Cage Cleaning

[AmityvilleHams]

At the very least I've found that my Syrian does require a larger cage.Just as you can provide as large a cage you want and not have it make up for a lack of enrichment,you also can't provide tons of an enrichment and a smaller cage and expect it to be just as good as a large cage with tons of enrichment.

One of the things I don't appreciate is that most people always focus on bar chewing as being the one stereotypic behavior but in reality there is so much more.Some people assume a tank will solve the problems,but really that's not true.A hamster can behave in a way that indicates stress and or boredom without chewing bars,for example stereotypic digging behaviors and as a similar but still fairly different alternative form of stereotypic gnawing some hamsters may chew at the sealant or if they have access they could also chew at a plastic rim on a glass tank.

I don't think never keeping hamsters as pets is the answer,but being more open minded and actually paying attention to any negative things a hamster does would be far better.

That blog can be very useful though,but with any source of information always look around for even more to get alternative perspectives.

There aren't really any dwarf related studies that I've found,but there is German care for them,though I don't have all the links at the moment.It's fairly easy to find though with a quick search!

[Pebbles82]

It's on this thread! Velma's time lapse video - partway down the thread. Which I started asking how to film at night (and still haven't done it).

How to film a Hamster at night?

[Almi]

AmityvilleHams, I totally agree with you.

I think there are a lot more stereotypic behaviors than just bar-chewing, too. Give us a list!

[Almi]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

It's on this thread! Velma's time lapse video - partway down the thread. Which I started asking how to film at night (and still haven't done it).

How to film a Hamster at night?

Haha, cute! "Hectorcam." That was interesting to watch!

[AmityvilleHams]

It might eventually turn into a whole separate thread,but I can definitely give a list of behaviors I've noticed so far which could be misinterpreted

Firstly,and one of the most unexpected behaviors,is as mentioned corner digging.This is something a lot of people would think of as normal behavior,but it is very different to normal burrowing and digging behavior as it ends up being so frantic and being paired with body language indicating that something is wrong in the habitat.It can be done in a similar way along the edges of a habitat as well,but I mostly see it being done in corners.In tanks,a hamster might chew at sealant while doing this.

Second,there would be pacing.It isn't necessarily that doing a tiny bit of this if you come near the enclosure is bad,but when a hamster does this continuously it is a very different situation.

The third common behavior I've noticed is having a hamster leap at its enclosure.This,again,isn't just because a hamster wants to come out if it sees you near its enclosure.I've seen this behavior with pacing.

There are some behaviors which aren't too concerning on their own but can be an indicator if accompanied with other behaviors such as those listed.Things like bottle climbing and lid climbing can become an issue if they're seemingly done to escape,or in tanks you could have a hamster end up chewing the plastic tank rim to try and escape.

I noticed that cage size,substrate depth,and enrichment all affected these behaviors but cage size had the biggest impact.Even with that in mind,going from a 20 long with just some basics and a bit of enrichment to an 80 x 50 bin with considerably more enrichment and deeper substrate with more hiding places and a wheel didn't give such a massive change.

I'd love to be able to give an idea of changes from those sizes to a square meter or larger cage,but unfortunately I have to wait a while to build my DIY cage That will start with about 4-6 inches of substrate and eventually go to 12 inches,so hopefully I'll get to a point where I can give perspective on that side of things and how it impacts the behavior along with cleaning.I'm not sure how I'll start with enrichment,but that could also be played around with.I might also throw in wheel size and enclosed vs not enclosed,but that will have to wait as I'd need to order at least some wheels.It won't be the same as having tons of hamsters do the same,but it is at least one perspective.

[Pebbles82]

I'd like to add one Doing circuits in a kind of crazy frantic fast way. I found this quite upsetting when our hamster was doing it, and it was definitely a stress reaction. We had been on holiday and taken him and his cage to someone else's house who was experienced with hamsters. We were away 10 days. It was when we brought him back the behaviour started (although apparently it started the night before we picked him up. Another hamster had died in the same room that night. Charlie started frantically bar chewing. Something he had never done before in his 80 x 50 cage. He was also literally like a headless chicken. Moving very fast round his cage in a kind of circuit. I think it was possibly the combination of the other hamster dying that night, and yet another change of environment - back to our home, after getting used to the first change. I was actually worried he'd have a heart attack or something because he never stopped racing around except to stop and bar chew. It took a couple of weeks to stop the bar chewing. I set the playpen up round the cage permanently and left the cage door open so he could go in and out, plus we turned the lights off and went to bed early when he started chewing the bars - he stopped when there was no-one in the room. What finally stopped it (ironically) was a full cage clean. Which removed all scent of his previous location and kind of "shocked" him out of it as it distracted him. He settled quite well after that.

I can't remember where I read it but there is a theory that this very excitable behaviour and high activity is also a sign of stress. It seemed quite obvious to us at the time as he clearly wasn't happy.

[flowerfairy]

When I first got Kashi (female chocolate smooth coated syrian) she exhibited loads of stress behaviours including the leaping to try to get out of her cage (a small storage bin whilst we waited for the barney to arrive), digging frantically and chew chew chewing.

She is waaay calmer now but it took a good few months for her to be more settled.

None of my hamsters are tamed as such but I have lovely relationships with them via food, chatting, out of cage time (except the robos who just get the food and chatting)!

I love cages and set ups and find the german studies very interesting.

[Almi]

Thanks for the replies, you guys. (Sorry for my late one.) I'd absolutely love to hear about your experiences with keeping our hamster friends happy, and I'll continue to share mine. We could keep this thread going, or make separate threads. Whatever works.

What about excessive sleeping or hiding? (What do you think is considered excessive?) Do you think that is a sign of contentment, or stress? While we're listing signs of stress, what about signs of contentment?

Also, this is kind of getting me thinking: how much responsibility should we assume for our hamsters' happiness? I mean, I even tell my kids that THEY are responsible for their own happiness: I just provide the needs. Of course, my kids aren't caged per se...but they are certainly limited in what they can do to exercise free will.

[Spunkys_Owner]

I have a small cage (unfortunately.) I clean it once a week and rearrange it every time. I change where I put almost everything, except for his sand potty, which stays in the back left corner. Reading the other comments, in the future I'm going to keep his water bottle in almost the same place and keep some old bedding as well so the change is less stressful. (I personally think all changes are stressful somehow.) He seems comfortable in it whenever I change the setup and leave him to explore for a day or two.
Of course, that's just Spunky. By the way, a synonym for the word "spunky" is brave, and Spunky's pretty brave, so he's fine with the changes. Not all hamsters like them, though.
I completely agree with Almi when it comes to big cages; bigger cages are only better if they're stimulating and if the space is used correctly.

Here's a vid on how to change your hamster cage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04HLk-bt6Mo

[jency]

being new to hamsters and in my 50's i have found this thread very interesting. i had my hamster in a tall cage where he adapted. i have put in a barney cage which is huge and he loves it. i put his old house on top of his new bigger house and he alternates between them. he loves digging and has made a few little holes that he lies in. he uses a potty for pee which is great. i accidently left a cage door open and found him sitting by it eating seeds.
the bit about having babies calming a hamster down intrigued me because a friend has a cat that she got as a kitten but wasnt held so completely unfriendly and would not sit on her lap or be stroked. after she had a litter she calmed down and is now such a loving cat.