Hamster Heaven upgrade, when is the best time?

[BuddyBW]

Hi there,

I got my Syrian a week ago now and he seems to be settling in well. He currently lives in a savic hamster heaven and spends most of his day asleep in the penthouse. He absolutely loves his sand bath which he will soon grow out of so I've bought the savic spelos with the hope of turning it into a giant sand bath for him to play in. Does this seem a good idea? Also when and how should I introduce him to his cage extension? Should I wait a while to let him adjust to his already new surroundings, become more tame and then add it? I would also like to add that he is long haired, is too much sand a bad thing? Thanks

[EJoy123]

I'm sure he's enjoying that big cage My Syrians never seemed particularly interested in sand baths and I've heard that dwarfs are generally more interested, but as he enjoys it, go ahead! I do think it would be a good idea to wait a few weeks and get him better tamed before giving him a new area. I have read something about hammies getting dry skin from too much time in a sand bath, so keep an eye on him when you add the extension, and if needed, consider only giving him acces a few days a week.

Also I've heard of different types of sand causing respiratory problems etc, so may be worth looking into...

Hope this helps.
Congratulations on your new ham!

[CMB]

See how he reacts to the added sand area. If he likes it leave it and if he doesn't you can change it.

It may be a good idea to leave the small tray of sand. He could use it to pee in. They have a pee soon after waking up, so having a pee area that is reasonably close to their nest can help toilet training.

[cypher]

If adding the extension with the sand isn't really going to change what he already has in his current set up then no harm in trying it now, as CMB said if he doesn't seem happy with it you can always remove it again.
Sand is fine with long hair so no need to worry about that.