Appears confident rescue syrian - advice please

[Maker]

Hi, We took a rescue syrian female, we were told it was being harassed by the cat and had nipped their son.
We only got her last night, she is in a tiny cage (alaska, massive wheel etc all coming from zooplus following advice on here). Just to give her some enrichment i have put in some toilet roll, tubes, shredded toilet paper - thats about all that will fit and i don't want to overwhelm her.
Last night she was busy and we left her alone other than to put the bits mentioned in the cage. This evening I heard she was awake and went to her intending to just have a chat, she immediately came up to the bars searching climbing around the bars, in what appears interest. I opened the door (theres only one on the top) and popped in some food, half a walnut in shell and some more shredded tissue. This interaction didn't bother her and she was sniffing towards my hands, so i decided to try and hand feed her, she took her food from my fingers no issues. She also stuck her head out of the top door, probably with knowledge that its the way out of her tiny enclosure!

Question 1, should i go ahead with more interaction or just keep it like this, hand feeding and talking? she seems confident but i don't want to run before i can walk. That said if she is happy to come out and play it would give her more space outside of the cage (the previous owners used to use a exercise running ball which i won't use but i expect she is missing the exersize. her wheel is currently too small and she doesn't use it, waiting for all the new appropriate stuff.

Zooplus have emailed to say demand is high and they are taking longer than they would like to dispatch her new things, but I'm ready to go as soon as it arrives.

Question 2. i was thinking of putting her whole existing base inside the new Alaska and just seeing if she wants to venture out or not. Any other ideas for moving her into her new space without causing stress bearing in mind i will have to take the cage off the base to get it out again after she has settled.

As far as i know she is quite young, maybe 4 months old.

Thank you for reading my ramblings

[Ria P]

First of all, Congratulations to your new hamster. She will be so so happy to move into a new, big home and live a stress free and happy hamster life.

I don't use hamster balls either. Horrible things in my opinion. If you have or could create a safe play pen, your hamster may well enjoy some time out from her tiny cage. I made a temporary play pen once from large cardboard boxes which i connected with empty plastic water bottles. I put things like empty Pringle tubes in and scattered seeds around to sniff out.Things to climb over and sit under etc. A lot can be done by improvising until the proper stuff arrives.
You don't know yet how she responds to handling but you could transfer her in a jug.

My Syrian lives in the Alaska and loves it. Best take the white cat house out because a Syrian could get stuck in it. I took the shelf out too but it does the job if you want to keep it in. It's a fab cage and there's a lot you can do with it for enrichement.

I'd set it all up with plenty of substrate and a big house (my hamsters have the Ferplast guinea pig houses which are a good size) and wheel and plenty of hides then put some of the substrate from your hamster's current cage in plus whatever is useable that has her scent on it and then put her straight in her new cage. Any hamster moving to a forever home will move into a new habitat so its no different with your hamster. I'd leave her to settle for a few days once she's moved into the Alaska before interacting with her unless she asks for attention.
She'll be so happy with the space and a wheel she can run in.

In the meantime you could have a look at the Let's see your cages thread under Housing on the Forum to get ideas about set ups.

Zooplus is usually quick to deliver so it shouldn't take too long.

[Salem13]

I think this is a bit of an odd situation. I want to say that keeping interaction the way it is currently would be a good idea but if shes in a small cage and doesn't use her wheel she definitely needs to stretch her little legs.
You could perhaps do something similar to bathtub bonding? I don't know if sitting in there with her would be the best choice at this moment but maybe sitting beside it and keeping an eye on her? If it fits you could move the whole cage in as if it were a carrier.
As for moving her to her new cage I think you have a good plan. I'd also try mixing her current bedding with some of her new bedding.

[cypher]

Congrats on your new ham, good to hear she now has the forever home she deserves.
Some hams are interactive from the very start & being in a tiny cage she won't have had much opportunity to hide away so is probably quite used to people being around, if she wants to interact that's great just keep going with it.
I would gradually introduce her to some out of cage time in a play pen or other safe area for a short time to begin with, give her some things to explore while you interact with her than just keep going with whatever she seems comfortable with.
I wouldn't put the old in cage in the new one, some people will use a new cage as a play cage for a while to get there ham used to it, I generally just swap over in one go but keep all the substrate from the old cage & don't clean any toys or anything for a while before & after the move to keep the scent familiar.
If she's been used to a tiny space then you will probably need to make sure there isn't too much open space in the new cage as she may find that stressful, just use plenty of hides, tunnels, bendy bridges etc to give her plenty to explore & fill out the space.

[Maker]

Thank you everyone for your great encouragement and advice, the Alaska is having supply issues from zooplus so while we wait I have made up a tub with deep substrate (auboise) and some of her new things, when she wakes up this evening I’ll see if she fancies coming out and going in it, I’ll move some things across from her existing cage so her smells are in there and see how we get on. If she seems happy I can supervise her in there And put her back in her little cage for my bedtime, or sooner if she looks like she’s ready for hers. The difficulty comes with getting her back into her little cage, as it’s only got a top hole which is small I have to scoop her up with my hands and pop her in there, No amount of encouraging words will make her climb from sitting on the top into the cage! An advantage will be that when her new cage arrives I can move the substrate across from the tub and it will already smell of her
I will let you know how it goes

[Maker]

Ready for this evening
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She is too big for her house so has pushed the lid off, we put it back on last night but it’s like this again this morning and i guess she is happy nesting like this, she’s sound asleep.
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[Charlie Dunn]

Congratulations on rescuing your new ham and giving her a safe and loving home. I hope she enjoys her time in the tub you have made and that her new cage arrives soon. As others have said I would carry on interacting with her as you are. She sounds a very social ham. I also wouldn’t worry about her nest either. Our last ham never slept in his house. He made his nest under his wheel and was super happy there. Our current ham has three nests and he sleeps in different ones at different times. They all have their funny ways!! X

[Maker]

In the tub she seems a bit frantic, ears are up and she’s running around, a little digging, mostly trying to climb the sides to get out, she is happy for me to put my hand down and become a step so she can get out and is happy to run along my hands and arms trying to burrow into my jumper. Not sure how I should interpret this behaviour, any guidance. I’m sure she is desperate for a wheel and probably wants to leg it somewhere!
She is pouching any food treats and not taking time to wash or eat in the tub. I’ve put her back into her little cage and I feel that might be enough for tonight. She’s had 2 sessions, the first she seemed more relaxed exploring for 5 mins, the second for about 3 mins as she appeared to be getting more frantic to get out.
Just crept in to see what she was up to and she’s is just staring at the door, this is heart breaking, wish the Alaska was here and wish I knew how to make her feel more relaxed!
What do you think?
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[Ria P]

Could you put a big enough cardboard box in her little cage? Then tear a heap of plain white toilet paper into strips for her to make a nest inside a house. It may settle her and give her something to do.

[Pebbles82]

Hi. I wouldn’t wait for the Alaska. Amazon have a good choice and you can get next day delivery. It might cost a bit more. They have the maxi duna multy, hamster heaven, Savic sky.