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Old 05-15-2020, 03:07 AM   #1
MrsS
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Join Date: May 2020
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Default Nest issues

Hi, we have had our rescue Syrian for 5 days now, and since watching him explore his new enclosure when we first put him in, we haven't seen him out. We've installed a night-cam and Hercules is waiting until after midnight before he gets up to thrash his wheel and collect his food to take back to the nest, so basically he is in his nest probably 20 hours a day. We are lucky in that he has chosen to nest in a bark log that we placed in the aquarium and is butted up to the glass, so we get to see him awake - cleaning, eating etc. in his little man cave, but my concern is, how do I clean it and how often? It is buried under 11 inches of bedding and in theory I could get to the log from the side and lift it (therefore not disturbing his burrows too much). From what I can see, he isn't toileting anywhere else, so it's not like I can spot clean. I don't want to stress him out but also I'm worried about the snack-stash sitting in his soiled bedding, especially with no ventilation down there. Thank you for taking the time to read this!
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Old 05-15-2020, 04:28 AM   #2
cypher
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Default Re: Nest issues

I can understand you not wanting to stress him especially while he is still settling in but if he is peeing in there & storing food it will need to be cleaned out fairly soon & then quite frequently so if you can I would try to encourage him to sleep & nest somewhere more accessable.
What kind of house does he have? If you can get a house with a top that lifts off that makes spot cleaning or just checking on them much easier, a house should be on top of the substrate but with no base.
I would be inclined to remove the log & put some of the substrate/nest with his scent on it into a house that is easier to keep clean with regular spot cleaning.
Much as I love to see hams having loads of deep substrate to burrow in sometimes it helps to have a little less while they settle so they can't just hide away all the time giving you no opportunity to interact with them.
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Old 05-15-2020, 04:43 AM   #3
MrsS
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Default Re: Nest issues

Quote:
Originally Posted by cypher View Post
If you can get a house with a top that lifts off that makes spot cleaning or just checking on them much easier, a house should be on top of the substrate but with no base. I would be inclined to remove the log & put some of the substrate/nest with his scent on it into a house that is easier to keep clean with regular spot cleaning.
Thank you. That does make sense and he has plenty of houses 'ground level'. I just feel bad because he loves his little log and we get to see him sleeping! When should I do it? Should I wait until he is out of it (2 in the morning?) or can I do it when he is in it and awake?
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Old 05-15-2020, 06:54 AM   #4
cypher
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Default Re: Nest issues

I would do it when he's awake, if you can do it when he's out of it that might be better but that depends if you want to do it at 2am! He won't be happy about it for a while but he hasn't been in there longs so he should settle again soon enough, if you can it may be best to take him out & put him in a carrier with some of his substrate while you rearrange things that way he should get less stressed.
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T'ycor, Ziggy, Zephyr, Flynt, Mickle, Little Whisp, Zen, Zeki, Tinwë, Zylvan, Míriel, Calyanwë, Gusto & Meri
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nest, bedding, log, clean, burrows, disturbing, lift, buried, concern, theory, inches, side, toileting, ventilation, sitting, soiled, read, time, taking, snack-stash, spot, worried, stress, glass, put

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