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Originally Posted by Serendipity7000
She sounds very scared! They can be like this when they've just arrived - new home, new cage etc - lots of different smells. General advice is to leave them alone for 2 or 3 days to settle into the cage, without disturbing anything. During that time she will scent mark around the cage to find her way around and build a nest somewhere. They are also more scared if there isn't much overhead cover - ie quite exposed. So having a shelf, a house, the odd hidey place and tunnel and plenty of substrate (4 to 6 " deep) should make her feel secure. If it's a bit exposed/not enough substrate now I'd put some more substrate in now, and add something (a cardboard tissue box makes a an ok hidey place) to give more cover/hidey places - and do it and then leave her three days to settle.
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I also have an older male Syrian hamster (Hamtaro) in the room. They're in different cages, near each other but not directly next to each other. You said she (my new dwarf hamster) sounds scared, so could she be afraid of the other hamster? They haven't met, and I have no plans to introduce them, but could being in the same room be scaring her?
I'm also worried I might've messed up her adjustment process because I got really excited about how friendly she was, and instead of leaving her alone to get used to her new cage last night, I kept putting my hand in because she kept crawling into it and sitting there, which really surprised me because Hamtaro took 6 months to fully tame and this new hamster seemed to like me already. But I'll definitely leave her alone now. I just hope I didn't stress her out on her first night.
Also, I gave her an actual hideout, but she seemed to really like the box she came in instead, so I left it in her cage, and she seems to like to sleep under it. This might be a dumb question, but can she breathe under there? It kind of worries me.