Hamster Central - View Single Post - Happy in small cage, stressed in big cage.

Pebbles82 · 07-11-2021, 02:41 PM

There is also settling in time. Any hamster gets freaked out and stressed after a change of cage and it can take two weeks (during which time no cleaning or tinkering with the cage contents) for them to settle in. As Ria says also when doing a cage change there needs to be no cleaning at that time and everything moved over - old bedding, old nest etc and similar layout - helps them settle a bit quicker and be less stressed.

Having said all that - some hamsters don't feel so happy in bigger cages especially if they are slightly nervy. They may not come out of their house much or may creep around the sides to avoid the open space in the middle. But - they probably use most of it at night. A babycam on infrared at night shows what they get up to!

I would suggest your friend sticks it out for a couple of weeks with the new bigger cage and doesn't disturb anything much and leaves the hamster alone for a bit - it's like when they first come home. The hamster won't instantly be wanting to do the normal coming out to play stuff - but will do so again once they've settled in.

07-11-2021, 02:41 PM
Pebbles82 Hamster Antics Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 23,533	Re: Happy in small cage, stressed in big cage. There is also settling in time. Any hamster gets freaked out and stressed after a change of cage and it can take two weeks (during which time no cleaning or tinkering with the cage contents) for them to settle in. As Ria says also when doing a cage change there needs to be no cleaning at that time and everything moved over - old bedding, old nest etc and similar layout - helps them settle a bit quicker and be less stressed. Having said all that - some hamsters don't feel so happy in bigger cages especially if they are slightly nervy. They may not come out of their house much or may creep around the sides to avoid the open space in the middle. But - they probably use most of it at night. A babycam on infrared at night shows what they get up to! I would suggest your friend sticks it out for a couple of weeks with the new bigger cage and doesn't disturb anything much and leaves the hamster alone for a bit - it's like when they first come home. The hamster won't instantly be wanting to do the normal coming out to play stuff - but will do so again once they've settled in.