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Old 09-02-2018, 02:21 AM   #1
Clairajane
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Question Help! Very temperamental new Syrian.

Hi I'm new to the forum but I am hoping you guys will be able to help. We have had a new Syrian hamster called Gus for 2 weeks and he isn't settling at all 😩. He is the second Syrian we have had and he is completely different from Sparky. He seems terrified of everything and jumps at absolutely nothing. We have done all the usual things, we left him to settle in to his new home, put tissues in his cage with our sent on etc but he just bundles them into a corner. He pees in his bed but if I change his bedding he just pushes it all out of his tunnel and sleeps in the bare tunnel. If you put your hand in his run with a treat he will bite you and he flinches and plays dead if you get near him. He never seems to relax. I am starting to worry he will never settle 😢
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Old 09-02-2018, 04:09 PM   #2
Rads
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Default Re: Help! Very temperamental new Syrian.

Hi and welcome to HC, some hamsters don't ever settle properly, some hamsters take quite a time to get used to their Humans.
Ghost took ages compared with our other two, he would jump a mile if I got near him, he would chatter his teeth at me etc, all in all it took a good 6 weeks before I could handle him properly.
You could try sitting in an empty bath with Gus so he gets used to you and then he can interact with you at his pace it is only a suggestion, but I think you need to give him some time.
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Old 09-02-2018, 11:55 PM   #3
cypher
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Default Re: Help! Very temperamental new Syrian.

Hi & welcome to HC.
Sorry to hear you're having problems getting Gus to settle, 2 weeks isn't long though & all hams are different so he probably just needs more time.
What cage do you have? I was wondering when you said he sleeps in a tunnel, is it one of those external tubes or a tunnel in the cage? The external tubes can cause lots of problems with taming & hygiene & are better removed if he's got some kind of tunnel in the cage does he have a good sized house with no base on a deep layer of substrate too? Adjusting the cage set up can sometimes make all the difference & help them to feel a lot more secure & confident so if you have a photo of his cage it might help with any suggestions that could help.
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Old 09-03-2018, 02:50 AM   #4
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Help! Very temperamental new Syrian.

What Cypher said They all have different personalities - best not to do cleanouts for a while and let him settle. Removing tubes also will help although he won't be happy about it at first! If you have a cardboard shoe box you could put in for a house he'll probably use it and build a nice cosy nest in it and feel more secure and relax then. Cut the bottom out and a hole in for a door and keep the lid as a lift off roof. If it's large enough they sometimes move their pee place into a corner of the house I find but then you just put the litter tray inside the house in that corner. Both our Syrians, when they have a larger house, have had ensuite bathrooms Then you just take the roof off the house and empty the litter tray every 5 days or so and the rest of the cage stays mostly clean so less cleaning out necessary.

A lot of it sounds like taming needs. Our last Syrian was very much like this - the cage aggression initially was due to the cage being too small (it was a 3 tier rotostak thing) and he then got stuck in the tubes so we upgraded him to soemthing the size of the hamster heaven. He then grew huge and his toys didn't fit well so he then got upgraded to the Barney cage.

It took us quite a few weeks to hand tame him in the bath tub - a couple of times a week but once he was hand tame he was lovely and cuddly and used to go to sleep on my knee. He was always nervy and a bit neurotic though and if anything in his cage moved even a centimetre there was a major black look given and a major panic! Once the cage is set up right - probably best not to move things around as your hammy sounds like the type who needs everything to stay the same.
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Old 09-03-2018, 02:03 PM   #5
Clairajane
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Default Re: Help! Very temperamental new Syrian.

Thanks everyone. We are trying to be patient but I think it has taken us by surprise how totally different he is to our previous hampy. I think I have uploaded a pic of his cage and he also has a huge playpen. I will have to see if I can adjust the cage to remove his tunnel and provide home an alternative house but he seems to reject anything we can access! We will try sitting in the run with him and see if that gets him used to us but he jumps and plays dead at the slightest thing.
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Old 09-03-2018, 09:56 PM   #6
cypher
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Default Re: Help! Very temperamental new Syrian.

Unfortunately the style of cage you have isn't suitable for hams & can be quite intimidating for them.
Hams are ground dwellers so need one large space rather than levels, plenty of deep substrate to dig & burrow in & a nice large house with no base laid on the substrate. There really is nowhere suitable for your ham to sleep in that cage so it is understandable that he is very nervous & slow to tame.
You also need a large wheel which wouldn't fit in that kind of cage.
Have a look at the cages on Zooplus the barney, alexander & alaska are all pretty good cages.. The savic plaza available from P@H is another option.
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Old 09-04-2018, 11:28 AM   #7
Clairajane
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Smile Re: Help! Very temperamental new Syrian.

The cage is 50cm deep x 50cm long x 40cm wide the base is 12 cm deep and full of soft wood bedding. It has a tunnel leading to a sleeping house and there is also a little loose house on the ground level that he can use. The wheel is 8" diameter, which is the biggest I can find without going for the huge ones that are suitable for rats and ferrets. Our previous hamster Sparky loved this cage but I will look at the other reccomendations. Thank you for your advice.
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Old 09-04-2018, 01:09 PM   #8
Hammy992
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Default Re: Help! Very temperamental new Syrian.

A rat sized wheel of around 11-12 inches would actually be perfect for a syrian. The silent runner and wooden Trixie wheel are some nice ones that are very quiet and will allow them to run without an arched back.
A cage that is all one one level would definitely make Gus feel more comfortable; you can use a shoebox with the base cut out for a house, it would be more roomy and breathable for him as well as letting him burrow down into the substrate to get cozy which they enjoy. Plastic houses tend to sweat and get humid and smelly when they pee in them and can be a bit unhealthy.
The second cage we had for our last Syrian was a rat cage bought in an emergency after he destroyed his other one. It was taller than yours and we had to put in so many ledges, levels and hammocks to cover all the gaps and make it safe it was just not worth all the time and energy. Having big gaps on the sides of ramps can lead to falls and other accidents as hamsters are curious they'll try anything without hesitation and could hurt themselves.
Cypher has made some excellent suggestions for cages; my hamsters first cage was an Alexander and it was great. It comes with a wooden ramp, shelf and a massive wooden house which he just loved. Unfortunately when he was young he was an obnoxious chewer and made a giant hole in the base, hence getting the rat cage, but he settled down at about a year old and didn't do it again.
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Old 09-06-2018, 02:25 PM   #9
Clairajane
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Default Re: Help! Very temperamental new Syrian.

New cage arriving tomorrow! My only worry now is that we will stress him even more by changing his cage. Should we start from scratch with him ie. leave him alone for a few days to settle in before trying to tame him again?
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Old 09-06-2018, 10:39 PM   #10
cypher
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Default Re: Help! Very temperamental new Syrian.

Yes you probably will need to give him a few days to settle in, just see how he goes, transfer everything from the old cage to the new & don't clean anything now or for a few weeks after the move except spot cleaning any pee you find so that it all has his scent on it & he should be fine.
Once he's settled a little you may find you don't need to go right back to the beginning with taming but try to go at his pace.
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