OCD/ Traumatised hamster?

[tim878]

Hi. Not sure where to post this, its half healthcare and half behaviour...

Ended up looking after a hamster after the guy that bought it moved away. I'm not normally a pet sort of person, but it only seems to like me!

It had a unhealthy obsession with chewing the bars of its cage, then its teeth got messed up so I had to take it to get them cut. I don't think he cut enough off, said that cant take too much off or it might break its jaw?

What I really want to know though, is the hamster seems to be really disturbed. Now it never looks happy, and only comes out of it's bed for food, or sometimes will go in ball. It must have way too much stashed in there, I don't think it eats it all. OCD hamster!

Any ideas of how to cheer it up? It likes to drive in its ball, and likes to eat, if I get it out and hold it it just wants to run away. (not because scared, because the floor is more intresting than my hands)

[badger]

What is your cage set-up like? Is the cage too small? Does it have a wheel to run in? Hamsters are noctournal, so if you only look at it during the day, you won't see it coming out much. I personally don't like metal bar cages because they tend to create bar-chewers, but they can be fine as long as the hammie has plenty of things to keep it busy.

[Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters]

What species is your hamster?
Unfortunately hamsters bought from pet shops have a higher risk of neurological problems because of poor breeding and, in the case of "Russian" dwarf hamsters their hybridization can cause them to have OCD like behaviours. The most common ones being back flipping, obsessive bar chewing, self mutilation, running in circles, severe aggression and obsessive screeching.
I have a hybrid dwarf hamster with severe neurological problems who was also an obsessive bar chewer until we moved her into a bin cage. She is now being moved into a glass tank because she is an amazing escape artist, but for most bar chewers a bin cage or aquarium can help to solve that problem. Sadly this is one of the only problems that has an easy fix, if your ham shows any other signs of neurological problems you just have to be patient with him/her and try your best to find compromises. For example a back flipper needs a single level cage with no climbing toys. It can be difficult to take care of them and vet bills can be quite steep but it is possible to give them a fairly 'normal' life

However, I will say that there is a good possibility that the hamster is fine and that its just its just in an unsuitable cage. He/she sounds to be normal other than the bar chewing. If possible could you post a picture of his/her current cage so that we may be able to advise you more? Hamsters do tend to chew bars when they are just bored so making sure they have a big enough cage with plenty of toys and stimulation as well as getting them out for play time everyday can change their behaviour dramatically.
There are more than a few members here who have simply upgraded their hams to better cages and seen what a difference it makes to their behaviour and overall happiness

As for the food hoard that is perfectly normal, its a comfort/security thing for them and is the same as you having a full fridge of food. When you clean him/her out throw a small amount of the hoard away so that it doesn't go bad but not all of it as this can stress the ham out.

Hamster are also crepuscular meaning that they are awake during the twilight hours, evening and very early morning. So don't be worried if you don't see him/her that much as your ham is bound to be up to a lot of mischief when you are sleeping

Welcome to the forum by the way.

[tim878]

The cage is about the right size I think. To be honest it could do with being a little bigger but I can't do anything about that at the moment. It has a wheel, but very rarely uses it. I put in tubes and boxes, hide food in them and stuff. Don't know if I have anyway of taking a picture, (maybe use a friends phone..) but I have been looking in one of the other threads about housing, and it seems to be similar sized to what other people are using.

I don't know what breed she is, it is brown and I think average size. (Not a dwarf or giant)

The hamster has always hidden some food, but is doing it lots now after going to vets. Have been trying to give her more attention, but am very nervous about handling now as I think she nearly bit me. (Like I said, I'm really not an animal person, was a long time after it came to live here until I could go close to her.)

I tend to be awake at rather unusual hours anyway, I think thats why it likes me best...

The thing I am most concerned about is the teeth. They were too long, so had them clipped, but they still look too long to me.

[AliKati]

A lot of times, wheels that come with cages tend to be too small. As I'm not sure about whether you have a dwarf or a syrian, it's hard to tell. If a hamster can't run in the wheel comfortably, it won't use the wheel. Having a good wheel can help a hamster burn off energy and be more settled.

Hamster's teeth are longish, please do research the forum for pics of healthy teeth so you can compare.

Try and identify whether the hamster is a syrian or a dwarf, so you can adjust its diet. Dwarves should not have anything sugary.

Finally, do look at thread on taming- which can help your hamster feel less scared with you and get used to your presence and touch.

Welcome to a hammy world!

[ButterNut]

Try bringing it in a emty bathtub or something so she/he cant run away really (somebody on the forum told me that and it helped a lot)

Hamster teeth are long so dont expect them to look like human teeth.

Also maybe you could give it more toys to play with?

[Lynternette]

Hi Tim and Welcome to HD.
I put Dusty into a larger cage last week. He's a big lad and I thought he would like it. He was ecstatic! Always super shy even with me. He's started to ask to come out to play. Eighteen months for him to do this. I sat with him as much as I could just watching him and rearranging the cage as much as I could to suit his needs.

[tim878]

Hello again.

The hamster is not a dwarf, I guess that means it must be a syrian.

One of the hamsters teeth does seem to be too long. Really not sure what to do about that, I took her to the vets and he didn't cut enough off. Don't want to take her back unless I really have to because she hasn't been right since. I have been giving her peanuts with the shell still on, hopefully gnawing on that will break it off. She actually chews on them, other things I have seen sugested she is not intrested in chewing.

The hamster was very tame before the vets. I think the reason she tried to bite me is because she was stressed, I was panicing a bit, and she picked up on that somehow. (I'm still not certain she did try to bite, it might have all been in my head!)

I give it whatever I can think of to play with, she doesn't seem intrested in stuff that is supposed to be hamster toys, so I give her boxes and tubes and stuff. When the cage is cleaned I am going to put a bigish teabag box filled with sawdust. Maybe she will like to dig in it to sleep in.

I would like to give her a bigger cage but I simply cannot afford it at the moment. I might make an extension of some sort, perhaps also a larger wheel. The cage is big enough to fit a 10 inch outside diameter wheel, this would be about 9.5 inch inside diameter. I guess this would be big enough for a normal sized adult hamster? Would smaller be ok? When she stretches out she is about 6 inchs long from nose to butt. Would a wheel with many flat faces be acceptable (like an octagon for example), or does it have to be circular?

She seems a little happier now, I just hope that tooth breaks off before it becomes a problem again.

[Nush]

For her teeth, you'd need to give her chew toys. You get small ones that you can hang in her cage commercially and they're not expensive.

A 9.5 inch wheel is a good size, don't go smaller than 8 inches. Also you could get an exercise ball. For some reason it helped my hamster a lot. Everytime she goes to the vet, she becomes a little shy and I find putting her in her exercise ball and letting her run around a bit helps her to get over it. My theory is that she gets to smell her environment and knows there are no predators.

I never force my hammy into her exercise ball. But the first time, I drew her into the ball by throwing in a raisin. She learnt the purpose of it really quickly and zoomed around the house. But it takes a bit of time for them to get used to the ball and she's only in it 30 mins at a time.

Good luck

[Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters]

Chew toys and hard food or dog biscuits (with no spices or onion) are the best way to keep a hamsters teeth down, cutting should only really be done if the hamster actually needs it - ie if it is struggling to eat or if the teeth are causing problems inside the mouth. Their teeth are supposed to be fairly long.

Most adult Syrians actually need 11" wheels as their backs still arch slightly on the 8" ones and this discourages them from using it as they are uncomfortable.

As for toys check out the housing section here as many people have had wonderful toy ideas, if we knew what country you were in we could also recommend some terrific pet websites where you will find a mass of toys. A handy tip when toy shopping though, find toys that are made for rat sizes as hamsters sized toys seem to be manufactured towards tiny baby Syrians and dwarf hamsters.