Quote:
Originally Posted by dorianhamster
My male Syrian used to burrow all of the time until he just decided to stop one day. It's the same thing with my female. They were really into it when I first brought them home and stayed into it for a few months then eventually they just stopped. My female Syrian even rearranges how much bedding is on each side whenever she feels like it. Currently, one side has very low bedding and the other side is stacked almost to the lid. Neither of mine has had any health concerns or problems and they both seem enriched enough as they remain active and energetic. No signs of depression or anything like that, and I did leave them more than enough room to burrow.
However, I will say that I have heard of hamsters getting depression due to lack of enrichment or a change in environment. I have not dealt with that personally, but I heard somewhere that changing too much of their bedding at once can freak them out and/or cause them to get depressed. It was a while ago that I heard that so I am unsure of the source.
As long as you are meeting the size requirements for the cage and giving them enough bedding, what the hamster does is up to him. Neither of my hamsters are really into it, so from what I can tell you there's nothing unusual about it. It is just the individual's personal preference. If your little buddy is otherwise active and seems to be enjoying life then I don't see why it would be an issue.
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I'm so sorry that I took ages to reply!
I don't think that Aragorn became depressed since we switched cages. If anything, he loves it! He's much more active and eats better (although he's getting tired of the food we have, even if we try to switch things around as much as possible so that he has a diverse diet). Half of the bedding in the Detolf is new bedding, the other half being his old bedding, in which he used to nest (we've made sure that it was clean, of course).
Someone else suggested adding more hideouts, which we did, and now he's burrowing everywhere. He especially loves his new Hobbit house, which I've built myself. It has an open back, so he can decide to just chill in the 'hall'or dig up or down as he wishes. It has a roof, but I cut a wide hole so he can also just go in from the top of the house (which is sheltered underneath a bendy bridge). He now wakes up less often during the day, but is very active at night!