Hamster Central - View Single Post - Stressed out neophyte hamster owner seeking reassurance

sherahgeerah · 10-16-2021, 02:43 PM

Hi, I just joined and I think it is safe to say I'm stressed out.

We just got Albert (fancy bear Syrian) on Sunday 10/17/21 (day 1) and things seemed to be going swimmingly. He was so mellow and active and we were able see him a lot. He seemed content and unafraid and would borrow in one little corner when he wasn’t moving about this cage. We were happy and taking our time to get to know each other before trying to interact too much. We were so elated to find Victoria Raechel's You Tube channel and watched video after video. We had Albert in a Qute cage and then learned that the 450 square inches of living space should be contiguous. So we bought an Aqueon 40 gallon breeder and filled it with much more bedding. But now I am afraid we may have screwed up because we never see him! I was heartened to finally hear him on his wheel after not seeing or hearing him all day/evening of the next day after the move. But when I got up to go to the bathroom (12:30am) he freaked out and ran back into his burrow. He didn't come back out

although he did take a blueberry I placed for him at the opening of his burrow. I feel like Albert was already pretty tame from day 1, we moved him to the 40 gall on tank on day 4. On day 5/6 I started feeling like we are losing the chance to bond with him. I want to give him a good life and allow him opportunities to burrow but I also want to balance that with enjoying him. My son had the great experience of feeding Albert a small piece of carrot from his hand just a few minutes before the move. This special moment happened right before we gave Albert the choice to check out the new Aqueon cage (by tipping the bin of the Qute toward the tank and he crawled in as confident as can be). Then my son didn’t see Albert all the next day bc Albert didn't come out the way he had been around 4-5pm any more. I know part of it is the nocturnal thing and my son is only 8 so he needs to be going to bed when Albert is waking up. But that wasn’t the case before we switched to the tank. Last night (day 6) Albert didn't come out until 10:30pm! And while before he would move confidently around the Qute cage, in the tank he was peaking out several times before he came out confidently. My son did offer him some leafy greens by hand and thankfully Albert took them. Hopefully over time our rhythms will converge a least a little bit but I’m mostly worried we converted a previously tame creature into a more wild and skittish one by switching his habitat too soon and giving him too much bedding to hide in. We just don’t get to see him any more and I feel like what’s the point of having a pet you can’t see? Please give me some hope all is not lost.

10-16-2021, 02:43 PM
sherahgeerah Newborn Pup Join Date: Oct 2021 Posts: 2	Stressed out neophyte hamster owner seeking reassurance Hi, I just joined and I think it is safe to say I'm stressed out. We just got Albert (fancy bear Syrian) on Sunday 10/17/21 (day 1) and things seemed to be going swimmingly. He was so mellow and active and we were able see him a lot. He seemed content and unafraid and would borrow in one little corner when he wasn’t moving about this cage. We were happy and taking our time to get to know each other before trying to interact too much. We were so elated to find Victoria Raechel's You Tube channel and watched video after video. We had Albert in a Qute cage and then learned that the 450 square inches of living space should be contiguous. So we bought an Aqueon 40 gallon breeder and filled it with much more bedding. But now I am afraid we may have screwed up because we never see him! I was heartened to finally hear him on his wheel after not seeing or hearing him all day/evening of the next day after the move. But when I got up to go to the bathroom (12:30am) he freaked out and ran back into his burrow. He didn't come back out although he did take a blueberry I placed for him at the opening of his burrow. I feel like Albert was already pretty tame from day 1, we moved him to the 40 gall on tank on day 4. On day 5/6 I started feeling like we are losing the chance to bond with him. I want to give him a good life and allow him opportunities to burrow but I also want to balance that with enjoying him. My son had the great experience of feeding Albert a small piece of carrot from his hand just a few minutes before the move. This special moment happened right before we gave Albert the choice to check out the new Aqueon cage (by tipping the bin of the Qute toward the tank and he crawled in as confident as can be). Then my son didn’t see Albert all the next day bc Albert didn't come out the way he had been around 4-5pm any more. I know part of it is the nocturnal thing and my son is only 8 so he needs to be going to bed when Albert is waking up. But that wasn’t the case before we switched to the tank. Last night (day 6) Albert didn't come out until 10:30pm! And while before he would move confidently around the Qute cage, in the tank he was peaking out several times before he came out confidently. My son did offer him some leafy greens by hand and thankfully Albert took them. Hopefully over time our rhythms will converge a least a little bit but I’m mostly worried we converted a previously tame creature into a more wild and skittish one by switching his habitat too soon and giving him too much bedding to hide in. We just don’t get to see him any more and I feel like what’s the point of having a pet you can’t see? Please give me some hope all is not lost.