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Old 03-16-2018, 08:23 AM   #1
chloeeruth98
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Default Is everything ok with my new hamster?

Hi everyone from myself and Maisie (pale golden baby Syrian)! I'm a first-time hamster owner, and I brought little Maisie home less than 24 hours ago. She has a Ferplast Criceti 80x50cm cage, to which I added a tube loop around the front of the cage. She has a freestanding silent spinner, a ferplast hideout and a strawberry-shaped hideout, and also a few tunnels and gnawing toys, and an extra little corner platform with ladder.

I'm just a bit confused by her though... A lot of people say new hamsters are shy and scared, and will hide away until there's no-one around. But Maisie climbed out of the travel box I put on the floor of her cage at 6pm, and didn't stop exploring and playing in her tunnels and her wheel all evening, and was bedding down thismorning about 7am. Does that mean she is stressed and wasn't settling, or is that just happy hammy behaviour?

Also, she has made her nest not in one of the 2 hideouts I put in her cage, but in the U-bend of the clear ferplast tube that goes around the front of the cage... is this a good or bad thing? She has taken all the muesli from her bowl up there and also some bedding and some remains of a chew toy, and she's pretty much slept all day curled up in the clear tube at the front of the cage!!

Any comments/advice/reassurance would be so great!
Thanks
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Old 03-16-2018, 08:41 AM   #2
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Default Re: Is everything ok with my new hamster?

Hi & welcome to you & Maisie
Her behaviour is completely normal, some hams will act like that & spend a lot of time exploring straight away while others will hide, they're all individuals but certainly nothing to worry about.
The tube needs to be removed, it's a common problem but tubes can get very unhealthy very quickly if they sleep in them, they will often sleep, store food & pee in them which really isn't good! The sooner you remove it the better really then she will settle somewhere else.
The strawberry house won't be big enough for her to sleep in, not sure about the other one tbh but if it's small give her a nice sizes cardboard box with no base just directly on the substrate & make a small door for her, give her lots of shredded toilet tissue to make a nest too.
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Old 03-16-2018, 08:50 AM   #3
chloeeruth98
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Default Re: Is everything ok with my new hamster?

Quote:
Originally Posted by cypher View Post
Hi & welcome to you & Maisie
Her behaviour is completely normal, some hams will act like that & spend a lot of time exploring straight away while others will hide, they're all individuals but certainly nothing to worry about.
The tube needs to be removed, it's a common problem but tubes can get very unhealthy very quickly if they sleep in them, they will often sleep, store food & pee in them which really isn't good! The sooner you remove it the better really then she will settle somewhere else.
The strawberry house won't be big enough for her to sleep in, not sure about the other one tbh but if it's small give her a nice sizes cardboard box with no base just directly on the substrate & make a small door for her, give her lots of shredded toilet tissue to make a nest too.
Thanks okay will remove the tubes, she has taken quite a lot of bedding up there so if I pop that in the new cardboard house hopefully she'll get the message! I'm guessing it's best if I leave her just for now until later on because right now she's fast asleep (still in the U bend) and I don't want to stress her out, being so new?
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Old 03-16-2018, 09:03 AM   #4
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Default Re: Is everything ok with my new hamster?

Hello and welcome to HC.
Maisie's behaviour is normal. It does depend upon their individual personalities to whether they explore as soon as they are brought home or whether they hide away. All of my girls have always had a good explore as soon as I brought them home. So their is nothing to worry about with her behaviour.
Did she have a house in the pet shop? As most pet shop hamsters aren't used to sleeping inside houses so does take them a while to realises that house make a good place to build a nest. Syrians often like to sleep inside a large house - as cypher suggest cardboard boxes are ideal for houses.
I also agree with cypher in regards to removing the tubes.

Maisie looks adorable and is a beautiful colour!
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Old 03-16-2018, 11:03 AM   #5
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Default Re: Is everything ok with my new hamster?

Welcome to HC and to Maisie. You have been given excellent advice already so I won't repeat it only underline it. It is rather disheartening to bring home a new baby and then realise that all you have done is not the best set up. Don't worry- we have all been there and pass on the advice based on our own mistakes! A cardboard house can be made easily either from a shoe box or something like a tea bag box. Empty out tea bags, cut out the base so the house sits on the substrate for burrowing, cut out a door and leave the hinged top so that you can easily peep inside to check on things. Cheap and easy to replace when needed.
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Old 03-26-2018, 04:29 PM   #6
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Default Re: Is everything ok with my new hamster?

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions

Update: Maisie has settled into her new house very happily, ironically it's the box the tubes originally came in with the base cut off and a doorway cut into the side. She pouches up the paper wool and carefresh bedding I scatter on top of the litter I use as a substrate, and has made an adorable nest! After a week I replaced the tubes and she now just uses them as an alternative route between the two little platforms in her cage; no hoarding food, napping or moving bedding in there anymore! She's a lot calmer too, and since I've started on taming her she's beginning to sit in my hand to eat a sunflower seed or maize grain!! <3
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Old 03-26-2018, 11:40 PM   #7
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Default Re: Is everything ok with my new hamster?

That's really good news
I'm not sure what paper wool is but the best & safest thing for nesting is shredded plaim white toilet tissu.
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Old 03-27-2018, 05:16 AM   #8
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Default Re: Is everything ok with my new hamster?

That's excellent news. Ditto what Cypher said about nesting material. Don't use any fluffy bedding as it's dangerous. Plain white toilet paper torn into strips is best. If it's something unsuitable then best to take it out and put a big pile of the toilet paper strips somewhere in the cage and let her take them to build a new nest (she should pouch them and take them back to the house). Although they don't like their nest being messed with it's a better option than leaving fluffy bedding in the cage.

It's a nice cage I would also suggest adding enough substrate that she has at least 3 to 4" depth - more if you can. It means you won't need to clean out so often (which does stress them) and can mainly spot clean. So it saves on substrate and hamsters can enjoy burying things in it or moving it about into heaps.

She looks like a cream coloured syrian What colour are her eyes. Black or dark red?
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Old 03-27-2018, 01:13 PM   #9
chloeeruth98
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Default Re: Is everything ok with my new hamster?

Thanks cypher and Serendipity7000 paper wool is kinda fancy strips of toilet paper... think I'll be using normal toilet paper after I've finished this stuff as it's a bit of a rip off! I put the paper wool strips in her strawberry house so she can pull out what she wants and pouch it for her nest in her cardboard house. I've purposefully avoided fluff or kapok as I read it isn't good. I've also avoided wood shavings as a substrate and I've used about 3in of fibreCycle small animal litter topped with about 1in pets at home paper bedding flakes, which Maisie pouches and uses for her nest. I tried putting a shallow tupperware with about 1.5in tiny friends farm sand in her cage today, which she loves digging in.

Yes Serendipity7000, she's a gorgeous cream colour with dark red eyes <3 I'll attach a pic of her sat up in her playpen where we're bonding for a few mins each evening now. She just heard a noise from outside the window whilst eating a little cube of carrot, she'd been quite happy letting me stroke her gently this time she ate
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Old 03-27-2018, 01:39 PM   #10
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She's adorable I also have a red eyed cream boy.
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