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Old 04-16-2021, 07:15 AM   #1
shinyforce
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 3
Default Hamster Won't Ever Come Out

Hi! I got my lovely Syrian Arwen just over a month ago from a breeder, so she was used to being handled regularly. However, with me she's absolutely terrified. She won't come out of her multi-chamber house when I'm in the room, not even for fresh delicious treats wafted by her door, and the only way I was initially able to tell she was alive was her food going down and fresh pee on her saucer.

After a few weeks of not seeing her, I took some advice I saw online to lift her house up and scoop her up, which worked in that she would sit fairly happily on my lap and eat treats until she got a bit zoomy and I'd put her back in her cage, but straight after I put her back she makes a mad dash for home and won't come out again. After a week of persisting, and her being fairly chill out of the cage but scared inside, I decided to give her a break and left her alone for a week, just topping up her food and water.

After leaving her alone for a week, she still won't come out of her house while I'm in the room, and she can't be tempted out by treats. I badly want to be her friend, and to move her to the much bigger cage I've put all my previous hams into after they'll walk into my hands or into a mug, but I don't know how to proceed when she won't come out at all.

None of my previous hamsters have been this hard, so I'm feeling really stuck and sad. I'd be really grateful for any suggestions!
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Old 04-16-2021, 08:01 AM   #2
Petite
Senior Hamster
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Scotland
Posts: 501
Default Re: Hamster Won't Ever Come Out

It sounds odd that she will sit happily in your lap, but dash for the safety of her house when she's in her cage. I wonder - do you have plenty of hides and overhead cover for her? Could there be something else that's making her nervous in the cage?

I'm sure you are not as daft as I was, putting my hammy's cage right next to a socket with a plug-in insect repellent in! - but it might just be worth checking out the position of the cage for noises / drafts or anything else that could be affecting her. You could perhaps try moving the cage to see if she is any happier.
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Old 04-16-2021, 10:29 AM   #3
shinyforce
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 3
Default Re: Hamster Won't Ever Come Out

She's a bit nervous in my lap, but will let me stroke her while she sits and eats. She has plenty of cover in her cage -- her house is large and multi-chambered, she has a couple of bridges to hide under, some cardboard tubes, and she's burrowed under the base of her flying saucer before too.

Poor little hammy ears, that must have felt awful when you realised! There isn't anything like that in the room luckily, and I keep the lights down low for her. I'll move her cage and see if that helps, thank you!
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Old 04-16-2021, 12:58 PM   #4
Ria P
House of Hamsters
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Posts: 7,103
Default Re: Hamster Won't Ever Come Out

Could she be scared by the light and not you?

I currently have a foster hamster who disappeares soon as i turn the light on. Today i put up coloured fairy lights about 50cm above his tank so will leave the normal light off and hopefully get a glimpse of him later.

Timing could be another thing. Do you know when she is active and comes out to forage for food and runs on her wheel?
We have a lot of hamsters and they are active at different times ranging from morning hamsters to after midnight ones and one when i'm asleep because he doesn't want human company so does his best to avoid us.
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