New Hamster Owner, Bored Syrian, No Sleep

[LindatheHammy]

Hello,

I recently got a new Syrian hamster. She’s adorable & has a lot of energy. She lives in a bin cage I made that’s about 650 sq inches. She has about 5 inches of bedding, her wheel is 12 inches, and I’ve provided her a few chews. She’s been showing signs of boredom, like climbing her strawberry hideout in the corner attempting to escape the bin cage. Her sleeping pattern is getting later & later. I usually stay up so that I can put her in the exercise ball when she’s up. But now it seems like it isn’t enough for her. I went and gotten her more wooden chews, willow sticks, and loofah chews, but she lost interest after a few minutes. I’m really stressed out because I feel like my hamster is never satisfied, and it makes me feel guilty. Even after ball time, I let her run through my hands, and then I put her back in she wants to come back out. She seems to be getting disinterested in her wheel as well. I need advise, I’m losing sleep.

[cypher]

Her cage is on the small side for a Syrian especially a female as they often need a lot of s pace, as a basic guide something around 100x50cm is a good size for most although some may want even more.
The wheel should be fine for her though, which wheel is it & does it always spin freely?
I would ditch the exercise ball, they are of no benefit to hamsters & can be stressful & even dangerous. If you can set up a playpen or section of an area of a room where you can keep her safe & give her lots of toys to explore & space to run around.
Have you tried whimzee dog chews? Most hams love them & they are much more likely to be of interest to her than most things sold as hamster chews.
In the cage if you don't already try scatter feeding so she has to forage for her food, you can also make little parcels out of folded cardboard or toilet roll tubes & hide food in those.
If you could post a photo of your set up for her that might help with other suggestions.

[polesofie]

Hey there! I know how you feel, syrians are a difficult species to keep constantly entertained.
I have found that mine likes to have certain items at different levels (such as a hide which hangs on the bars midway up), a variety of hides for different purposes; I have a DIY cardboard bridge hide with a tunnel on top, a mug, a small plastic hide and the hanging one which he goes in when scared. As well as this though, tubes and 'boredom breakers' are your best bet. I have 3 different large tubes - a cleaned out cardboard milk carton, a cleaned out pringles can and a long plastic tube that can connect over head. Toilet paper tubes won't offer them much enrichment in the playing and hiding department.

In terms of boredom breakers, I watched a fantastic video by Victoria Raechel, which explained how to keep your hamster busy! In this, she said how even in a Detolf, she sometimes struggles with bored syrians and one of the best ways to keep them quiet is treat toys.

I made my own:
Chopped a toilet roll tube into smaller circles, overlapped them into a ball and put a treat in the middle, meaning he has to break it apart to get to the food.
Hanging treat sticks - use kebab sticks (I use wooden ones with string to attach, she uses metal) then put their favourite snacks onto it so they struggle to get it off.
Treat covered chews. Combine 1 part water with 1 part plain flour, mix to make a non-lumpy paste. Take a wood chew or toilet roll tube and coat it in the paste (the more the stickier). Then, stick the seed mix to the part with the paste. Leave to dry! This will be more difficult for your hamster to take off so they will spend longer on it.
Finally, scatter feeding. Feeding bowls is too easy and doesn't stimulate the hamster or provide enrichment. Hope this helps!