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Old 07-07-2020, 02:31 AM   #1
heyheyitsaimee
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Jul 2020
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Default New hamster worries

Hi everyone!
After months of research and preparation, I finally got my first hamster yesterday! She is a female Syrian, around 8 weeks old and is absolutely adorable. She is in a large cage, it is the Savic plaza which measures at 100cm X 50cm, multiple hide outs, chew toys, a 28cm wheel and between 1/3 and 1/2 of the cage has over 6 inches of Carefresh bedding.

I got her around 11am yesterday and was really impressed with how she first settled in! She explored the cage for around 20 minutes, and wasn't bothered by mine and my brother's presence in the room. After exploring the cage, she burrowed for around 20 minutes and then fell asleep somewhere within all that bedding, she slept right through until 9:30pm and then woke up. She seems to absolutely love burrowing so i'm glad I gave a deep area of bedding. I took this as a good sign as I don't think a particularly stressed out or scared hamster would go to sleep that quickly after being putting in a new cage? But I'm not sure.

When she woke up, I was really happy as she was eating, drinking and even using her wheel, all while I was in the room with her. However, once she found her way up onto the second level of the cage, she started biting the bars. She only bites in one specific area, and it only ever lasts for around 2 minutes. I was up all night because after seeing this the first time I was worried, and she probably repeated this around 3 times, but again always just for a couple of minutes and in the same place.

Do you think that this is something to worry about? I was trying to calm myself down by saying that its probably just a stress response as it's her first night, and that she is probably just feeling her way around the cage since its all new, but i'm not sure. I know its probably not anything to worry about yet but its' just really disappointing because I want her to be happy and I tried really hard to provide her with a cage that was appropriate. What do you guys think and what would you suggest?

Thank you for reading this long post!!
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Old 07-07-2020, 08:02 AM   #2
Petite
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Default Re: New hamster worries

Please don't worry too much. It sounds as if she is just settling in and learning about her new environment. Since it's not lasting very long, it's unlikely to be a problem. The time to be a bit more concerned is when they bite the bars consistently, which can be a sign of boredom. Since you wisely researched your Syrian's needs before you brought her home, I'm sure she has plenty of enrichment in her cage, so boredom is not likely to be a problem. It's very early days, so just keep an eye on her and see how things go. If she keeps doing it, it might be a sign that she wants out of cage time, and that's fine too as long as you have something to safely transport her in and somewhere safe for her to play.
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Old 07-07-2020, 11:37 AM   #3
Maker
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Default Re: New hamster worries

I’m sure she will be fine, just take care that you don’t reinforce that behaviour by going to her every time she does it, just wait until she has stopped and is doing something else, it’s hard I know, but if you talk to her, open the cage, offer a treat whilst she is chewing she might then end up chewing to get you to do those things. It’s very early days so just something to be aware of. Sounds like she is loving her environment
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Old 07-07-2020, 12:00 PM   #4
heyheyitsaimee
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Default Re: New hamster worries

Thank you for the reassurance! I know its probably just her getting used to her new home but I couldn't help but worry. I've attached a chew toy to the area she was chewing at to see if that helps. Thanks again!!
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Old 07-07-2020, 11:27 PM   #5
Maker
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Default Re: New hamster worries

If you need to upgrade from a chew toy, I use trixie grass mats and also a hemp floor mat from zooplus around my cage, helps stop substrate escaping, makes it a bit darker and cosier, my Polo is a bit of a bar chewer, much more than you have with your little girl. And she wasn’t impressed with the toilet roll holder, thinks mums being lazy not tearing it up for her! I thought she might tear it up herself lol
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Old 07-09-2020, 08:45 AM   #6
heyheyitsaimee
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Default Re: New hamster worries

Thanks so much for the advice. I'm pleased to confirm that she hasn't chewed on the bars at all (to my knowledge at least) since the first night! She even took some food from my fingertips last night, then nibbled my finger which didn't hurt at all but gave us both a bit of a fright, so I left her alone and am going to try again tonight. She slept at very strange hours yesterday/today, didn't wake up until gone midnight last night and didn't go back to sleep until 3pm today, but I know thats nothing to worry about. Very excited to continue to get to know my little girl and hopefully make some slow but steady progress with taming. Thanks again everyone!
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Old 07-10-2020, 02:40 AM   #7
heyheyitsaimee
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Default Re: New hamster worries

Unfortunately I was wrong and I caught her chewing the same area last night. I was considering removing the level as the only thing she uses the level for is to climb up and chew on the bars, she has no interest in the hideout or chews that I've placed up there. Do you think this might be worth trying? Or should I try something like the grass mats first?
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Old 07-10-2020, 07:13 AM   #8
Pebbles82
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Default Re: New hamster worries

I wouldn’t remove the level. The first two weeks in a new cage are settling in time so one thing to avoid is cleaning out during that time or moving things/removing things. Adding new things is usually accepted fine. They can get easily stressed during that settling in period.

I have only had bar chewing when they’re newly in a good sized cage when there was no wheel. But sometimes it can be something that isn’t quite right for them. Just wondering if she has a good sized house. They need somewhere dark to retreat to and tend to only dig a burrow if there’s no house that they consider suitable. A shoe box house is ideal cut the base out so it sits on the substrate and is open underneath. Cut a hole for a door - near one end on a long side works well as then the other end is darker. Keep the lid as a lift off roof. And add plenty of nesting material in the cage - plain white toilet paper torn into strips in a pile but not actually inside the house - they like to forage for it and take it to build their nest.

Other things to check are that the wheel is spinning freely and there is easy access to the water bottle and food bowl.

You could try adding hemp mat inside the bars in that area. It can make them feel more secure but wouldn’t necessarily stop them chewing the bars (our hamster used to just squeeze between the hemp mat and the bars.

If you have a photo of the cage set up we could suggest other things- it’s a lovely cage - I have it too. But I didn’t use the supplied shelf as had existing items. The ladder takes up quite a bit of space but still possible to fit other things in .
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Old 07-12-2020, 12:54 PM   #9
heyheyitsaimee
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Default Re: New hamster worries

Hi everyone! Thought I'd post a picture of my cage setup so that you could perhaps give some ideas for improvement. Her nest is currently in the front, right hand corner, she normally enters through the tube which you can see just poking out from the burrowing area and its right in front of that.

You can see that i've added a shoebox house on top of the deep bedding area as suggested by Serendipity and have added some torn up toilet paper which she can use as nesting material, hopefully she likes it and will move in! There was over 6 inches of bedding in this area but she's pushed it downwards.

Ive added food to the balls and toilet roll boredom breaker that i've made but she doesn't really show any interest in them at all, all she has done is sniffed them. There is a wooden dinosaur chew in there which I don't think she has ever even looked at, and instead of chewing the peanut chew that is on top of the platform she just goes underneath and chews the bars instead.

I ordered a wooden ladder (which I intend to use to replace the savic green ladder in a few weeks as the green one takes up so much space!), a trixie willow tube and a plastic extendable tube. I was thinking of hanging the extendable tube from the ceiling on the left hand side and having it end at the green platform. Obviously I don't want to add/change to much at once as I don't want to stress her out more.

I was also wondering if it would be a good idea to put some toys in the bath and just let her have a run around by herself tonight? She isn't yet hand tamed but I'm just wondering if some time outside of the cage might be good for her, thoughts?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you everyone!
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Old 07-12-2020, 02:29 PM   #10
LunaTheHamster1
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Default Re: New hamster worries

Love the shoe box hide, for sure let her have a run around in the bath, if there is room get in with her, all part of bonding even if she isn't hand tamed.
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