she's got a big chewable hut, an alfalfa tunnel, a wooden bridge and a couple wooden chews (one is a kiwi wood stick which she hasn't touched).

She is new so I don't think she's ready to come out into a play pen yet because I think she'll just spend her time trying to get out and I don't want to have to pick her up if she's not getting on my hand voluntarily yet. She'll sniff my hand but then walk away.

I just wanted to check with some experienced hamster owners on whether or not her behaviour is normal. I've spent a lot of time watching YouTubers like Victoria Rachael or ErinsAnimals talk about hamster care and I just want to make sure my new baby is happy!

Last thing - I'm using clean and cozy natural bedding (it's a cardboard colour) but I honestly can't tell where she'd peed because the bedding is a darker colour... if you use this bedding how do you tell which bedding is soiled??
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Old 11-18-2018, 05:09 PM   #2
mangoandmimi
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Default Re: New Hamster - Various Behaviour Questions

Hello welcome.
Your hamster won't get bigger at 6 months old really (unless you mean 6 weeks). She's likely stressed and still settling in, but the terrarium is very small so I'd upgrade her as soon as you can to be honest. That'll likely be the reason why she's always trying to get out of it and is acting stressed. Lots of female syrians are like this, very restless and want lots of space. If you tell us what country you're in we can help more with caging ideas. Anyway I'd get her in a new one as soon as you can but it does depend on how small the cage she was in before was, to some degree.

Since you won't have fit many items in that tank I suspect that's also part of the reason she spends so much time on the wheel. Did she have a wheel before you got her? They can get rather obsessed with it if it's new to them. As long as she's not exhausting herself by the end of her run I wouldn't worry too much.

She might well spend the majority of the time in a play pen attempting to get out, it's not uncommon but that's just something you'll have to find out when you do get her out. Probably leave her to settle for now, just add as much bedding as you can to try and provide a bit more enrichment while you get a new cage sorted. Although it also depends how she is with you - if she's not afraid of you and is more outgoing I don't see a reason not to introduce her to a playpen slightly earlier. They really can get very bored in smaller cages otherwise and it could just stress her out further.

As for telling which bedding is soiled - you'll start to smell it soon enough! I wouldn't clean anything just yet, not for at least a week.
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Old 11-18-2018, 09:14 PM   #3
Rokulydian
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Default Re: New Hamster - Various Behaviour Questions

Quote:
Originally Posted by mangoandmimi View Post
Hello welcome.
Your hamster won't get bigger at 6 months old really (unless you mean 6 weeks). She's likely stressed and still settling in, but the terrarium is very small so I'd upgrade her as soon as you can to be honest. That'll likely be the reason why she's always trying to get out of it and is acting stressed. Lots of female syrians are like this, very restless and want lots of space. If you tell us what country you're in we can help more with caging ideas. Anyway I'd get her in a new one as soon as you can but it does depend on how small the cage she was in before was, to some degree.

Since you won't have fit many items in that tank I suspect that's also part of the reason she spends so much time on the wheel. Did she have a wheel before you got her? They can get rather obsessed with it if it's new to them. As long as she's not exhausting herself by the end of her run I wouldn't worry too much.

She might well spend the majority of the time in a play pen attempting to get out, it's not uncommon but that's just something you'll have to find out when you do get her out. Probably leave her to settle for now, just add as much bedding as you can to try and provide a bit more enrichment while you get a new cage sorted. Although it also depends how she is with you - if she's not afraid of you and is more outgoing I don't see a reason not to introduce her to a playpen slightly earlier. They really can get very bored in smaller cages otherwise and it could just stress her out further.

As for telling which bedding is soiled - you'll start to smell it soon enough! I wouldn't clean anything just yet, not for at least a week.
Thanks for replying. I'm going out tomorrow to get her a bigger terrarium, most likely a 36"x18"x12" so hopefully that helps.

She is a petstore hamster so her previous cage was very small, I wanted to adopt one but I live in a small town and there were none available sadly.

I tried the playpen today for a few minutes, but she seemed uninterested in the toys and just wandered around the area and tried to climb the walls haha.

She is pretty good with me (and my husband) she hasn't bitten either of us and will take treats from us/put her paw on my finger to grab a treat. I love her and hope the new cage will help. I plan to put her in it with all her current toys and some bedding then will let her settle for a bit.
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Old 11-19-2018, 06:14 AM   #4
mangoandmimi
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Default Re: New Hamster - Various Behaviour Questions

Do you mean 12” deep or high? Either way it wouldn’t be brilliant, 12” deep is quite narrow and wouldn’t provide a lot of floor space whereas 12” high isn’t tall enough. You may need to upgrade your Syrians wheel to a 11-12” diameter one if she gets too big for the current one, in which case it wouldn’t fit. Also you’ll be wanting a good 6-12” of bedding in there for burrowing in, try to get as much in as you can.

Ah don’t worry too much about the playpen, you can still continue to get her out just maybe try different things. She sounds lovely, so sweet that she’ll take treats from you already. But yes once in the new cage do let her get used to her surroundings.
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Old 11-19-2018, 09:35 AM   #5
Rokulydian
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Default Re: New Hamster - Various Behaviour Questions

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Originally Posted by mangoandmimi View Post
Do you mean 12” deep or high? Either way it wouldn’t be brilliant, 12” deep is quite narrow and wouldn’t provide a lot of floor space whereas 12” high isn’t tall enough. You may need to upgrade your Syrians wheel to a 11-12” diameter one if she gets too big for the current one, in which case it wouldn’t fit. Also you’ll be wanting a good 6-12” of bedding in there for burrowing in, try to get as much in as you can.

Ah don’t worry too much about the playpen, you can still continue to get her out just maybe try different things. She sounds lovely, so sweet that she’ll take treats from you already. But yes once in the new cage do let her get used to her surroundings.
I will look for something higher than 12” for sure then. I’m going to get her the 12” silent spinner and order a wodent wheel (because I’ve heard the silent spinners don’t always work well). Thanks again for helping! I appreciate it
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Old 11-19-2018, 04:48 PM   #6
Rokulydian
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Default Re: New Hamster - Various Behaviour Questions

Just thought I’d post an update! I got her a terrarium that is 36”x18”x18”(about 648 sq in) and it’s a lot bigger than what I had so I think she’ll be happy in it.

I got the 12” silent spinner and it fits well and I put more depth of substrate for her to dig in as well as another little hide hut and some more chews.
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Old 11-19-2018, 04:54 PM   #7
mangoandmimi
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Default Re: New Hamster - Various Behaviour Questions

Excellent - I'm sure your hamster will be thrilled with the upgrade and new wheel
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Old 11-21-2018, 10:59 AM   #8
Rokulydian
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Default Re: New Hamster - Various Behaviour Questions

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Excellent - I'm sure your hamster will be thrilled with the upgrade and new wheel
I think she likes it, she wasn’t using her new wheel at first so I put her old one in and she goes back and forth haha. She’s using the new hut as a nest right now but I’ve notice that she doesn’t really like to chew her toys or anything and I’m worried about her teeth growing.

I’ve tried peanut butter but she showed no interest in that. I got her a walnut to chew on and she sometimes does but only for a few seconds. I’ve also tried whimper dog chews, the first one she chewed a lot but the second one she hasn’t touched. She just likes to run on her wheel, dig at the corners of her aquarium and try to escape and eat her food.

She also shows no interest in advancing the taming process. She isn’t interested in getting into my hand (with or without a treat). She doesn’t bite but she just ignores me lmao. I’m sad about it - she’s very hyper and not ready to have free roam time because she is fast and wants to escape still.
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Old 11-21-2018, 12:05 PM   #9
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Default Re: New Hamster - Various Behaviour Questions

What are you feeding her? You don't need to worry much about teeth if you're feeding a good quality seed mix, a lot of hamsters don't chew much so it's quite normal. I don't know what dog treats those are, have you tried whimzees? The toothbrushes and alligator tend to get them chewing. Maybe try different nuts in shells too, hazelnuts and monkey nuts, although walnuts do seem to be a favourite.

If you're worried about her trying to escape still you can always post a photo of the setup and we can try and help with making it as enriching as possible.
Don't worry about the taming, it can take weeks and often months for them to get comfortable with people. Lots won't show much interest in taming sessions and it's understandable really. Lots of more interesting things to explore! Just keep at it, a bit every day and she should improve.
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Old 11-26-2018, 06:15 AM   #10
Rokulydian
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Default Re: New Hamster - Various Behaviour Questions

Hey just posting an update. She seems to like the new cage, more space and everything. I have noticed that she doesn’t use her new wheel as much as she did her old one though. I’ve ordered the silent runner wheel to try that one and am going to try and return the one she has now (12” silent spinner) because she’s just not really usining it.

She is still constantly trying to escape but at this point I think it’s just her personality.

Taming wise she will step onto my hand for a second, and if I gently scratch or massage her back she will lay still for me and seems relaxed - normal ear orientation and no shaking so I don’t think she’s afraid or anything.
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