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Old 11-10-2020, 05:39 AM   #1
Lizchewy
Hamster Pup
 
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: Wales
Posts: 61
Default Roof popped off house

Hello, I've just started posting about my son's rescue hamster Chewbacca (Chewy). He is 17 weeks old and a male Syrian, sandy coloured all over. He didnt have a good start with his previous owner but not sure of the details. He is not tame yet but he has been settling in well, eating from our hands and coming when called. He is in the savic plaza. Anyway last night when I checked on him before I went to bed i saw that the top of his igloo had popped off and he was sitting behind it staring at his exposed bed. I should add here that he has two natural grassy hideouts at ground level but he has chosen to live in the igloo on the platform ( which I really just put there as an extra hideout). He has filled the igloo with so much toilet paper and food that it has popped open. Should I have given him less paper? I thought he would only take what he needs in but perhaps they take everything? Anyway, I put my hands in and tried to pop the lid back on. My hands were right under his nose fiddling with his house which must have been stressful but his ears remained upright and he didnt make a sound or bare teeth or try and bite, he just watched me. I couldn't do it whilst it was in the cage so had to lift the igloo out for a few seconds then I put it back in. After this he was very jumpy for a while if i walked in the room but when I spoke to him he stopped jumping and played. This morning he was back in his igloo with his face poking out. I handed him a very small amount of tissue with my scent on and he took it with his paw into his house. I gave him a whimzee too which he took in. Later on this morning I was sorting laundry in my sons room and he was chattering his teeth from the igloo. This stopped when i spoke to him. I also noticed the igloo is looking like its going to pop open again soon so is obviously not the best house. So, my plan is to make a cardboard box house like the descriptions I've read on this forum and to put it in his playpen for him to explore if he will come out to play tonight. Then if he seems to like it I was going to take out the grass hut and put it on ground level under his shelf with a small amount of toilet paper outside and a treat inside. I will leave his igloo as it is on the shelf. I'm hoping he will move into this more suitable house by himself? If he doesn't should I take the igloo out and put the cardboard box house in its place on the shelf? I'm not sure why he has decided to live on the shelf. The water bottle is up there but I'm going to order a second for the ground level. His food bowl is on the ground level plus I scatter feed him mostly at ground level. If he wont come out to play I may put the new house in his cage later when he us up and about anyway so he has the option of it if the igloo pops again. He is due a partial clean tonight but I'll leave it another 2 days. He is potty trained so shouldn't be too stinky!!! If anyone sees any flaws with my plan please could you let me know? Thanks so much Liz
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Old 11-10-2020, 06:42 AM   #2
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Roof popped off house

Hi there. This is a problem with the smaller houses - they do need to build a large nest for the winter - its instinctive and also practical as they feel the cold The bigger the house, the happier he'll be but don't put it on the shelf, put it at floor level on top of the substrate and a house that's open underneath. That way he can burrow down a bit and bury hoards under his nest and it stays cleaner and better ventilated.

A cardboard house at floor level is a good idea - a shoebox is ideal. Cut the base out of the shoebox and keep the lid as a lift off roof (although don't keep taking the roof off as that freaks them out - it's just for the rare occasion you need to check or empty a litter tray).

If you cut a door at one end of one of the long sides of the box, he will nest at the opposite end where it's darker - and you could even fit a corner litter tray inside at the door end at the back - if there's enough room. They tend to use the litter tray if it's inside the house. If the house isn't big enough for one don't worry, he'll probably choose a corner of the cage as a toilet and you can put a litter tray there.

To tempt him into the new house you could put a smelly treat inside - eg cucumber or cheese and a bit of hamster food. And put a pile of paper nesting material next to the house or nearby (but not inside it - they like to take it in themselves to build the nest).

Ideally put that in without taking the old igloo out and wait for him to move in - they usually move into a big dark house overnight - or maybe the second night. But if he's very attached to the igloo (had that before) you might need to take it out altogether if he doesn't move into the cardboard house straight away.

But be careful until he moves as they can go into torpor if they get too cold and that usually leads to death. If he doesn't have enough nesting material at the moment he could get very cold at night - so until he's moved and built himself a big nest, make sure the room is kept warm enough - 20 degrees. Overnight when the heating is off the temperature can drop very low and it's coming to the time of year when we get frosts overnight.

I have a small oil filled radiator I leave on in the room overnight - on a thermostat - so it only comes on if the temperature drops below 20 degrees - which at this time of year it does at night so it does come on, but goes off again once the temperature is warm enough.

They can also get a bit upset and anxious at their nest being removed or not secure.

If you have a bendy stick bridge it's also a good idea to put that over the entrance of the cardboard house to make a tunnel entrance - it doubles up as a ramp onto the flat roof. That almost always tempts them inside!
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Old 11-10-2020, 08:26 AM   #3
Lizchewy
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Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: Wales
Posts: 61
Default Re: Roof popped off house

Thank you for your help Serendipity. I noticed my shoe box had a hole in the side which could potentially trap Chewys head so I fashioned another box not as big but twice the size of the igloo. I'll put it in tonight. The doorway will be underneath the end of the bendy bridge leading up to the platform so it will be overshadowed. Ill put the box on the substrate at ground level with more substrate on top and around the box to insulate as there are a few little slits in the cardboard. I'll upgrade to a proper shoe box when I get one. Does it matter if the cardboard on it is printed? Does it have to be completely plain incase they chew it? Also, with them burrowing in the substrate beneath their house to store food, how would you change the substrate in that area without upsetting them? Do you just take out the food, change the substrate and then push the food back down roughly where it was before? Thank you for all of your help! I appreciate it. Liz
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Old 11-10-2020, 09:29 AM   #4
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Roof popped off house

I've never had a problem with printed cardboard. Once they have substrate underneath you should find that the nest area stays clean and dry - they don't tend to pee in their nests once they're past babyhood and can actually be quite houseproud and refurbish their nests regularly when they have enough space. Hoards buried under the nest similarly are fine left for a long time as long as nothing is pee'd in. You might find hoards elsewhere in the house as well that sometimes get pee'd on so in that case you'd need to spot clean that bit of hoard out - and then replace it with new food in the same place (otherwise they start peeing on it more to stop you stealing it!).

I never really touch our hamsters nests - they are dry and their hoards underneath get left until I do a substrate change - which is usually at least 3 months. At that time I "prune" the main hoard under the nest and remove the bottom two thirds of it (they can get quite large) which is the oldest food. The dried food keeps quite well hoarded and they usually only hoard the dried food - any fresh food like veg they usually eat straight away rather than hoarding it - but only give very small amounts of veg - eg 1cm cubed sized piece.

Which reminds me - it's a good idea to freeze hamster food for a week before using it. If you haven't already then it'll be fine but it's a good idea from now on. To prevent outbreaks of bugs. Most pet foods contain moth eggs which are too small to see and in the right conditions (usually warm weather but can be a warm room in winter) they can hatch out. Speaking as someone who had a moth infestation from hamster food! Freezing the food for a week kills the moth eggs and anything else that could hatch out Never had a problem since.

Anyway basically they are very precious about the nest and hoard and it is best to leave it alone - unless it's pee'd in. Hopefully your hamster will pee somewhere else. Mature hamsters usually pee well away from their nest and hoard and the pee area can be easily spot cleaned. Or if you use a litter tray you just empty that once or twice a week. And the rest of the cage stays clean and dry.
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Old 11-10-2020, 10:03 AM   #5
Lizchewy
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Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: Wales
Posts: 61
Default Re: Roof popped off house

Ah thank you! Ok I'll do some rearranging see if I can make Chewy happy. Thank you for all your tips! Aspen arrived today too so I'll be slowly changing his bedding to that aswell. Looks great. Seems to hold its shape for burrowing. Yes Chewy has just stopped weeing in his house and on wheel, just in potty and sandbath now. Much easier! Thanks again x
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Old 11-10-2020, 01:41 PM   #6
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Roof popped off house

You’re welcome. It’s a learning curve - and they teach us! It takes some willpower not to keep tinkering with their cages which for us may be creative but for them is a complete invasion of privacy!

He may still get stressed by changes in the cage - they tend to accept something new being added but don’t like things being moved or removed. So if you can pop a bit of substrate in and mix it in a bit at the same time as popping the new house in it’ll be only one disturbance
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Old 11-10-2020, 03:00 PM   #7
Lizchewy
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Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: Wales
Posts: 61
Default Re: Roof popped off house

Ah just reading this now after I've put the new house in but luckily I did put the Aspen in too mixed up with usual bedding! Made a really soft floor. Luckily he came out for a play tonight and seemed fine. My partner accidentally popped a balloon which caused some teeth chattering but he stopped when I spoke to him and came to me for food so that's good. On returning to his home he has gone straight in the new house. He popped out briefly then went back in so I think he likes it! It's twice as nog as the igloo, much more cosy and dark. I'll swap it for bigger box when I get one but I'll leave it like this for a few weeks. So glad it seemed to go smoothly!
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Old 11-10-2020, 04:18 PM   #8
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Roof popped off house

He sounds lovely and friendly. Yes if you replace the house just lift the old one out and pop the new one over where it was so his nest is still inside.
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