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Old 07-17-2020, 03:38 AM   #1
IggySchmitty
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Jul 2020
Posts: 3
Unhappy Scared Syrian chirping after environment changes and interaction with a rat

Scared chirping and 16month Syrian male hammie after cage attached to a (fenced-in) playpen area was introduced in a new apartment and limited interaction with female 2 year old rat

plz don’t judge me I tried so hard to love him I promise


so wha ha happened was then I went home for break this past January and my dog would have for sure traumatized him so my friend here offered to watch him. what i did not consider was that this friend of mine has a rat who let them run around the bed together and needless to say, they did not get along. While significantly smaller, Iggy was actually reported to have been the clear alpha in the interaction and was the one showing signs of aggression toward the female rat.

When I went back to college, I moved into a new apartment and well, Iggy has not been very happy really in general since then. He used to come right to the edge of the cage whenever I came home and greeted me. He has not done that since I have moved into a new apartment, about 3 months ago. I try not to pick him up too often but he was showing some very out-of-he-ordinary behavior a few weeks ago:
- laying down in the front corner of his cage and flipping onto his back in a curled submissive position. (i saw on youtube a similar?? ish? way of holding him where i kind of cup his body and place my thumb on his tummy which i have used before in order to take him out for some roam around time)
- used to run in his wheel a lot more at night
- if I take him out of the cage, he is active but he seems to be way more into burrowing into the wall behind his cage rather than exploring the new area.

In order to cheer him up, over the past few days I bought a (small) fenced-in area that was connected through a tube to a new cage. However, I think I made (yet another) mistake in setting up the new cage in my living room when he has been living in my basement the past while. I rub Iggy's scent on the new cage, put some half eaten treats i found on the floor and used a plastic tube to connect it to the playpen, blocking out a corner of my living room, and placed his old cage inside it and left the latch open.

I sat with him and played music he likes and spoke nicely until he came out of his cage. Then he went through the tunnel on his own, assessed the new cage, seemed to enjoy it but after about 10 mins returned to his old cage.

Within about an hour he hadn't come around again at all to check out his new digs. I was surprised, I put tons of treats in the playpen open area there and food always motivates him. idk if everyones hammies can be so expressive but mine is not usually like this
- i started to walk over to the cage
- Iggy freezes and stares at me
- I try to continue calmly and sit down a few feet away
- he scurries out of his cage and starts running around aimlessly, not digging or sniffing like usual. very chaotic, nervous seeming.
- about 5mins in, Iggy was chirping at levels much louder and persistent than usual.

this is so abnormal! In the past, he had only chirped very quietly to let me know he wants my attention for a treat he can’t reach or his water had fallen over. The crying decreased when i walked away, but I thought he would feel better after a moment of discomfort and I took him back to his usual spot in my bedroom turned off the lights and left him alone.


I hope ya’ll have some good tips on ways i can reduce his anxiety and make him more comfortable in the new environment. He has a clear attachment to his current cage so i have no intention of ever taking that away from him. However, I thought it would still be good to give him a good amount of area outside of his secure bedroom to dig and play. so i was going to essentially make the same thing but out of cardboard (lined with something safe?) rather than the cage that seems to remind Iggy of his interaction with the rat. I would love advice on what materials would be the cheapest and safest to use here and how you think this new potential set up is appearing. I think Iwill need a floor lining for underneath the large box I use.


Picture 1 includes Iggys current cage on top of a laundry basket with holes i intend to use to create a ladder to help him get down to the box and the shoe storage maze.
Picture 2 includes new cage that he made no audible complaints when

What steps are there to acclimate him to this environment? Is it too late at this point?
Could I try to reuse pieces of the new cage in the future enclosure or would they make it a scarier experience?
What do you think of the shoe storage as a digging tower/maze?
Would he like the carpet? i don’t mind letting him ruin it if he would enjoy burrowing in it
Are there any scents that hamsters enjoy? Old owner had a pet cat
How do you bake the sand that they like to burrow in? Should I use sand or bedding in the shoebox maze? Should I use sand or hamster bedding in the cardboard box?
Attached Images
File Type: jpg IggyPic1.JPG (2.59 MB, 20 views)
File Type: jpg IggyPic2.JPG (2.52 MB, 19 views)
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Old 07-17-2020, 10:14 AM   #2
Pebbles82
Hamster Antics
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: Scared Syrian chirping after environment changes and interaction with a rat

Hi. The encounter with the rat sounds very worrying and thank goodness it is history.

I can't quite follow all the things about the cages, but looking at the picture, he has the main cage on top of the washing basket and a dismantled Habitrail on the floor (is that the play area?).

First thing is - he has had a big change of environment - a house move, his cage in a different place. This can cause them a lot of stress. Also if he can smell cat that may be bothering him but I think that is less of an issue than the change of environment causing stress.

They also like to have one main cage area - attaching another one doesn't work the same as their instincts are to nest/hoard/wheel etc all in one "habitat". Anything outside that main habitat is somewhere to go but not home.

His main cage looks a bit on the small side for a Syrian. My suggestion would be to replace that, with one larger cage. Also if the room is completely hamster proof then yes he could run around in there - but the other alternative is rig up a playpen area that is secure so he can't disappear down a hole in the plaster or something (behind radiators is a common one where there can be holes in plaster). You could then put the habitrail play area inside the playpen for added interest.

But the priority is to get him settled in one main cage area. They take about two weeks, without disturbance, to settle into a new cage (and a new environment is similar). ie no cleaning out or moving things around in the cage.

It sounds like he is just frightened and stressed and everything is different.

A ladder down from the cage to the washing basket is too risky really - he could fall and hurt himself. You could either have the cage on the floor and put a tube through the door so he can walk in and out. Or just let him walk into a tube from the cage (with your hands over the ends) and let him out that way.

But I think the priority is a bigger main cage that he can fully settle into and develop habits and have a really good main environment - with out of cage time as a bonus.

Which country are you in? There are a lot of good cage options in Europe. In the Us there is really just the prevue cage that is not too expensive, or a bin cage or a glass tank. But I would stick with a cage because that is what he's used to (and the ventilation is better).

A bigger cage on the floor would be better What keeps them happy is lots of substrate/litter - a house/nesting box that is a good size (eg a shoe box house) for building a big nest and that's dark inside. A wheel that's big enough to run in with a straight back (8" minimum to 12" for a Syrian - 11" is ideal). And plenty of nesting material (torn up strips of plain white toilet paper in a heap they can forage for).

Tunnels, hidey places and a shelf add to enrichment. Also weekly clean outs stress them - best to "spot clean" mostly - you can do that if you have enough substrate - and use a litter tray - doing that I only do a cage clean about every 3 months - in a larger cage with about 5" of substrate.

Last edited by Pebbles82; 07-17-2020 at 10:19 AM.
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Old 07-20-2020, 07:19 PM   #3
IggySchmitty
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Jul 2020
Posts: 3
Default Re: Scared Syrian chirping after environment changes and interaction with a rat

yes the area on the floor was going to be where i would set it up i just wanted to put some of his things there so that he would be used to seeing it as a comfortable area next to his cage as well as spreading his scent there

i realize the ladder was not a permanent solution i am sorry the pictures were so misleading

i understand now how their home really does need to be one area so i think i will be trying to make a new home for him, unfortunately i am located in the US and do not have a ton of money. do you have any recommendations on items i could gerryrig or add accessories to in order to make a cheap, larger cage?
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Old 07-21-2020, 05:25 PM   #4
Pebbles82
Hamster Antics
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: Scared Syrian chirping after environment changes and interaction with a rat

If you don't mind diy there are a number of options. Bin cages are one option, but it can be hard to find a suitable sized bin. Also the Linmon cage (instructions on youtube). Which might be good for your floor space as it's designed to sit on the floor. I don't think diy works out that cheap though by the time you've bought all the bits and pieces.

I think a good option in the US for a cage is the Prevue cage. It's a good size for a Syrian - not too big, not too small - and the least expensive cage option without any diy.

It used to $65 so keep checking the price as Amazon sometimes changes their prices day by day - although at the moment everything seems to have got more expensive due to the virus situation. Check out the reviews

https://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Pet-Pr...5377470&sr=8-2
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