Hamster can’t fit through tubes

[Lemon]

My Syrian hamster is more than 2 years old. She’s had a condition for the past few months where her sides are swelling up with something. I’ve taken her to 2 different vets and both said that there’s no way of knowing the exact cause without painful tests for her. The recommended leaving her be since she seems to feel and act ok. As of now, she’s very active still, runs on her wheel, and is excited to come out and play with me.

However, she’s having a lot of trouble going through the tubes between the cages since her sides are larger now. I’m especially concerned that she has trouble reaching her nest which is connected to the top of the cage by a tube. She has a lot of energy and is really determined to keep going to those areas even though she struggles with it. I don’t want her to be confined to the bottom floor on only one cage. I have a standard Kaytee hamster cage and tubes.

It’s really important to me to give her access to these areas because I know she will not be as happy without them, but I don’t know how to help her because I can’t find any bigger tubes since the connecting hole on the cage itself is so small. Does anyone have any ideas on how to help with this?

[cypher]

I don’t think there’s really any solution other than changing your hams cage, there is a real danger she could get stuck in the tubes if she’s having trouble squeezing through them.
If you can’t find a large enough cage so she has enough space on on level then you could consider making a bin cage for her.
Changing cages can be stressful for them but I think her current cage is just too dangerous for her not to change, you can make it less stressful by not cleaning for a few weeks at least before & after the change so everything retains her scent.

[Lemon]

Originally Posted by cypher

I don’t think there’s really any solution other than changing your hams cage, there is a real danger she could get stuck in the tubes if she’s having trouble squeezing through them.
If you can’t find a large enough cage so she has enough space on on level then you could consider making a bin cage for her.
Changing cages can be stressful for them but I think her current cage is just too dangerous for her not to change, you can make it less stressful by not cleaning for a few weeks at least before & after the change so everything retains her scent.

Thank you for your advice! Today I changed the type of cage she has so she still has access to as much space as she did before. I took the plastic nest area from her last cage and put it on the ground in her new one. I left all her food and bedding in it. She stands on top of it just like she did with the igloo in her last cage setup, and she went to sleep in it when I finished visiting her like she always does.

I know I don’t know exactly what she’s thinking, but to me she seems happy and comfortable that her old bed area is still there.

[cypher]

That’s good, glad the move went well & she’s settling ok.

[Pebbles82]

That sounds better. It can take about two weeks now for them to fully settle in a new changed cage environment, so as cypher says, it's best not to clean anything for about 2 weeks now. After that, if you have enough substrate in (at least 3 to 4" deep) then you can mainly "spot clean" the pee area and then you can go longer without needing a cage clean. Even when doing one it's best to not clean everything at the same time - especially for the next few weeks. That removes all their familiar scent. It's our instinct to want to clean everything at the same time but it is better for the hamster to have "partial" cleans - eg if you change the substrate, don't clean anything else - then do the wheel a different week and any toys a different week again etc.

I would also not touch her nest or hoard for the next few weeks. Assuming she doesn't pee in her nest.

One thing you can do now things are at floor level, is add more enrichment, to make up for the loss of what she had before. They take well to that as it's new added interest.

So while you don't want to clean out or move anything round right now, while she settles for two weeks, adding one new thing now would be accepted. Instead of the tubes she had before, what works well is a larger type tunnel at floor level - rat sized ones are ideal - they are about 7cm diameter. You can get some really nice onces made of hyacinth or sisal (interesting texture and they can be chewed safely as well), or you can get large cork tunnels which are also an interesting texture and can be climbed over for a bit of low level safe climbing - as well as a nice dark tunnel to run through. Or you can just make one out of a pringles tube, which is a good size

Another thing you could add - is a bigger house. Leave the one she has but add something as well as if it's bigger and dark inside she may just move into it and abandon the other one (or keep the other one as a hidey place to just sit in now and then). If you have enough floorspace, then a shoebox house is ideal and if you put a bendy stick tunnel over the door (a hole you cut in the box) then it makes it nice and dark inside and room for her to build a huge nest, and keep herself busy.

If you cut the base out of the shoebox you can sit it on top of the substrate (they like burying hoards under their nest and burrowing down) and use the lid as a lift off roof - so you can check inside when you need to - without needing to take the house out (so their nest doesn't collapse).

If you don't have space for a shoebox then a tissue box or similar is fine. Main thing is they like a house/nesting box that is dark inside (the tunnel entrance also makes it interesting). And so always tend to move in. This method also means she doesn't end up with a smelly house that needs cleaning out. Syrians will use a litter tray and assume she has a preferred pee spot that she uses so that is a good place to put one.

The little plastic houses with a solid base get smelly and they can't fit enough stuff inside. You may find she is happier and develops some new hamstery habits once she has an additional house - and that the cage stays cleaner as well. Torn up strips of plain white toilet paper are good for nesting material (if you're not using that already) and a big pile of those in the cage and she will probably start pouching them to take to her nest - you just top up the pile when it starts to go down. They constantly refurbish their nest in a big house and tend to keep it quite clean themselves.

So for the first few days - just leave her alone to settle - unless she shows she wants to come out. Over the next couple of weeks - no cleaning - add maybe two new items like a new tunnel and house, but don't move anything around or it'll stress her - so just where you can fit them in.

She will also do much better on one level now she's getting older and its safer.

The swelling could be a number of things in old age - they can get fluid build up as their heart or kidneys start to fail (which is common in old age), and there are other reasons for swelling or fluid as well. If she seems well and happy enough in herself then don't worry. If she has any kind of bleeding or discharge then female syrians can get pyometra (infection of the womb) and she would need quite urgent vet treatment in that case - but you would know about it and it doesn't sound like she has that.

She may go on like this quite happily for a long time - two of our syrians got like this and lived to over 2 and a half years. But if she starts to show any signs of suffering - hunched up or ears down all the time or - you can just tell - then the kindest thing then is to help them on their way. But many hamsters just go peacefully in their own time when they are ready.

She is in her twilight time now but you may still have many happy months ahead x

[Lemon]

Thank you for the advice! I made sure to give her things to play with. I’m going to take your recommendation and wait a little longer than usual to clean her nest because she does have a separate spot to pee outside of it. We have also provided her with bigger, darker places to sleep before like igloos, but for some reason she chooses her nest over all of them anyway. I guess there’s just something she likes about it.

As of now, I am continuing my regular routine of taking her out to play for a little while every night because she still seems eager to come out and play. I usually watch her from a distance when she is up in the evening. She runs on the wheel and plays around with different stuff in the cage, but when she hears me come near sometimes she jumps up to the gate and chews on it. That kind of became her signal that she wants to come out since she knows I always bring her out to play when she does that. She has still been doing that when she hears me ever since I changed the cage setup.

For the past few months, I have also been giving her a small amount of probiotics that was recommended by the vet to help her immune system. She is very excited about the probiotics every day, and she still seems active and happy, which I guess is all that really matters. (She is the fifth hamster I’ve had, and the only one that continued to run on her wheel at this age)

Thank you again!