New owner.. Feeling anxious!

[Jasperowner]

Hi all. Thanks for the reassurance. Have ordered the Alaska cage plus a 28" wheel.
Did manage to remove the tubes though to clean them thankfully.. they were getting pretty bad. Had to transfer Jasper elsewhere for a little bit which he obviously wasn't too happy about..though we didn't handle him. However he's definitely getting used to us and having put him back in the cage he's getting more confident at moving towards us. Although he did return straight to the tunnel, he hasn't yet started nesting there again and does seem to be paying more attention to the house which is on the ground floor of the cage... though I have a feeling he'd been using that as a toilet as I cleaned that out when he was in the other container and it was quite full of soaked bedding!
Anyway I think I'll just have to put up with the tunnels til the new cage comes... although they're removable, have nothing suitable to block them with I don't think and without them he doesn't have a great deal of room to move around. ..cage is definitely too small for a Syrian I'd say. He's 10 weeks old... don't know if that's fully grown or not but he's already huge!

Anyway, he's super cute and I must say I'm rather more smitten than I thought I would be.

[Coco61]

Welcome to HC and lucky Jasper to have such a caring owner. At 10 weeks old he is still a baby so a long way from fully grown. He will be adult at approximately 6months. Some Syrians can be potty trained which makes keeping the cage clean a lot easier. You will only have to clean his potty/container 2/3 times a week and the rest of the cage will not need frequent cleaning. That will only upset him as you will remove his scent. If he keeps peeing in his house, you could consider using something made of cardboard that can be changed at little or no expense. An upturned shoe box or a big tea bag box (good as it has a lifting lid to look inside without disturbing the nest) are examples. the floor needs to be cut out so it rests on the substrate and then a door or two. A good substrate is Fitch ( see their own website) and torn up strips of plain white toilet paper can give Jasper the fun of creating his own nest and cheap and easy for you to replace!

[CMB]

As you have a Syrian, once the toilet corner is established it is likely to stay being used as the toilet. Offering a house/nest somewhere else may help.

A container can be used in the toilet corner which is easier to clean out. Put some substrate that has been weed on in the container in the chosen wee corner/area. The smell helps to attract the hamster to go back and use the area again.

[Jasperowner]

Just to update you. .. New cage arrived today and we transfer Jasper over with some of the nesting material and toys from the old cage..All I can say is wow! He's la different hamster. He seems pretty happy to have so much space to play around in. He absolutely loves the big wheel I got and furthermore, he seems to have instantly become less scared of us and jumpy. He's moved about more in the last 4 hours than he has in the last 8 days! Doesn't seem to have quite made his mind up about where to make his bed etc but he's spoilt for choice now. Feeling much more calmer myself now about everything. This cage, whilst huge, should be easier to clean with fewer nooks and crannies. Here's a pic of him setting in... sorry it's a bit dark!

[Drago]

What an adorable little guy! He looks so inquisitive, glad to hear he is settling in well

[cypher]

That's great news! So glad to hear the new cage is working out well & he's enjoying it, he looks lovely in the photo