Please help!!! I’ve tried everything.

[Volatile_hamster]

I got my hamster a month ago. I did a ton of research to make sure she was happy.
I have a : almost 650 sq in cage, 6+inches of paper bedding, wood chew toys, hideouts, different treats including fresh vegetables every now and then, 9 inch plastic wheel, available water and food at all times, sand bath.
For the first week she was good, I left her alone and she ran on her wheel a lot.
Since I started putting her in the running ball it’s gotten weird. She refuses to run on her wheel, I haven’t seen her run for weeks. So I have gotten into the habit of putting her in her ball every night. She’s gotten familiar with me touching her. But even when she’s in her ball she does the same thing she does in her cage: paces the walls. In her ball she will go back and forth against the wall of my home almost like trying to get out. She also rarely chews on anything, when I have seen her chew it’s been very quickly and she gets bored. She chews on the bars, climbs the walls, paces back and forth, I never see her burrow anymore. I’ve actually noticed lately that she has been going to bed earlier and waking up later than normal. She used to go to bed around 8/9 am, and woke up around 6/8 at night. Past few days she’s been going to sleep earlier, around 5/6 am. But she doesn’t sleep, she just hangs out in her burrow because when I wake up she will come out. So she must do it because she’s bored. And I’ve had to stay up until 9:30pm for her to wake up.
She will eat, drink, and get into the sand bath. She looks healthy. We don’t have kids/other animals so it’s not a loud environment. Our house is kept at 70 degrees. I clean her cage fully every one-two weeks. She’s not aggressive. While cleaning I have tried to rearrange her stuff but it didn’t help. It’s making me resent her because I have tried so hard and nothing is good enough. Please help.

[Savannagh]

That sounds really frustrating. Some hamsters, especially female Syrians, can be massive divas and never happy. But that doesn't mean there aren't things you can't try!

First off, is her wheel big enough? It's hard to tell if her back bends on it when she doesn't run on it, but if she's a Syrian she might need a 10-12 inch wheel. Also, have you checked her wheel is running freely?

Have you tried scatter feeding? Finding her food will give her something to occupy her. You can also make boredom breakers out of toilet roll tubes - there are a lot of tutorials on YouTube for those.

Also, she shouldn't need fully cleaning that often. You can just spot clean the wee and everything else will be fine for at least a month, if not longer. And when you clean do you put around a third of her bedding back? If you don't she could be unhappy that you're destroying her scent.

Also, maybe rearranging her cage is not a good idea. Some hamsters are fine with it, some feel like someone's gone into their living room and rearranged all their furniture while they were out. It might be worth trying not rearranging things to see if that helps.

And then there's the ball. They aren't considered safe because hamsters could get their paws trapped in the holes. Also, they navigate by smell and the balls stop them being being able to smell so well. It sounds like she's not happy in the ball. Can you free roam her? You can block off anywhere you don't want her to get to (bearing in mind she could chew anything, including cables!). Cardboard is good because it doesn't matter if she chews that. If you have carpet you can put down a rug you don't care about or some cardboard to make sure she doesn't chew the cardboard. I hamster proofed my living room, so my hamster can go anywhere, but other people on the forum have a space they let their hamster free roam in and will be better than me at giving suggestions for ways to block spaces off.

[cypher]

I would start by ditching the ball not only are they not safe they can also be quite frightening for hams & offer no enrichment at all, hams have poor eye sight & rely on scent so being trapped in a ball where they can neither see or smell much is not a pleasant experience for them.
Out of cage time needs to be stimulating & enriching, lots of things to explore in a play pen or other safe area.
Once you’ve stopped using the ball for a while her behaviour may well change back again, I’d give her a little while then begin to get her out for time in a play area,.
I wouldn’t rearrange the cage either, once you]ve got a set up that works for your ham then just leave it, they really don’t like having things moved or changed.
If you could post a photo of her set up we may be able to help if there are things that you could improve for her.
What chews does she have, have you tried whimzees? Most hams find those hard to resist.

[Ria P]

Hello and welcome to HC!

I think that you need to do some research but up to date research and this forum is a good place to start.

Your hamster doesn't sound happy and may be resenting you for putting her in a ball, cleaning her cage so often and removing her scent which will make her feel insecure. Then when she starts to get used to her surroundings you come along and rearrange it all again.

It is ok to make adjustments while trying to figure out what kind of set up the hamster likes so it can be a bit of trial and error at first.

Most hamsters like stimulation and attention. They like to run around in a large playpen or a hamster proof area with toys that are too big for their cage. Things to explore and sniff at. Hamsters sniff everything and everywhere. I use my hall with all the doors closed as an evening hamster playground which works very well.

They can't sniff when trapped in a ball and probably panicking trying to get out.

Please try and see things from a hamster's perspective as well.

[Pebbles82]

Hi. Sorry she is being so diva like - try not to feel resentful. It can take a while to get things right for a hamster as they all have individual personalities but when things really tend to come right is when you form a bond - and that tends to come from time taken with personal interaction and some taming to build trust. And believe me you can fall in love with them during a taming/bonding process as well!

From her point of view- she is in a new place fir just a month and things keep changing! (Cleanouts, cage contents etc). Big clean outs can really stress them and also damage trust. There isn’t any need but it is our human instinct to want to clean everything at the same time. For the hamster this is a disaster- it removes all their familiar scent - (they lay scent trails to help them find their way around the cage as they don’t see well - and also to claim things as their territory). In the first two weeks they do the scent marking and choose where to nest, start to build a hoard, familiarise themselves with the layout and begin to settle. By two weeks, without disturbance they can behave completely differently and look visibly happier and more confident - and show an interest in you.

So I would start again with that two week settling in period. Don’t clean anything or move anything and she might start to feel more secure. I would actually leave it for three weeks as she sounds stressed.

The only thing that is smelly or unhygienic is their pee. They really are quite clean little things and even their poops aren’t anything to worry about (unless they start taking over in a big way). They actually eat their poops sometimes which is normal behaviour. They have two stomachs and can redigest nutrients from the poops. They see them as emergency food supplies and may even hoard some.

They are particularly precious about their nest snd hoard and if those are removed you will very likely see frantic behaviour and possibly antagonism towards you as a thief!

So - they will use a litter tray to pee in. If you put it in the right place. They usually choose a corner of the cage as a toilet so then you can just spot clean the pee in that corner- or put a corner litter tray there with chinchilla bathing sand in it. For a Syrian that is almost more important than a sand bath. You then just empty the litter tray once or twice a week and the rest of the cage stays clean and dry. A new baby hamster may pee in the nest at first but they grow out of that, particularly when they get used to using a litter tray. If she does pee on the nest and hoard then they will need to be removed . But - try and leave a bit behind that is dry - even if whiffy - then out new food in the same place to replace the hoard snd new nesting material out to rebuild the nest (a big pile of torn up strips of plain white toilet paper). Don’t put the nesting material in the house- but nearby - they like to forage for it, pouch it and take it to the nest. In fact I have seen hansters take nesting material out of a house (if out there) and then take it all back in again! They like to do their own housekeeping!

So I think she will settle a bit when she feels more in control of her environment anf more secure. And be happier and looking to interact more.

So for two to three weeks don’t clean anything and then move to spot cleaning. I only change the substrate over after 3 months - sometimes longer. And even then it is a partial change - leaving some of the old clean substrate and mixing it in or spreading it on top - so it still smells familiar. And they tend to accept that without getting stressed. But any hamster looks and acts worried if they are out of the cage snd can hear you messing with it! So sometimes I do the spot cleaning when they’re in the cage (ie add the odd new handful of substrate or empty the toilet) and then they tend to follow your hand around to see what you’re doing and keep an eye on it!

How big is she? They do tend to run better in an 11” to 12” wheel. But I bet she is still using the wheel at night when you’re asleep. They often settle into only using the wheel after dark once the novelty has worn off. You can test that by putting a piece of substrate on top before you go to bed and see if it’s gone in the morning. I also have a little £30 babycam and can watch/record what they get up to after dark! On my phone while in bed

So 1) Start again with the settling in process for 2 to 3 weeks. Don’t get her out unless she shows she wants to come out. Talk to her regularly and gently through the cage - so she gets familiar with your presence, voice snd sent. Telling them they’re clever send to help! Tone of voice helps. Basically she is a baby and scared.
2) if she does want to come out, do some taming sessions either in the dry bathtub or a sectioned off playpen area (you can get in too). The odd toy in there. Look up about taming - it can happen quite quickly but takes a bit of patience the first 2 or 3 times. It will help build trust and age will be easy to pick up afterwards. And will start to bond with you.
3) Look at getting a bigger wheel- that is one thing you can replace during the two to three week settling period as they see it as an upgrade/improvement - providing you don’t disturb things too much. Likewise adding a new toy can be accepted providing you don’t take anything else out or move things around. They really hate anything being taken away!

Balls are a topic with varying opinions but generally they are not the best thing fir out of cage time snd can be a hazard. Most balls are too small. Eat sized balls are better for Syrians but then the ventilation slots are bigger and can lead to a trapped toe/injury. The Savic rat ball has the narrowest slits. I have one if those. I rarely use it but very occasionally, with a tame hamster I will give them 10 mins in it. Some hamsters are ok with it , some aren’t- 10 mins is the maximum time as they can feel trapped and stressed (and supervision is needed if the ball gets stuck or so it doesn’t roll down stairs). I tend to only do that as a variation from usual our if cage time on the sofa or free roaming.

But a ball can be very useful for transferring a hamster from a to b safely or getting them out of the cage snd carrying them to a taming area to let them out (be careful not to drop the ball!)