Regularly Changing Inside of Cage: Good or Bad?

[cypher]

Ruby I don't think you're being mean thinking that some people are being selfish & changing things around more for themselves than the hamster, I'm sure some do it for fun whether they know it may stress the ham out or not, some probably do it knowing their hams don't seem to mind & others possibly just think it's good for the ham!
There probably as many different approaches to this as there are hamsters but personally I think it's best to really get to know your ham & how they respond to things (they are all individuals after all) before you make any major changes, if in doubt don't & above all else try to think like a hamster!!

[RubyDG]

Some good points Cypher, especially about thinking like a hamster! I often find myself asking 'I like this but would Spike like it?' for things . I do think that most people have the best of intentions when it comes to their hamsters but I also think that there are going to be some that see other people doing it online and then just going ahead and doing it themselves without really thinking through whether it's going to be the best thing for their hamster. It would be nice if people could put up disclaimers saying that people need to pay attention to whether their hamster is finding regular changes stressful or not.

Hammy2 I like your Hamity Wrath comment!! So true, I think we've all had to deal with it's consequences more than once

[Shannonmcn]

I did a big switch around for Cc tonight on half her cage to see how she got on, she seemed fine, not stressed, but then I went to check on her before I went to bed and she had fallen asleep in a corner in the middle of digging about and exploring! Whoops, maybe made it a bit too different! Me coming in woke her and she took a bit of spinach from me and started in on repairing her nest so she's not huffing with me at least

[Leila0420]

I think it's possibly more ignorance than selfishness that leads people to do big cage changes. So I agree with you completely RubyDG that it would be nice to see disclaimers on videos/ posts about possible effects of big changes on their hamsters.

Btw after all that I finished the final change to Pumpkin's cage on Wednesday and she's obviously not impressed (not stressed, more just annoyed with me) and refuses to climb on the new chill n' chew mat when she know's I'm watching She has obviously been playing on it and has been chewing less so I don't know if that means it's served it's purpose or if she's just been distracted doing other things the past few nights... Anyway I'm going to change it back and see if she forgives me haha

Ah if only they were better at considering what would make their poor owners less stressed too, instead of happily to attempting to jump head first off items of furniture and making mad breaks for freedom lol... (And of course, trying to sneak into the wall behind a particular radiator!!!)