New Syrian Hamster

[dahlboy17]

Hi guys, so I am a new proud owner of a Syrian Hamster, looks like a "teddy bear" golden coat with a little white belly. I've had him for about 3 days now, at first he did not want anything to do with me and would "scream" and hide in the corner. Now he seems to be comfortable with me coming to the cage and when he hears my voice and doesn't make that noise anymore. He has plenty of bedding around the whole cage and has made himself a spot where he sleeps every night. He has some seed treats, food, small wood blocks for his teeth and a water bottle along with some ramps and his wheel. So far, he has eaten, he will take food out of my hands seems like he is comfortable with it, I noticed he likes to put his food in his bed, and slowly eats it so I am not worried about him eating. I have not seen him drink yet, the vacuum is good in the bottle so water does come out when you press the little bead, he has sniffed it and played with it a little and it has gone down without dripping on its own, so I am assuming he does drink. He seems to also pull all of his toys and treats off his upper level ramp and puts them down in the bedding on the floor, (not where he sleeps though) and he is extremely active at night as I assumed he would be. I've taken him out and hamster proofed my floor in my room, he likes to run around and play with the toilet paper tubes and chew on cardboard. I do think I am going to get him a bigger cage and get some tubes for him to play in, he does like to climb the cage at night, he somewhat can climb back down but jumps down onto the bedding, he doesn't chew the cage which is good so I know he isn't bored and has plenty to chew on for his little teeth. Is there any recommendations you guys have for care for a syrian hamster something i am missing? As far as I said before I haven't seen him drink fully only a few nibbles it seems but again I am not watching him 24/7 and should i leave my light on during the day and off at night for the whole nocturnal thing or it does not matter? Thankyou

[Thin Lizzy]

Hello and welcome to HC. Congratulations on your hammy.
They don't tend to drink much.

[Sasha04]

Hi and welcome to the forum!
Screaming is pretty normal for new hams and that’s great that it has stopped. I wouldn’t worry about the water because he may be drinking some when you aren’t in the room and they tend not to drink to much. What is your hams name, just out of curiosity?

[Pebbles82]

Hello and welcome All sounds like normal behaviour! In particular they pouched their food and hoard it (often under their nest/bed) and snack from the hoard. Climbing and jumping sounds ok as long as the cage isn't too tall and there's nothing hard or sharp he could land on or bounce off on the way down.

Best advice I could give now is don't clean anything or change anything for the first two weeks while he's settling in and scent marking his way round the cage, to avoid stress and setbacks. Also using a litter tray. Syrian hamsters will use a toilet/litter tray for peeing in and it helps keep the cage clean so less clean outs (which stress them) are necessary. A dish with some chinchilla bathing sand in is ideal for a litter tray or you can buy corner plastic litter trays (they often choose a corner of the cage as a toilet area for peeing). The main thing is to put it in the right place. If you put it in the chosen pee spot they will use it - if you put it anywhere else they won't!

If the cage gets a bit whiffy in the first two weeks you can "spot clean" maybe once a week during that time (ie take out a handful of wet soiled litter and replace it with a handful of clean and mix it in a bit so it still smells familiar. That's an ideal time to add a litter tray.

I've used these which are a good size - not too big not too small. They are quite clean and tidy and tend to pee in the very back corner (where it's higher). Ours have then sat in the front bit for a wash.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamster-cor...=Hamster+potty

This is the Chinchilla Bathing sand a lot of people use (must be sand not "dust"). One of these lasts me a few months and I empty out the potty every 5 days or so.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supreme-Pet...a+bathing+sand

He sounds to be having fun getting his cage just how he wants everything

Using a litter tray, spot cleaning and having a good depth of substrate, you can easily go a couple of months without needing to do a big cage clean and even then "partial" cleans are better to avoid stress. So do the litter/substrate one week, wheel a different week and any toys etc a different time again - so something always smells familiar.

I also replace some of the old clean litter and mix it into the new or sprinkle it on top so it smells familiar. Also best not to throw away their nest or hoard. Those are their two most important things in life and help them feel secure. There is no need to unless they are pee'd on. (They do have slips when they're young!). If they are pee'd on then try and leave behind a dry bit of the old nest and replace any soiled hoard you remove with new food in exactly the same place. Dry hoard can be left for a while - eventually it starts taking over the bottom of the cage and needs pruning at the next substrate change.

Dont worry about poops - they're like little hard black seeds and not smelly or dirty - and your hamster may eat some of them (normal for extra vitamins) or hoard them (supplies in case food is every short). So again unless they start taking over in a big way don't worry about leaving them.

Assume you know about wheels and wheel sizes. Most people get an 11" to 12" wheel for a Syrian. An 8 to 10 inch may be ok but some grow out of them and they tend to run better in a larger wheel. Anything less than 8" diameter is too small - they need to run with a straight back, not curved, to avoid pain and spinal problems as they get older.