I bought my male syrian hamster Dennis nearly 3 weeks ago and I feel I have got nowhere really. He is a very shy and nervous boi and as soon as I enter the room or talk to him he runs into his den. I've managed to give him a treat through the bars once. He has charged at me a few times and chewed frantically where my finger was on the bars. He's taken the tissue with my scent into his den multiple times so I don't really understand why he's still so nervous.
During the day I talk to all 3 of my hamsters as I'm pottering about spot cleaning and general maintenance while they are sleeping so they know my voice also. I had to pick him up gently when it was time to clean his cage the other night and it was a good job I wore gloves as he was nipping them like crazy which tbh has me really nervous to put my hand in and try giving him a treat. He's made weird chattering noises and yawned alot showing all his teeth when I'm around.
I have him in the Alaska cage from Zooplus without the platform.
Is this sort of behaviour normal for syrians? My dwarf hybrid Xuli has taken to me no problem within the same time frame and is a lovely energetic girl. Am I doing something wrong? Advice is always helpful.
This is Dennis
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This is his cage and setup:
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Note: I know he could probably use some more toys and stimulation but the places I've looked are all dwarf kinda toys. Any good places for syrian size toys? Also he is only on the bed for a few days while I build some drawers for me and for him to live on top of. The radiator is turned off and I normally have the curtains closed.
Here we have a grumpy boi when I was taking the photos
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