New addition to our family - advice if possible.

[Kal]

So we have a new addition in the form of a 10 week old male syrian. Our family has never had hamsters before so its all new to us. He is currently in a large pets at home cage which I now know is too small so we have just ordered the Slavic plaza to replace it! We haven’t yet handled him as we don’t want to scare him or be bitten 😁. We have had him for a week and he takes good from us but won’t come into our hand if we leave the food on our palms. My son has stroked him gently and he seems ok with that. The cage has tiny doors so we find it hard to put our hands in without it looming towards him (hence getting the larger cage doors on the plaza). My main questions if anyone can help are:

- should we do a full clean after just a week or as we have spot cleaned is that ok until we get the new cage?
- do you think we should try and handle him before he moves into his new cage which will likely be at the start of next week?
- does he need to go into a ball for exercise yet or can that wait? If he should how do we get him in it as we haven’t yet handled him?

Sorry if these are silly questions.

[Pebbles82]

Hello and welcome Not silly questions at all. Taming is something that takes a bit of patience and playing by ear. However the first two weeks are very important for the hamster settling in to their new environment and it's usually not recommended to clean the cage for the first two weeks. If it starts to get a bit whiffy with pee then after a week or so you could "spot clean" the pee area (they usually choose a place to pee - often a corner of the cage) by taking a handful or two of wet substrate out (but don't go too crazy and take a lot out) and adding a handful or two of new substrate, then mix it in a bit so it still smells familiar.

Hamster scent mark everything in their cage in the first couple of weeks as it helps them find their way around (they don't see well at all) and know where everything is - also it's making it their own. When everything is cleaned it removes their scent and that's very stressful for them. So ongoing - weekly cleanouts are not recommended really (even though pet shops say they are) and the main thing is to never clean everything at the same time, so something always smells familiar. Human instinct is to do a good cleaning job and have everything clean, but it's better to do substrate at one time, wheel a different week, and any toys etc as and when they need it (toys tend not to need cleaning that often). Also mainly just spot clean and don't do full substrate changes too often. Don't worry about poops - they eat them sometimes or hoard them, which is normal as they have two stomachs and can redigest nutrients from them. Their poops aren't smelly - they are like little hard black seeds - so unless they start taking over in a big way no need to spot clean those.

The trick is - to use a litter tray and lots of substrate. I use a corner litter tray that works well. You put chinchilla bathing sand in it and Syrian hamsters will use a litter tray (for peeing) - they are quite clean little things really and wash a lot and even rearrange the bedding themselves sometimes. They will only use the litter tray if you put it in the right place! ie the place they have chosen to pee in. I'll link the one I find good - it's not too big and not too small and an open one works better than an enclosed one - they pee in the back corner and ours sometimes sit in the front part for a wash.

Also the more substrate you have in, the less often you need to clean. Three to four inches minimum but 5 or 6" is good. It takes up a lot at first but ends up working out cheaper as you only need to empty the litter tray every 5 days or so and occasionally a bit of spot cleaning. With that method I go at least 2 months before needing to change the substrate, and even then only replace about half of it - the bottom half tends to stay clean and dry - and mix in the old with the new again so it still smells familiar. Some people replace all of it but keep some of the old to sprinkle on top. It really helps reduce their stress or feeling invaded - which also helps with taming and them trusting you.

Not sure what substrate you're using, but a lot of people on here use Fitch, which is paper bedding and sold in 10kg or 20kg bags - it works out cheap so you can use loads and it still lasts ages. I'll link that too. You need a lot to fill a 100cm cage! I get the 10kg bag and use about a third of it to fill a cage from scratch - but the bag lasts me well over 6 months.

The Savic Plaza is a great cage and your hamster will be very happy in that. However cage changes are also stressful for them so it would be best to wait at least 3 weeks before upgrading. Then to make the upgrade as smooth as possible I would suggest the following:

Fill the base of the new cage with substrate, add a couple of toys and maybe one from the old cage as well, and let the hamster play in it for a while, but return them to the old cage. They may panic and want to come out of the new one quite quickly. Later on (or next day) do the same thing again and they should explore it and get interested. Then return to the old cage. Give it another day and then move the hamster over. I find it works much better than cold turkey, especially with a new hamster (from painful experience!).

Before moving them you'll need somewhere to put the hamster while you take things out of the old cage to put into the new one. If you have a good sized pet carrier, you could put them in there with substrate, a little house or cut up tissue box for a house and some food, or a large plastic bin if no pet carrier.

So leave all the new substrate in the new cage (it will be a bit familiar after they've been in it already) and also take all the old substrate from the old cage and spread it out on top in the new cage. Try to put things in the same place/layout as the old cage - eg house on the same side as before, wheel in the same place - that kind of thing. It will be slightly different with the cage being different but if you can keep the basic layout more or less the same it helps. Don't clean anything - just move everything over. It'll be fine for another couple of weeks. And again you then do the two week thing of just leaving everything while they settle in.

When setting up the new cage, try and make sure everything is easily accessible - eg ladder not too steep - water bottle reachable etc - so you don't need to do any tweaking after the hamser moves in.

The Savic Plaza is fairly tall for a hamster cage - so it's important to fill the base with substrate, as high as you can, to cushion any falls if they climb up to the roof. And avoid having any hard or pointed/sharp toys on the substrate they can fall on - a good place for these is under or on the shelf.

For nesting material, plain white toilet paper is best. Tear sheets into strips and put a big pile in the cage and they take it to where they want to build a nest - don't put it in the house - they like to forage for it and pouch it and take it to the nest themselves.

Move the old nest over inside the house though, unless it's peed on. So it's familiar. And also move the hoard across to the same place. Their two most precious things are their nest and hoard, and they get very upset if those are messed with. I tend to leave the nest almost permanently (they shove bits out and replace them!) - unless it gets pee'd on and then you have to remove it - but try and leave a bit of the old nest behind and put new toilet paper bedding out so they can rebuild it. The same with the hoard. Dry food hoard is fine to leave for quite a long time - you can prune it when you eventually do a substrate clean as they can get quite large. But if the hoard gets pee'd on again you need to remove it but again try and leave a bit of dry hoard behind and always add new food to replace what you've taken out, in exactly the same place.

All of this allows the hamster to have normal behaviours - foraging, nesting, hoarding and maintaining their habitat/territory - and so they are then easier to learn trust and to tame and don't get too stressed. I tend to spot clean when they're in the cage so they can see what's going on and they get used to it then. Although initially, before they are fully tame, they can object to a hand in the cage and see you off (run at your hand) - depending on the hamster - they all have different personalities.

For now taming can start with just talking to them through the cage - they get familiar with your voice, then offering a treat through the bars, and then a treat on the palm of your hand (best if your hand is just outside the door or just inside so they don't feel like something is going to attack them). It sounds like you've been able to handle/stroke the hamster already and that is the main thing - for them to accept touch - so it's a good start. But until they're fully tame they can "ping" if you try and hold them (ie wriggle free and leap 2 feet in the air!) and can hurt themselves or run away, so best to always hold them low and over something cushioned. Bathtub taming is a good way to start - they can't escape and can get used to gradually being stroked and handled.

The cage change may set taming back a bit temporarily - especially as you need the two weeks settling in period again, but should progress well after that.

Potty

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamster-cor...=Hamster+potty

Fitch substrate

https://www.fitchfirst.co.uk/fitch-p...s-gerbils.html



Before movin

[Pebbles82]

Forgot to mention hamster house, which is important! They need a house big enough to build a big cosy nest and that is dark inside - so they always have somewhere to retreat - a nesting box. There are some very cute little houses sold but they don't suit the purpose. Ideally a house should be open underneath and sat on top of the substrate - it's more hygienic - plastic houses with solid bases get condensation and they can't have normal behaviours. Their normal behaviour is to bury their hoard under their nest usually and they like to burrow down in the substrate and dig - and some dig tunnels.

If you don't have a house, a shoe box makes a good house. Cut the bottom out and use the lid as a lift off roof - and it doubles up as another platform. And cut a hole for a door. Putting a bendy stick bridge over the door also makes a tunnel entrance and makes the house dark inside so they're more likely to use it. If the house is too small for a good nest they may ignore it and build a nest under a shelf or something.

Toys etc - rat toys are a good size for Syrians - most hamster toys sold are for dwarf hamsters and too small and some are very badly made. Anything cardboard or wood is fine, but fabrics, open runged ladders, and chains are dangerous. Rat sputniks are good (plastic hanging hammock) And rat sized tubes and floor tunnels. Anything with an entrance needs to be at least 6cm in diameter or they can get stuck (with full pouches).

[Kal]

Thank you so much. Your replies are so helpful. It’s a shame we didn’t get the right cage to start with with but so helpful to know how to make the move. We were going to move him straight over when we get it delivered as he looks so big in his current cage but now we will take our time.
He also currently has a half wheel type thing as, again, that’s what we were advised, but since read that it may affect his posture so we now want to get a proper wheel which will fit on the side of the Savic cage - can you recommend a good wheel? Obviously the Savic doesn’t have tubes which is part of his current cage - I know it’s better not to have them but will he miss them do you think?
Thank you so much.

[Kal]

Also, just to update - prior to seeing these replies tonight, our man took a piece of walnut from my sons hand. Son put his hand in the cage with nut on top and he put front paws on his hand to take it. He seemed quite happy to do this so we may try and get him into the bath soon to get more used to us.

[Caribwannabe hamsterowner]

Hi I'm new here I'm still tryna figure this out but I live in the Caribbean where it ranges from 89 to 68 degrees f( not sure of the degrees in celsius) throughout the year. I it too hot to own a hamster because I really want one but I don't want it to suffer. Any advice

[cypher]

Kal
There's a guide to hamster wheels here that you might find helpful.
Guide to suitable hamster Wheels
The best quality & most silent wheel is the Silent Runner, they are expensive but well worth it imo.
I wouldn't worry about the tubes tbh, he may miss them at first but you have so much space for enrichment in the Plaza I'm sure he'll soon forget them!

Caribwannabe hamsterowner you would do better to start a new thread if you have a question but the temperature where you are is very high & certainly not ideal for a hamster, if you can keep a room cool with either fans or air conditioning & put things like mugs or granite tiles in the fridge to cool then put them in the cage you can keep a hamster comfortable & safe but I don't think it would be easy & it would require some thought & planning.
The ideal temperature for a hamster is around 18-20c or 64-68F.

[Pebbles82]

Forget about the tubes Usually they aren't big enough anyway and there are cases of hamsters getting stuck in them - especially with full pouches. Any kind of tube as a floor toy will go down well - cardboard pringles tubes or a kitchen roll inner tube slit down the length (so it expands). Savic also make a nice big rat tube - I have one and have had it tied to the side of the cage Inside) or to the roof inside where it leads from a shelf to a sputnik, so makes a kind of roof run - I'll add a photo or two of our cage layouts over the years. I use plastic cable ties or sisal string to attach them (sisal string is safe to chew, normal cotton string isn't).

Wheels - I have the Silent Runner (that's Runner, not spinner). It's only available from an ebay seller or from the sugar glider shop in the Uk. It's the best wheel I've ever had - hasn't broken and still working great after 2 years and on our second hamster. It's silent (has ball bearings) and spins really well. You can also attach it to the bars but that means buying a special bar attachment which costs another£5. I like it attached to the bars because you can site it higher up and have room for plenty of substrate underneath.

However it isn't cheap - you're talking about £30 with the cage attachment plus postage. When the 28cm Trixie wheel is perfectly fine and only costs about £10.

By a half wheel, assume you mean a flying saucer. You can have both, if you have space as a hamster would enjoy that, but a flying saucer must be 12" diameter for a syrian to run properly on it, and it's still best to have an upright wheel as the main wheel. An upright wheel should be between 10 and 12" for a Syrian - they run much better in larger wheels. 11" is the average and is fine. The Silent Runner is 12" - and although quite large, it spins well - and isn't too deep and bulky.

This is the savic rat tube. If you get one though, don't use the chains as that can lead to a hamster hanging by a broken leg! I use the tabs on the tube to attach between the bars, which partly holds it in place, plus a couple of cable ties or some sisal string. But they are quite happy with floor tunnels as well.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Savic-Giant...savic+rat+tube

Rodipet in Germany sell some great Hamster stuff - houses, toys, food etc. It can be a bit addictive looking on there! You can use google translate to read it. They ship to the Uk but postage is about £8 whether you buy one item or a load of things.

I have two of their cork tunnels though as they work well in a big cage as floor toys and also as a thing to climb over (nice texture). You can also get cork tunnels from reptile shops or on Amazon but they can be huge - the Rodipet ones are the right size for a cage.

If you did get anything from there I think the cork tunnels and the granite slate are worth having. The granite slate sits on a shelf under a food bowl or under a water bottle so it keeps their claws in trim every time they go to eat - so their nails don't get too long. Or you can use a terracotta plant pot base instead.

https://www.rodipet.de/shop/zubehoer...-ca-25-cm.html

https://www.rodipet.de/shop/haeuser/...legestein.html

This is the Silent Runner wheel and attachments

https://sugarglidershop.co.uk/produc...nner-12-wheel/

https://sugarglidershop.co.uk/produc...silent-runner/

This is the Trixie plastic wheel - not silent but usually quiet - I believe this can be attached to the bars but couldn't get the one I had to attach! For a floor standing wheel you can just have substrate a bit lower in that area.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trixie-Exer...xie+28cm+wheel

There is also a wood Trixie wheel with cork running surface that's about the same price, very popular also, and silent. The downside is it needs the wood and cork surface painting with plastikote water based enamel paint (pet safe) so it's wipe clean or they end up stinky. Zooplus sell that at a good price.

https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small..._wheels/609617

[Kal]

So we moved him tonight. We have a trixe 12inch wheel which he found straightaway but hasn’t been back to it since. We moved everything from his old cage to the new and kept it as much the same as we could with a few new additions such as the wheel. He has explored lots but hasn’t been up the ramp into the shelf yet. He did climb up the bars and then climbed on top of the large wheel, ran on top of it and obviously fell off. Unfortunately he fell into his old half wheel but we assume he’s ok as he just carried on running! Is it common for them to climb on top of their wheels? Anyway he’s sat in his food bowl (which he likes to do) and had a drink so we think he’s ok and settling into his new home. We haven’t used the litter tray as I realised I bought chinchilla dust from p@h and it should be sand so I hVe ordered sand from amazon and will be returning the dust! Thank you for all your advice - it’s been invaluable. What a great forum.

[cypher]

It's not unusual for them to climb on top of the wheel if they can, I had a little Chinese girl who would build mounds of fitch so she could do just that but tbh it's safer if they don't or if you can make sure there's nothing hard to fall on! If need be I have put cardboard on the bars behind the wheel to discourage that.
I'm sure he'll explore everything in his own time.
If you're unsure about anything in his set up a photo would help if you want suggestions for changing anything.