Reaction to cleaning cage.

[Scrubby]

So this morning I cleaned Scrub's cage, didn't use any chemicals or anything but when I put her back in she went a bit crzay. Pulled all her bedding out her little house and stuffed it all in her cheeks (they were huge) and kept trying to stuff more in though she couldn't fit anymore in so she ran around with it in her mouth. She then started running around the cage constantly. I left her, thought she might calm down a bit and I came back 10 minutes later to find she had emptied her cheeks and was ripping up newspaper from the base of her cage, dragged up all of the wood shavings and bedding from her cheeks and made a little nest in the corner (usually where she goes to the toilet)
She was awake for quite a few hours afterwards but later on when I got her out she wasn't herself. She is normally running around but she was very slow, very cautious of everything and very jumpy, she did go back to normal after a while though.
Just wondering if anyone has had anything like this happen before or maybe know why she is doing this?
I haven't changed any of the things I use in her cage (wood shavings, bedding, food etc.)
Thanks guys

[BrainGirl]

Did you put any of her old, used bedding (the clean bits) back in with the new stuff? Sometimes they get upset if they can't smell their scent because that's how they know where they are.

[DrKMcK]

Poor Scrubby. Here you went and gave her a nice clean, fresh cage, and she doesn't know what to do with it. They do tend to fuss and carry on a bit if you've moved all their familiar stuff. As Braingirl said, leaving some of the old nesting material in with the new bedding/litter keeps the scent in the cage and tells hammy this is her home. By tomorrow she'll have arranged everything to her satisfaction and be her old self again. Just remember next time to keep back some of her old (cleanest bits) bedding.

[racinghamster]

Hamsters can get very stressed when their habitat is changed too often. The best approach is to clean half the cage only or spot clean areas daily and only remove half the nesting material and keep things where they usually are. My little roborovski actually stays IN his cage while I do this and he likes to get in the way! Although I know that`s not always practical when your trying to clean. I don`t use chemicals just wetted kitchen towel so he never comes into contact with strong smells or stressors.

Syrians can be quite tetchy so maybe follow this routine next time and only carry it out when she`s awake in the evenings and wants to play. x