[mikatelyn]

Ok thanks!
We've gotten into a nice routine where he'll either already be awake and ready to play in the mornings and evenings when I normally freshen his water or scatter some food around his cage, or will come out of his nest within moments of hearing me do these things and start looking for treats from me. He'll normally be really active for at least an hour or two if not more, so I don't think it's a schedule issue. It really seems to be a lighting issue. He seems to hate any lighting that doesn't result in very dark or even pitch black videos! Usually this means a light spilling in from the hallway is ok, but anything brighter and he starts hiding. I've often thought that people would likely find it funny if they saw me in that moment, a grown woman sitting in the dark, in a bathtub, with a hamster running all over her! And I've been avoiding flash for exactly the reasons you said. I think I'm going to try using light with a dimmer and increasing the brightness VERY gradually while he's in the play pen. It's good to know that other hamsters will tolerate more light though, because that means he could maybe get used to slightly brighter than twilight- like conditions. I'm wondering if maybe he's just not used to the light since I've been keeping everything so dim for him