Never awake?

[L1ttlePaws]

So I've been having some problems with my hamster, Buttercup. Everything was fine for the first few weeks. She was up and running on her wheel, and I saw her every day. Now, however, she never seems to be awake. The only way I know she's even alive is because the food in her dish always gets eaten. I know that hamsters are nocturnal and they typically only wake up at night, but I stay up till 3 in the morning and I haven't seen her for over a week. Its making the taming process incredibly difficult.. Obviously I don't want to wake her up or anything, but Im not so sure what else I can do...

[Ria P]

If you haven't seen her in a week i would definitely check on her to make sure that she is well.
Does she burrow or sleep in a house?

[L1ttlePaws]

She burrows in the far corner. doesn't seem to care for the hides for some reason

[Vierville]

Some of my hamsters like their burrows more than they like their houses. Sometimes they go through phases where they will sleep in a burrow for a period then go back to their house so maybe your hamster will do this too.

I would most definitely check if she is ok. In this case disturbing her would not be a bad thing. It is unusual to not see a hamster for an entire week. Even my most reclusive hamsters (Monty and Norman) come out a few times a day.

[Ria P]

Does she have a big, dark house to build a nest in? Not all hamsters sleep in a house though. I have three and only one sleeps in his house. The other two burrow down and sleep underground.

I'd rustle the substrate where she sleeps to see if she comes out and remove substrate if necessary to find her.
I know that its not a good idea to wake a hamster and wouldn't normally recommend it but a week is a long time and she may be ill or injured.

Let's hope that she's ok but i would check asap.

[L1ttlePaws]

Ok, I've checked up on her and she seems perfectly fine. Another concern I have is the fact that she doesn't seem to be running on her wheel. She's the kind of hamster that poops all over her wheel, but I've realized lately that its not soiled at all. Its an 11 inch wodent wheel and it runs smoothly. Nothing wrong with it. I'm kind of freaking out since this is my first time owning a hamster and I have no idea if this is something to be concerned about

[Ria P]

I'm glad that she's ok. Did you take her out and check her over? I take it she's a Syrian going by the size of her wheel. I rarely see my Syrian run in his wheel but he tends to wait till everybody has gone to bed and then comes out to do his hamster stuff. Put a bit of substrate on top of the wheel. If its gone in the morning she's been using it. Hamsters sometimes change their habits so not pooing in the wheel doesn't mean that she's not using it. Another thing you can do is to scatter feed some of her food to encourage her to come out more. Early morning can be a good time to see hamsters. Instead of staying up till 03.00 you could try an early night and get up at 05.00 to see if she's up and about. Some people install pet/baby night vision cameras and then watch them live on their phone from their beds or record them to watch next day.

[Vierville]

I wouldn't worry too much. Give her a check over to see that she appears ok and then monitor her. RiaP's advice to get up very early is good- they are generally quite active just before sunrise.

As RiaP said, they do change their habits and routines sometimes so she may just be doing that. Changes in weather and temperature play a big role in their behaviour too...when it is colder mine are extremely inactive.

Let us know how she is in the next few days.

[L1ttlePaws]

Thank you so much for all the advice!

[L1ttlePaws]

ok, so turns out you all were right and i was just being paranoid (like usual). She comes out every night again and she's using her wheel just fine. I've started scatter feeding and she LOVES it! Im so happy that she's fine and healthy. Once again, thank you for your help!!