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Stubbo · 01-17-2022, 12:57 PM

So am in a quandary.

Our hamster, Hoover, has now been with us for 2 weeks. According to the pet shop acquired from he's now 14 weeks old.

All was going well, with him setting up a nest in his Rodipet Maze House, which is sat atop 5.5 inches of Carefresh bedding. However, 3 days ago it became apparent he was relocating underground, where he has burrowed out space below the shelf his wheel sits on.

Having looked in the house today (which we'd left undisturbed for pretty much the 2 weeks as suggested to allow him to settle), all the toilet paper strips that he had located in there has been removed and we assume taken to his new burrow.

There is also no sign of any 'wet' bedding within the house. Aside ensuring he has food and water and the occasional tidying of toys he's knocked over, we've not 'spot cleaned'. There has been no odour, and still no obvious sign of a urine site.

We've hand fed him on two occasions (he's rarely active in the open outside of 11pm and 5am which isn't great timing for attempting much in the way of handling). The room he's in is maintained by thermostat...no lower than 18degrees at any point, and up to around 21 degrees in the evening when we use the room.

So the question is what to do. We can't now clean his area without digging his burrow up, and with no clear sign of a urination location, spot cleaning just the wet areas seems next to impossible, plus with the hours he's keeping above ground, any kind of taming is scant.

Should we go for a "hard reset", finding a way to get him out and then restarting his cage, maybe with the Maze house part buried and the wheel shelf removed, or do we just "wait and see"?

As far as we can tell we've followed all the suggested advice. He's got plenty of space, burrowing opportunity and enrichment. The room is in the right temperature range. We've given him the to settle.

Suggestions of how to proceed now would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for reading.

01-17-2022, 12:57 PM
Stubbo Newborn Pup Join Date: Nov 2021 Posts: 16	What to do with Hoover? So am in a quandary. Our hamster, Hoover, has now been with us for 2 weeks. According to the pet shop acquired from he's now 14 weeks old. All was going well, with him setting up a nest in his Rodipet Maze House, which is sat atop 5.5 inches of Carefresh bedding. However, 3 days ago it became apparent he was relocating underground, where he has burrowed out space below the shelf his wheel sits on. Having looked in the house today (which we'd left undisturbed for pretty much the 2 weeks as suggested to allow him to settle), all the toilet paper strips that he had located in there has been removed and we assume taken to his new burrow. There is also no sign of any 'wet' bedding within the house. Aside ensuring he has food and water and the occasional tidying of toys he's knocked over, we've not 'spot cleaned'. There has been no odour, and still no obvious sign of a urine site. We've hand fed him on two occasions (he's rarely active in the open outside of 11pm and 5am which isn't great timing for attempting much in the way of handling). The room he's in is maintained by thermostat...no lower than 18degrees at any point, and up to around 21 degrees in the evening when we use the room. So the question is what to do. We can't now clean his area without digging his burrow up, and with no clear sign of a urination location, spot cleaning just the wet areas seems next to impossible, plus with the hours he's keeping above ground, any kind of taming is scant. Should we go for a "hard reset", finding a way to get him out and then restarting his cage, maybe with the Maze house part buried and the wheel shelf removed, or do we just "wait and see"? As far as we can tell we've followed all the suggested advice. He's got plenty of space, burrowing opportunity and enrichment. The room is in the right temperature range. We've given him the to settle. Suggestions of how to proceed now would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading.