Enrichment ideas for a very inquisitive Syrian

[Rebeccaroisin]

Does anyone have any good enrichment ideas for a very adventurous Syrian?

We've had Cacao for about 2 months now and her main cage is the Hamster Heaven.

She's incredibly brave and inquisitive. She had started bar-biting a lot when she was in her cage. We've mostly managed to stop her doing that now We covered the areas where she was biting with cardboard and hanging pumice blocks and we've given her loads of out-of-cage enrichment.

She really likes burrowing, so she has a big plastic bin filled with soil and toys, which she can access whenever her cage is open. It's about half the size of her main cage. We also give her loads of free roaming time in our living room. In total, she is spending about 3 hours / day (8pm - 11pm) mostly out of her cage: either in the soil box, exploring our living room or being handled by us. She's very comfortable being handled and walking/climbing on us, but she's not very affectionate/cuddly in personality.

When she is free roaming, she likes to climb up to the windowsill and explore our houseplants, to climb up onto the sofa, and to run back and forth between different areas of the room. She also likes the dark spaces behind our bookshelves.

However, she also knows where the doors to other rooms are; and will spend ages biting at the floor and the door to try to get access to the rest of the apartment. Even when we completely block the gap under the door, she will try to destroy whatever we have blocked it off with (coasters, books, wooden batons), as well as digging at (and unravelling! ) the carpet to try and get underneath the door. She also tries extremely hard to get into the inside of our sofa -- she'll chew the boards that block her from going underneath and will try to squeeze in behind it.

It's not really feasible to give her access to the rest of the rooms because there are places that aren't safe or easy to hamster-proof (eg bathroom, behind wardrobes, kitchen). So what can we do to discourage her from damaging the doors / floor / sofa and to make her space more enriching?

Things we're currently doing:
- I've ordered a puzzle-feeder that I hope she can use on the floor
- We tried a play-pen and running in the bath, but she knows that these are just tiny enclosures and spends her whole time trying to escape. She chewed through the playpen wall in about 5 minutes.
- Her bar-biting decreased a lot when we gave her more out-of-cage time, so it is helping. She also uses her wheel more now that she has access to other things
- I've done a couple of sessions of clicker training (no exciting tricks yet, just getting used to the clicker), which I'm hoping will be something fun for her to do
- She did have a big sand bath to use outside the cage, which she loved. It's currently out-of-action because she accidentally tipped the sand into the soil container. I've ordered some new sand to replace it

What else can I do to keep her entertained? Are there some good toys she might like to use outside the cage? How can I keep her more engaged in just one room, rather than obsessed with trying to get to other places?

Any advice gratefully received! I've attached some pictures so you can see how her cage + extension connect, and how she explores and destroys our room ...

[LunaTheHamster1]

The little tinker, she is so cute. Just 1 idea that I have used is, I fold my fleece blankets up in front of the doors and my hamsters get distracted by burrowing/tunneling through them instead of the door. Just got to make sure they aren't chewing the fleeces to get to the gaps under the doors.

[Maker]

This is Polo, she does exactly the same, we stuff an old throw tightly under the door to protect the carpet and she just seems to love digging into it. You can watch her here. I’m certain she’s not distressed just absorbed in it, she closes her eyes and really gets stuck in, you could do anything to her while she’s digging, she completely ignore you!
https://youtu.be/s_vwmQ11f0I

Ps. Ignore the damaged wall, it was like that when we moved in and is a way down the ‘to do’ list.

[Rebeccaroisin]

Wow, Polo is adorable! Yes, this is very like Cacao -- totally absorbed in digging at the edge.

Fleece throws to cover the edges seems like a good idea -- we've got several that would be suitable. I'll give it a try and report back!

[AmityvilleHams]

I would ditch the soil - it isn't safe actually and can present a wide variety of very serious safety risks, even if organic. Coconut husk/coir, however, can be a great alternative and is extremely safe if just 100% coconut fiber/husk/coir(no salt, dyes, etc - basically what you should find from garden supply stores, home improvement stores, pet stores in the reptile section, etc). Gardening supply stores of various kinds would probably have organic versions and much larger bulk sizes if you need a significant amount though!

Placing something over carpet would be a great idea especially something that can't be chewed. Fleece isn't perfect in that area but it might work with very close supervision as it isn't safe for chewing(just as dangerous as any other plastic if ingested since it can cause intestinal blockages). I know harder heavier objects can sometimes damage carpet, but the main priority here is making sure your hamster cannot escape or accidentally ingest carpet.

For her safety I would keep her away from all house plants in the future. The soil isn't safe as mentioned, and anything ingested could potentially be quite harmful. I would also keep her away from even safe plants too, mostly due to the soil. It really isn't worth the risk even if it seems that she hasn't bothered eating anything yet.

Hamsters don't tend to enjoy completely open spaces, and even those with lots of experience can end up failing to provide enough overhead cover. Sometimes that lack of cover and essentially hiding spaces can make it seem like a hamster just doesn't like a playpen, play bin, bathtub, or similar setup. These are prey animals with natural instincts to hide and avoid getting caught, so when we don't provide for those instincts including in playpens and such we end up with stressed and relatively unhappy hamsters. Any hiding place needs an entrance no smaller than 3 inches to allow for full pouches to go through safely.

I can't say this is definitely true in your case, but I know others have had the same issue of not enough overhead cover/hiding spots inside the cage too. While it is more common to see more obvious nervousness in dwarf hamsters, it is just as possible for Syrians to become nervous in a setup that isn't fully appropriate to their needs.

[Ria P]

One of my hamsters likes jumping into my plant pots but i moved the plants out of his reach because some house plants are harmful to hamsters and they do nibble them. I let him roam amongst safe plants now and again like basil and parsley.

I have looked everywhere for compost without any additives but couldn't find any so got some eco earth from the reptile section which is meant to be damp for reptiles so dried it which then ended up very dry and my hamster didn't like it but will look for the coconut husk myself.

You could replace the soil with sand or use other things like hemp for variety. Rodipet does different types of sand and ground cover enrichments but it can work out quite pricy.

The same hamster loves stripping the wallpaper when freeroaming and can get a bit obsessed with it so i wedged a large cardboard backed brown envelope in the corner, he shreds that now instead. Maybe cardboard or paper to shred would work with your hamster if pushed under the door and folded up, possibly.

Cocao is a lovely looking hamster.

[Rebeccaroisin]

Thank you everyone for all your ideas!

The soil has become moot -- Cacao got bored of it after a couple of days. I'm using it for re-potting houseplants and I'll look into getting some coconut coir or similar if we ever get out of lockdown ...

To tackle the carpet shredding, I tried putting a blanket under the door as Maker suggested. It worked for a bit as she pulled and dug at the blanket instead of the carpet. But she quickly worked out how to pull the blanket out through the door, bite holes in it or push it to one side to get at the carpet underneath. I think she's not chewing/digging for entertainment but because she really wants to get through to the rooms on the other side.

For now, we've conceded on the door to the hallway. We've blocked access to the kitchen with a wooden board that is too high for her to jump/climb and can close the door to the bathroom. She seems to like having access to the hall and the shoe rack!

For the other doorway, for now we're going to keep blocking it with a blanket underneath and some hardback books blocking the gap. We'll get another wooden board (MDF) to use in place of the books ASAP - it works better because it's one big block that is too heavy for her to lift, so she quickly loses interest.

To answer some of AmityvilleHams's concerns:
- she definitely has a lot of over-head cover when she is free-roaming. There's lots of things that she hides behind/inside/under and she shows lots of relaxed, naturalistic behaviours outside the cage. She sniffs/snuffles at things to explore them, she eats food that we leave for her, she grooms herself, she stands up on her back legs to look around and she scent-marks familiar things like the chair/table legs. She also runs around the room comfortably and confidently - sometimes following the cover of the room edges/furniture and sometimes striking out across the open carpet. She's not scared - she just needs to have lots of space to explore.
- We're getting rid of the soil. She lost interest in it after a couple of days. I'll try again after the lockdown with some coconut coir / reptile bedding.

[Pebbles82]

Ha ha -that is what hamsters do - they always want to go where they shouldn't and if there is a door they will try to get through it! Our last syrian used to sneak round the side of the door if you looked away for a second. It's a sliding door so I had to block the gap at the side with a cushion and at the bottom with a fleece blanket. He had great fun trying to get round these. I once found his head sticking under the door on the other side! He had got under the fleece blanket and tried to squeeze under the door - not quite stuck but there was some interesting eye contact as he got caught in the act!

Anyway - yes it all sounds normal for free roaming - and she sounds very active and fun. I second keeping her away from window ledge - even if supervised - they can fall from a height and get injured.

My suggestion would be a bigger cage. A good option would be the Savic Plaza which still has a big front opening door like the hamster heaven. Trouble is it doesn't come with much and really needs a different shelf. The big plastic one takes up too much of the cage. There is a lot of scope for enrichment. But for some hamsters no cage is big enough! If you have the space there is also the detolf option (ikea glass cabinet tipped on its side). But personally I think a well set up Hamster Plaza would give her a lot of scope.

It can get expensive buying extras though - mine has a large labyrinth house in which doubles up as a platform,plus an additional shelf - that added to the cost of the cage quite a bit. They do like large labyrinth houses though.

If you post a picture of her currently set up we could maybe suggest some tweaks that make it better for her - but I think with her being so active she maybe needs more space/enrichment. 100cm cage is a sort of sweet spot for an active hamster. With the hamster heaven, the wheel takes up a lot of it and you're limited on fitting larger items in it.

This is how I have it set up for one of our Syrians. He has a large labyrinth house on the right which has a big nesting compartment and a corner toilet inside and two entrances. It's also nice and dark inside with rooms. On the left is a pine shelf I got from ranchhouse cages on ebay - didn't cost too much but it all adds up. Can't remember where I got the ladder from but stuck bits of hemp mat to it in case he fell on it from a height.He has two rat sputniks - one next to the shelf - one over the house at the back -with a large rat tunnel leading between them - tied to the roof with sisal string. A couple of other hidey places at floor level - a coconut hut and another house, plus a little hay covered hide as a step up to his house roof. And still plenty of floor space. They really love a shelf to walk around on and sit under and a big house that's dark inside. He also has a 12" silent runner wheel fixed to the back of the cage bars - but your current wheel is fine as well -I attached one of those upside down in a taller cage to make more floor space under it - you screw the base to the top bars with a couple of large flat washers.

Just a suggestion of what you can do with a bigger cage. The big front door is good and will be familiar to her. Active females often like a lot of things to rip up as well - cardboard toilet roll inners or egg boxes and lots of paper nesting material.

Basically more space for enrichment - places to go and things to do. You can also make a deeper digging area. The labyrinth house is good as it can be put on legs so they can dig underneath it and it supports it. The house isn't cheap though and again adds to the cost of the cage, but you can make a shoebox house instead which makes a good large house with a lift off roof as well. Cut the base out of a shoebox and stand it on the substrate soit's open underneath. The lid makes a lift off roof and you cut a door in one of the long sides near one end (makes the other end darker)- putting a bendy bridge tunnel over the door gives them a nice tunnel entrance and a ramp up onto the roof.

If you did go the bigger cage route you could probably get a good price second hand for the Hamster Heaven - they sell well second hand.

Also attached some detolf set ups if you're interested in that option, They have a lot of scope for enrichment and digging but it does involve a bit of diy in making two lids out of wood and mesh. The detolf itself is cheaper than the Savic Plaza cage - although maybe not by the time you've made the lids. It also needs something to stand on - kallax units are good as they provide storage under it.

Savic plaza cage

https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/p...r-and-rat-cage

Detold

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ha...h=548&biw=1252



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[Rebeccaroisin]

This is Cacao's current cage.

She has a shoebox house with a cardboard divider inside. We've cut out the bottom so that she can really nestle into the substrate inside. She's also chewed some of the bottom corners and the divider to shape it how she wants. There's a rush mat over the top of the house so that she has covered access from the rear of the cage.

The big wheel does take a lot of space! It basically fixes how the rest of the cage has to be arranged to make it fit. As well as the house and the wheel, she has the sandbath from the Heaven which she loves, a rush hideyhole which she likes, a sputnik which she climbs on sometimes, a hanging cardboard tunnel which she likes and will sit in to eat, a hanging puzzle feeder which she will retrieve food from, and hanging boredom breakers, some loo rolls and an egg box which she largely ignores unless they have food in them. She does like climbing in the space behind the wheel, so I think she would like extra shelf space.

The substrate is quite low around the wheel so that it spins well, but is deep on the other side and fills her house. She does make some access tunnels to her house, but unfortunately we end up damaging them when we clean the house bedding.

A bigger cage would be great. Unfortunately, I was seduced by all the pretty plastic things in the Hamster Heaven (most of which Cacao cares nothing for) so went for that over more floorspace. It looks like your set-up has a bit more height, which is really nice because there's more space to have a second level without hitting the roof. For the time being, I'm going to replace the soil in her "extension" with more substrate and try to fix up more stable access between the two. The container has a lid, so if I could find a way to connect the two in a closed loop she would have almost double the space all the time.