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Old 07-31-2020, 01:40 PM   #1
Jin
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Default Dwarf hamster sleeping in sand bath

so I've had my dwarf hamster a week now. He made himself a nice big nest in a big house he has in the corner of the cage. But the last two days he has been sleeping in the small sandbath in the opposite corner. I had a syrian hamster before who always slept in the one same place.

Why may my dwarf be doing this? I've not heard of or seen a hamster sleeping in a sand bath before. He has a barney cage with loads of nesting material and plenty of substrate to burrow down in. Also lots of enrichment to keep him busy. Could it possibly be the weather causing him to do this?

Also, he is in and out at all hours of the time and day. He doesn't seem to have any pattern at all. My syrian slept all day and came out about 8pm every night. It's nice for me as i get to see him lots but I'm worried he is not feeling settled yet although he is very friendly and not timid or shy. He let's me stroke him and take him out of his cage no problems although he does like to try and bite my long acrylic nails??

Anyone know what may be going on?

TIA
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Last edited by Jin; 07-31-2020 at 01:47 PM.
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Old 07-31-2020, 02:45 PM   #2
Ria P
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Default Re: Dwarf hamster sleeping in sand bath

My Syrian always sleeps in his nest in his house but my dwarfs could be sleeping absolutely anywhere just not where one would expect a hamster to sleep like a big cozy house.
A small oil burner yes or squeezed into a small space between bin cage wall and house yes but that's dwarfs for you.

Your lucky hamster looks lovely and healthy, i'd give him a bigger sandbath to roll around and dig in but leave this one in as well. Any container that fits will do, i've filled baking and sweetie tins, tupperware, enamel pie dishes and glass bonbon jars with sand before.

One of my dwarfs often sleeps all night and gets active in the morning, goes foraging and wants out of cage time. Or she's up in the afternoon, sometimes for hours. There's no pattern i can see so i don't think there's anything amiss with your hamster. It's his personality to brake away from the norm. Enjoy his company.

As for the nails, maybe they look just too tempting not to chew on.
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Old 07-31-2020, 04:00 PM   #3
Kyrkogrimr
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Default Re: Dwarf hamster sleeping in sand bath

First of all, your hamster is gorgeous! Very similar colouring to my boy Palladium

I have found dwarfs prone to building multiple nests and moving between them at will; Carbon sometimes rotates between 2 or three nests within the space of a day! Sleeping in the sand bath has been pretty common with all three of my dwarfs so far, especially in hotter weather. They have also all been big fans of digging in sand and with the exception of when Cadmium was a little old lady and I switched her over to dishes for accessibility, I find cookie jars go down really well, or deep trays - but jars tend to contain the sand better. You can buy them in ikea for 1.50 I think (I can hunt down the product name if you're interested.)
I've also found that younger hamsters (particularly dwarf hams) can be unpredictable in their sleeping patterns until they get older. Carbon is the only one I haven't had that with and he was 9mnths when I got him, so don't worry too much. I do find that they're more likely to come out if it's not really bright, so if you can dim the lights or put a lamp on instead, that might help
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Old 07-31-2020, 09:30 PM   #4
cypher
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Default Re: Dwarf hamster sleeping in sand bath

My Russian hams often slept in the sand in the hot weather so it’s probably just that, some of them had multiple nests or places to sleep anyway.
I’ve found that they do tend to be up & about during the day more than other species too, it all sounds normal to me.
They do like to chew nails, something very chewy sticking out at the end of your finger must be quite hard to resist!
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Old 08-01-2020, 12:05 AM   #5
Jin
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Default Re: Dwarf hamster sleeping in sand bath

Thanks guys thays v reassuring. I guess I dosnt realise that Syrians and dwarfs are quite different to each other. This little guy is a little fluff ball of energy and not timid at all. I guess it could be because theu are different sexes too? My syrian would just build one big nest and hoard loads of food, run off and hide treats, filled her pouches to the brim and hardly used her wheel.

This little guy sleeps any where and every where, eats his food any where and doesn't store his food or hide his treats. He's a lot more active and runs on his wheel for hours at a time. I think I've been comparing them lol but they are very different. I thought my surian was a happy hammy but cookie is definitely a happy chappy with no fear.

The other thing is, I've yet to see him store stuff in his pouches. Is this ia normal for a dwarf? My surian sometimes couldn't fit in her house because she'd stuffed her pouches so big ��
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Old 08-01-2020, 07:13 AM   #6
Teals
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Default Re: Dwarf hamster sleeping in sand bath

Quote:
Originally Posted by cypher View Post
My Russian hams often slept in the sand in the hot weather so it’s probably just that, some of them had multiple nests or places to sleep anyway.
As it's been so hot lately, maybe the sand was a cooler place to be in.
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Old 08-01-2020, 07:45 AM   #7
Ria P
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Default Re: Dwarf hamster sleeping in sand bath

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jin View Post
The other thing is, I've yet to see him store stuff in his pouches. Is this ia normal for a dwarf? My surian sometimes couldn't fit in her house because she'd stuffed her pouches so big ��
Hamsters are all so different in their personalities, habits, likes and dislikes etc. I don't think there is such a thing as normal that applies to one particular species.
I've never seen my foster ham stuff his pouches because he eats what he wants on the spot and another i've seen topple over because her pouches are stuffed to the brim and she still stands tiptoe trying to reach a higher up seed branch.

Cookie may hoard when you're asleep though and carry food in his pouches then.
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