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Caitctus · 04-03-2021, 07:53 AM

Hi everyone!

About a month ago now, we have moved our Russian dward hamster (Aragorn) from a Zolux Neo Nigha cage (78x48x36cm) to a Detolf cage.

In the old cage, Aragorn used to dig and burrow a lot, and had an entire tunnel system and an underground food stock point. The cage enabled us to have a layer of about 12cm, which wasn't ideal, but he always found a way to make it work.

Now that he's in a Detolf, with a layer of about 20cm (maybe even more), he just doesn't burrow anymore. I've left some tunnels like cork tunnels under the bedding so he can always hide there as well (as recommended by Victoria Raechel on YouTube), and I've spreak some orchard hay between the different layers of bedding so his tunnels hold on better.

On the left side of the cage, there is hardly any bedding, because I put his very tall house there, and bedding would've prevented it from fitting in the cage at all. He basically stays in the lower floor of this 'castle' and sleeps and hoards food there.

Although I've added more hiding spots here and there, mainly on top of deeper layers of bedding, he's just not interested in them. He tried to dig from the inside of the house at the top of the thickest layer, but gave up after he dug 2cm in and never tried again, even with snacks. If I try to show the way by digging the beginning of a tunnel, he covers it back.

Is there a problem with him? Have I done something wrong, perhaps? Or is it maybe normal behaviour when hamsters switch environments (knowing that I transferred some bedding from the old cage to the new one)?

Thank you for your help!

04-03-2021, 07:53 AM
Caitctus Newborn Pup Join Date: Mar 2021 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 6	Hamster stopped burrowing Hi everyone! About a month ago now, we have moved our Russian dward hamster (Aragorn) from a Zolux Neo Nigha cage (78x48x36cm) to a Detolf cage. In the old cage, Aragorn used to dig and burrow a lot, and had an entire tunnel system and an underground food stock point. The cage enabled us to have a layer of about 12cm, which wasn't ideal, but he always found a way to make it work. Now that he's in a Detolf, with a layer of about 20cm (maybe even more), he just doesn't burrow anymore. I've left some tunnels like cork tunnels under the bedding so he can always hide there as well (as recommended by Victoria Raechel on YouTube), and I've spreak some orchard hay between the different layers of bedding so his tunnels hold on better. On the left side of the cage, there is hardly any bedding, because I put his very tall house there, and bedding would've prevented it from fitting in the cage at all. He basically stays in the lower floor of this 'castle' and sleeps and hoards food there. Although I've added more hiding spots here and there, mainly on top of deeper layers of bedding, he's just not interested in them. He tried to dig from the inside of the house at the top of the thickest layer, but gave up after he dug 2cm in and never tried again, even with snacks. If I try to show the way by digging the beginning of a tunnel, he covers it back. Is there a problem with him? Have I done something wrong, perhaps? Or is it maybe normal behaviour when hamsters switch environments (knowing that I transferred some bedding from the old cage to the new one)? Thank you for your help!