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Old 02-23-2017, 02:38 AM  
Pebbles82
Hamster Antics
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: Today, I brought home Donna

Congratulations on your new hammy. She sounds rather vocal! I have heard of some chirruping frequently - talkative ones See if you can work out what she's talking about. It could be happiness over lots of substrate, it could be annoyance at something that isn't quite right in the cage or she could just be a chatterbox.

The fact they need to live alone can make them easier to bond with a human so that's a plus.

For her environment, the key really is lots and lots of substrate (not pine if you are in the US and not cedar), lots and lots of paper nesting material (torn up strips of plain white paper). Boxo is a popular substrate than can be bought in bulk. Otherwise Kaytee Clean n Cosy is good. Try and have min 4" and up to 6" if you can so she can burrow and build mountains.

Plus a good sized house/nesting box - somewhere dark she can hide and build a nice big nest. A good option for this is a shoebox. Cut the bottom out and a hole in the front. And have the open bottom on top of the substrate so she can bury hoards in her house. They like to snack and sleep in privacy The lid can be good as a lift-off roof, so you can check inside without taking the house out - that way her nest doesn't collapse.

Other than that toys are mainly tunnels or hidey places. Rat sized toys are good for Syrians - tubes need to be big enough so they don't get stuck with full pouches. Anything with entrance holes needs a hole of at least 6cm diameter (eg house windows). Tubes about 7cm plus diameter really.

A shelf a platform is quite important, it's something for them to sit under and also something to climb onto and can be a useful place to put a food dish so it doesn't tip over.

Enough floor space and a 10" to 12" wheel. Tall cages aren't good - they can fall and injure themselves. If it's taller than 40 to 45cm then you'd need a full level in it really.

Tanks are popular in the US and Petco do dollar per gallon sales so you can get a 40 gallon breeder tank for $40. It's about 3 feet long by 1 foot 6 inches deep.

The advantage of a tank is you can have really deep substrate so they can dig tunnels and burrows. But it can feel a bit exposed from the top so large floor tunnels, shelves and levels and plenty of hidey places on the floor can help them feel secure.

Cleaning is the big change probably. Don't overclean as it stresses them out. For the first 2 or 3 days leave them alone to settle in, then don't clean anything for the first two weeks, or move things around. They scent mark to get familiar with the cage and layout and cleaning and moving things disrupts their scent trail.

If a wee area gets a bit whiffy you can take a handful out and replace it with a clean handful and mix it in a bit.

Syrians tend to use a litter tray if you put one in the place they've chosen as a toilet. You can put Chinchilla sand in it (must be sand not dust). If it's big enough it could double up as a sand bath. Or likewise a sandbath could become a toilet. Or you could have both

The key with cleaning is - the more substrate you have, the less you need to do a full big cage clean. You can spot clean mostly. Poops aren't an issue, they're not dirty or smelly and they sometimes hoard them and eat them for extra vitamins.

Then when you do think it's time for a big clean (I go 3 to 4 months before doing one but our hammy used a litter tray), try and save some of the old substrate (maybe the bottom third) and mix it in with the new. Then do the toys a different week to the substrate and the wheel a different week again. In other words, don't clean everything all at the same time - leave some things familiar smelling.

It's a human instinct to feel satisfied at having the whole thing clean all at once, but it's very disruptive for the hamster. As if you came home and found your room had been decorated and all the furniture had been moved round and everything smelled perfumy - it wouldn't feel like your room and you'd feel a bit weird.

I just use a damp cloth or warm soapy water (eg dishwashing liquid) for cage cleaning - no need to use disinfectant unless there has been illness or disease. You need to avoid scented things.

I'd also use Harry or Hazel Hamster as a good basic mix. They are the same formula produced to different countries labelling requirements. Contains all nutrients required and just about enough protein.

Most people supplement a bit with a few extras - the ocasional mealworm, small piece of cheese or half a brazil nut adds protein. Also a small piece of fresh veg every day (every 2 or 3 days at first until her tummy gets used to it). I used to give a different one each day - out of carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, green beans. There are other veg's suitable but not tomatoes. Also cabbage and lettuce aren't that good for them and if used it should be rarely. Just a very small piece about 1cm cubed size (not necessarily that shape though!)

Pumpkin seeds are very popular and could be good for taming treats

Once she's settled in a bit for a few days you could start taming, if she isn't hand tame already. You can start by offering the odd treat through the bars. If it's a tank, hold the treat between finger and thumb maybe. Although sometimes they don't like a hand in the cage so in that case it might be easier to have her out of the cage and have treats on the palm of your hand.

Some people do the tissue trick to help them get used to your scent - some toilet paper sheets up your sleeve or down your bra for a couple of hours, then tear them into strips for nesting material and put them out in the cage. When she uses them your scent will become familiar.

Playpen or bathtub taming can help too - you can sit in the playpen or bathtub with her and let her run all over you. It needs to be secure though. So maybe on her own at first and just see if she gets used to being stroked while in there.
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