need help with my new hamster!!

[paynee]

Hi everyone,

I recently got a new syrian hamster, indie, i've never owned a syrian before and i need some advice!

Her cage is a 300L tank (120cm L, 50cm W, 50cm D) and i did have some taller platforms in there but had to take them out because she keeps climbing up and hanging from the mesh lid i made and then falling down onto either soft bedding or a hard wooden house, and i'm worried she will hurt herself. She climbs on top of everything, even her water bottle, then she falls as always. She also burrows to the bottom corners of the tank and bites them. Is this a sign that her cage is too small? because i thought i had a fairly good size, i could be wrong i'm not sure. She always jumps at the sides of the glass as if she's trying to get out too. She's young (she was born approx march 5th and as i'm writing this it's may 28th) and very active, but she seems to spend most of her time looking for an escape route rather than running in her wheel, or chewing her wood toys etc.

Shes eating and drinking well, and she seems very friendly (she will take food out my hand, let me stroke her back and allow me to put my hands in the cage) but i'm not sure why she constantly seems like she's trying to escape or why she keeps climbing onto everything and falling. I'll try insert a photo of her cage as it is now (i'm new to the forum so it might not work lol). Here's a link to a update video i made for the people we got her from, you can see her and the tank in the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_-D...ature=youtu.be

[Popcornhamham]

Hey, I watched your video and can I Just say it’s the most wholesome thing I’ve watched made me smile haha but anywho your little indie sounds just like my hamster. The ways she’s behaving may be a sign she needs a bigger cage but your cage looked okay for her, I found a bigger cage didn’t help mine as she’s in a five foot long tank but still is climbing and stratching, do you let her have outside play time? Because she might be be like I wanna come out and explore pleaseee hahah I think female hamster are just a lot more active and need a lot of stimulation more than males but I’m not too sure about that. If you can add some hanging toys like chews that might help if that’s possible. With the wheel she might run more on it if it’s a bigger size maybe I don’t know what size you have but I found that mine use the wheel more once I changed it to a 11inch wheel. I hope this helps in anyway I’m fairly new to the hamster community so I’m JuSt going off my own experiences with a very active hamster hahah

[Maggiehammy]

I found it my female Syrian very similar. After owning male Syrians and male and female dwarfs before I had never experienced a hamster with so much energy! She may be trying to get your attention to come out of her cage for handling. I found turning the bath into a play pen was ideal for a very energetic hamster as you can give them plenty of room to get out some of that energy.
Also as for climbing and falling down, have you tried hammocks? You can buy fabric ones or ones made from seagrass (only a few pounds from Zooplus). These could work as a safety net for your hamster and give her something new to focus on and explore.

[paynee]

Originally Posted by Popcornhamham

Hey, I watched your video and can I Just say it’s the most wholesome thing I’ve watched made me smile haha but anywho your little indie sounds just like my hamster. The ways she’s behaving may be a sign she needs a bigger cage but your cage looked okay for her, I found a bigger cage didn’t help mine as she’s in a five foot long tank but still is climbing and stratching, do you let her have outside play time? Because she might be be like I wanna come out and explore pleaseee hahah I think female hamster are just a lot more active and need a lot of stimulation more than males but I’m not too sure about that. If you can add some hanging toys like chews that might help if that’s possible. With the wheel she might run more on it if it’s a bigger size maybe I don’t know what size you have but I found that mine use the wheel more once I changed it to a 11inch wheel. I hope this helps in anyway I’m fairly new to the hamster community so I’m JuSt going off my own experiences with a very active hamster hahah

thank you for your reply! I'm pretty certain her wheel is 11 inches so i think that should be fine. I have only had her for just under a week and i'm still working on taming her so i havent been able to handle her yet, although i'm going to try get her into a large hamster ball and let her explore my room as i have a fair amount of floor space for her to run around! I will definitely look into getting more hanging toys, thank you!

Originally Posted by Maggiehammy

I found it my female Syrian very similar. After owning male Syrians and male and female dwarfs before I had never experienced a hamster with so much energy! She may be trying to get your attention to come out of her cage for handling. I found turning the bath into a play pen was ideal for a very energetic hamster as you can give them plenty of room to get out some of that energy.
Also as for climbing and falling down, have you tried hammocks? You can buy fabric ones or ones made from seagrass (only a few pounds from Zooplus). These could work as a safety net for your hamster and give her something new to focus on and explore.

Thank you for the reply! I'm still working on taming her as i havent had her long so i can't really handle her yet, however i like the idea of setting up a play pen for her to explore so thank you!