9 week Syrian. Advice on care and cage clean

[Nadia]

Hi, i have a few questions about my 9week old syrian.

I have had Nibbles for one week now. So far she has been very good with us. She comes up to us (me and my 6yr old daughter) and takes food through the bars.
When should we start the taming? Should i involve my 6yr old with the taming at the same time or later? Also how do we begin? Should i just take her out the cage? Or start inside the cage?
I bought Yoghurt drops for taming. How often and when should i give them.

Is a hamster ball suitable for a 9week syrian? When can we use it on her, shes been with us for one week.
I really need to clean inside her house where she is sleeping. Im pretty sure she has pee inside there. So i will need to take her out the cage so i can go through it properly.

Nibbles is climbing up the cage. Is this normal? She has the Barney cage im scared if she drops from the top she will get hurt. I have ordered a trixie hammock and a small platform with a swing and ladder on it so shes not bored to want to bar climb.
How can i lock the cage doors? Due to her climbing i dont want her to accidently open the front doors. As they are not the tightest.
I put in a sand bath 2days ago. I know shes using it, as i smoothen down the sand and come back to see its messy. Is it ok leaving sand bath behind for daily use?

Thank you in advance.

[cypher]

If Nibbles is already taking treats through the bars then the next step would be to try getting her to come to your hand through the cage door, don't move your hand around, just lay it flat & wait for her.
For the next stage after that you need either a playpen, a large storage box as a play bin or you can use the bath with the plug in & a towel in the base.
Whichever you use provide toys or even just cardboard boxes & tubes, maybe the wheel, let Nibbles explore & run around a bit then begin to introduce your hand to her, I don't see any reason why your daughter couldn't do this with you as long as she doesn't make sudden moves or startle Nibbles, you do need do go slowly at first & take time over each step like her coming to your hand, climbing on your hand, taking treats from your hand etc. just go at her pace.
I wouldn't give too many yogurt drops as treats, if you have a food mix with things like sunflower or pumpkin seeds in then you can take some of those out to feed as treats, a few extra sunflower or other seeds, tiny pieces of nut, mealworms if she likes them, small pieces of veg are all fine to use as taming treats.

It would probably be best to put her in a carrier while you check out her house for cleaning, a carrier with plenty of substrate will help her feel safe & you can do what you need to do without having to worry about her escaping somewhere!
If she has peed in her house don't over clean at this stage, just take out the minimum amount of bedding that you can.

For both cleaning & out of cage time you need to try to find something Nibbles will be happy to climb into that you can safely transport her in, a tube (hand over one end!) small box, mug etc will do.
Balls can be quite useful for that but tbh that's about all they're good for, the don't benefit your ham, hams can escape or get hurt & they don't offer any opportunities for taming or bonding, playpen or other safe play areas are far better in all respects.

Do you have a photo of your cage set up? That would help with offering ideas to prevent climbing & make things safe for her.
If the platform you've ordered has opened rung ladders or chains it won't be safe to use.

If you don't have a playpen you can easily make one, there's a video here, or buy one from Zooplus, the wooden one is about the only one that's safe for syrians really.

[Nadia]

Thank you cypher. I have the Harry hamster mix. So i can pick out some seeds from there.

This is my cage layout. She tends to climb the area at the back of her house where she sleeps and on the side where the water bottle is.
PhotoGrid_1526861297062.jpg

These are what i have ordered so far. I still have time to cancel.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000V9KI..._fnPcBbNDC8H27

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00UMRU4..._5oPcBbKFMX2NQ

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01G766J..._pqPcBbRCXQKYN

[cypher]

Unfortunately none of those things you ordered are safe, the last one, the little shelf would be ok without the ladder bit, probably a bit small to be much use for a syrian though I would imagine.
You could raise the house up more just by filling that area with substrate under it but I think you could do with another shelf or large ledge above it really if she's climbing there, other things you can use are sputniks although you would need to arrange either ledges or bendy bridges or both for access, rat tubes can be good too but you need to use ham safe string like sisal rather than chains to attach them.
If I can find the photo again Serendipity has a good set up in her cage that makes good use of space & is safe from climbing & falls, that might give you some ideas.
Off to look for the link!
There are some photos here.
http://www.hamstercentral.com/commun...70-post16.html

ETA I meant to add that if you wanted to add another level or ledge ranchhousecages on ebay do some good quality ones in various sizes.

[Nadia]

Oh no. What a shame. Can i ask whats wrong with them, just so i can avoid buying similar items for that reason.

[cypher]

Things to avoid are chains, feet can get trapped & injured, hams can even be left hanging by their feet, open rung ladders are a fall risk, hams need solid surfaces like bendy bridges to climb safely, fabric can be a chew risk with most Syrians, some will be ok but it's not really worth taking the chance just in case.
Anything they can climb on should be on an incline or at an angle, there are quite a few vertical climbing wall type things out there which just aren't safe or suitable.
Hope that helps a bit.

[Nadia]

Thank you. Helps a lot. But makes it harder to buy toys as most seem unsuitable.
Thank you for the links. I will be looking into the extra long platform.

[Coco61]

Hi, Nadia, I have a barney although not in use at the moment. Some extras I have used in mine are, a Rodipet 2 room house (and I have one again now) This means the roof is a shelf andwith a bendy bridge over the entrance, that is a way up. Then I had the barney house on the shelf that came with the cage. A longer bendy bridge led up to the top of the house. Then I hung a rat size Sputnik for my Syrian to get into. A rat tunnel for another way in. I could not find my photo to show you. I have a slightly smaller set up now with my new baby. The cage is the Hamster Heavan which I find easier for taming with the large front door. I have a cork tunnel ( open at the base) which is great for safe climbing and going through.
I found my current set up. This might give you some ideas.

[Nadia]

Thank you Coco61. I will look into those options. Especially the sputnik. Not sure about buying another house.