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Old 03-06-2019, 01:34 PM   #1
Katecurlyfries
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 8
Default Ill, or just how they are?

We've had our long haired syrian Hamilton for about a month and a half and it's been about standard, until recently we've noticed he's been just lying in various spots of his cage for long amounts of time looking like he's napping. He has tons to do in his cage, but chooses to mostly use the wheel and his food bowl, and will run for hours straight and then lie down. Is he napping from the running, or comfortable in his new house enough to lie in the open, or is this something more concerning?
He's been obsessed with climbing his bars and had a few falls but has seemed ok after them, and I've since put shelves up around the bits he used to climb, so he hasn't been climbing so much. Could this behaviour be because of newness in his cage also? I'm so paranoid I'm not doing something right!
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Old 03-06-2019, 02:01 PM   #2
Pebbles82
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: Ill, or just how they are?

Hello. It sounds like he is enjoying his cage. Our first syrian used to run in his wheel and then flop in the substrate - it looked like he was basking. If you've had him a month and a half it's not like he's a baby who has just discovered the wheel so it's not as if he's overdoing it. He sounds like a reasonably happy hamster. Although the falls don't sound so good. Have you got a photo of his cage? Is it particularly tall? Tall cages need some careful setting up to avoid fall risks. They do better with more floor space and less height.

You mentioned the newness of his cage -has he just had a cage change? Running for hours on end does sound rather a lot.
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Old 03-07-2019, 12:50 AM   #3
Katecurlyfries
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Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 8
Default Re: Ill, or just how they are?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
Hello. It sounds like he is enjoying his cage. Our first syrian used to run in his wheel and then flop in the substrate - it looked like he was basking. If you've had him a month and a half it's not like he's a baby who has just discovered the wheel so it's not as if he's overdoing it. He sounds like a reasonably happy hamster. Although the falls don't sound so good. Have you got a photo of his cage? Is it particularly tall? Tall cages need some careful setting up to avoid fall risks. They do better with more floor space and less height.

You mentioned the newness of his cage -has he just had a cage change? Running for hours on end does sound rather a lot.
Hi, thank for the reply! The cage isn't particularly high, I'm also aware it's not as big as it could be (when we bought him, we bought one of those tiny pet shop cages that he outgrew within a week, so we bough a bigger one about a week and a half later and introduced him to it, so he's been in that cage over a month now). I've bought some shelves to put along it around the bits he climbs and that seems to have stopped him climbing, but once again not sure if he's not climbing bc he's got no interest to!
He used to run pretty constantly all night with breaks for food, but these last few days he'll run for half an hour or so, then flop down for a bit, then go eat some food, get a drink, then come back to his wheel. It just worries me because we keep him in the bedroom and when he's quiet it makes me panic as I'm so used to hearing him always on his wheel!
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Old 03-07-2019, 11:14 AM   #4
Pebbles82
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: Ill, or just how they are?

Ideally the cage should be about 80cm by 50cm (floorspace area) and no higher than 45 cm max . That allows for plenty of "enrichment" which is variety basically - lots of toys, tunnels and hidey places, different levels (one shelf is fine), and at least 3 to 4" of substrate so they can dig and bury things - 5 to 6" is better. Rat sized toys and tunnels work best for Syrians. The great thing about more substrate in a larger cage is you can just "spot clean" mostly and don't have to do substrate changes so often - which works out cheaper on substrate in the long run and less stress for the hamster. It isn't necessary to do full cage cleans - partial ones are better - eg substrate one week, wheel another and any toys another week again. You can go six weeks or more with spot cleaning if there's enough substrate, and even longer with a litter tray as well

It's particularly important that the cage is big enough - at night - because that is when they're at their most active. He may be running a bit excessively out of boredom or because there's nothing else to do.

Are you in the Uk? Zooplus sell the Alaska cage which is an ideal size and costs about £34. It has a nice big front door on it too so good for interacting with your hamster.
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Old 03-08-2019, 01:36 AM   #5
Katecurlyfries
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 8
Default Re: Ill, or just how they are?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
Ideally the cage should be about 80cm by 50cm (floorspace area) and no higher than 45 cm max . That allows for plenty of "enrichment" which is variety basically - lots of toys, tunnels and hidey places, different levels (one shelf is fine), and at least 3 to 4" of substrate so they can dig and bury things - 5 to 6" is better. Rat sized toys and tunnels work best for Syrians. The great thing about more substrate in a larger cage is you can just "spot clean" mostly and don't have to do substrate changes so often - which works out cheaper on substrate in the long run and less stress for the hamster. It isn't necessary to do full cage cleans - partial ones are better - eg substrate one week, wheel another and any toys another week again. You can go six weeks or more with spot cleaning if there's enough substrate, and even longer with a litter tray as well

It's particularly important that the cage is big enough - at night - because that is when they're at their most active. He may be running a bit excessively out of boredom or because there's nothing else to do.

Are you in the Uk? Zooplus sell the Alaska cage which is an ideal size and costs about £34. It has a nice big front door on it too so good for interacting with your hamster.
Yeah I'd say the cage is about that big, we're not in any position to change cages as we've already done it once since we got him and also we're not allowed pets so it has to be able to be hidden should the landlord come round! He has more than enough toys in there, just doesn't seem to notice they exist, though last night he did have a little nibble on his bridge so hopefully he'll be climbing it soon!
He also is absolutely petrified of coming out of the cage in any way shape or form, he's never liked his playpen or ball and can't be picked up and held yet! I feel bad him being in there all night but coming out stresses him more than anything else seems to!
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cage, climbing, napping, long, lie, open, bars, obsessed, falls, paranoid, behaviour, newness, climb, put, shelves, bits, house, recently, standard, noticed, lying, amounts, spots, half, haired

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