Need advice with toilet training my Syrian

[P0pc0rn]

Hi there, just joined!

I bought a female Syrian from a pet shop a week ago, and they said that she is a couple of months old. She's settling in well and is becoming quite tame as I make sure to interact with her every evening and handle her regularly.

I've been cleaning up inside her cage every day and giving the cage a clean once a week. She seems very content in her cage. I just have one problem:

The way that she behaves and uses her cage is bothering me. She takes the food from her food bowl and 'hides' it in the plastic tubing (that she ought to use for exercise). This I don't mind, I think it's interesting to watch - she has a wheel for exercise anyway so it's not a problem. The problem is that she urinates in the tubing too! Four problems with this: it's surrounding her food, and I'm not sure if she's clever enough to know not to eat it; it leaks through the ventilation holes in the tubing onto whatever surface I keep her cage on, such as my desk; the smell is really bad, as there are no shavings to absorb it; and she sleeps in this tube too, so in the morning her fur is all matted near her back legs as she's been sitting in her pee!

I recently bought a hamster toilet from Amazon, and some litter. I keep clearing the droppings from it every day and putting in the fresh ones that she made that day, that she did elsewhere in the cage, to reinforce the fact that she should use it as her toilet. I'm just a bit concerned because she's still urinating in her plastic tubing, as well as in her food bowl (once she's relocated all the food)! ...And on closer inspection from watching her just now, it looks like she's urinated on her exercise wheel as well!

All the places that she goes do not have wood shavings, so I can't pick them up and put them in her toilet to show her where she should go. Which is funny because on her first night she did go in one corner of shavings, but once I cleared the area she hasn't been there since.

Is there anything more that I can do, other than wait for her to get used to her toilet, and keep washing everything that she urinates on? Is she possibly doing it because the cage is too clean and she is marking her territory? Could it be that she doesn't like doing it on wood shavings so does it wherever she can? ...is she just lazy and urinates wherever she happens to be at the time? Any advice will be welcome. Thanks!

(Also, on a side note, would an admin be able to contact me to change my details? I made a typo when inputting my date of birth when logging in - I accidentally said that I was 90!)

[Amethyst_ice]

Hello and welcome,

Little babies do all sorts of odd habits, they are just getting used to the world :)

Can you move the tubes off or block them up? WIthout knowing which cage you have many syrians grow too big for tubes and can get stuck in them.

xxx

[P0pc0rn]

Hello and welcome,

Little babies do all sorts of odd habits, they are just getting used to the world :)

Can you move the tubes off or block them up? WIthout knowing which cage you have many syrians grow too big for tubes and can get stuck in them.

xxx

Thank you :)

I could remove all the tubing - it is detachable. It's this cage: Ferplast Tube line paula hamster cage (http://www.pawspetsonline.co.uk/ferplast-tube-line-paula-hamster-cage-16600-p.asp) so without the tubes it's quite small (When I bought it, the people in Pets at Home said that it's a suitable sized cage for a Syrian, but once she was in it the cage looks quite small. I do get her out every day though).

Could it possibly just be a case of cleaning out all the things she does her business on, and try to transfer the wet shavings into the toilet, until she gets the idea?

[GhostsInSnow]

I got Fudge to use her litter tray by getting bedding/substrate with her pee on and putting that in with the litter.
She poops everywhere (which is easy to clean up) but she pees only in her litter tray now :)

What I would say about the cage though is that the floor space is a bit too small for a Syrian. So she might start to get bored/stressed quite quickly

[P0pc0rn]

I got Fudge to use her litter tray by getting bedding/substrate with her pee on and putting that in with the litter.
She poops everywhere (which is easy to clean up) but she pees only in her litter tray now :)

What I would say about the cage though is that the floor space is a bit too small for a Syrian. So she might start to get bored/stressed quite quickly

She only pees on things that are plastic, so I think I might have to put a rubber glove on, grab some of her shavings, rub it in the pee, then put it in the toilet. Do you think that might work? How long did it take Fudge to learn to use a litter tray?

Yeah I realise now that the cage is too small... is there any solution other than buying a new one, such as having a large play area or something, that I can put her in every evening? Or if I were to buy a new one, is there anything that you'd recommend? (I really don't understand why the company says that it is suitable for a Syrian if it really isn't!)

[NotsoLittleOlive]

They don't really poop in one place. They tend to have a pee corner and the idea is the toilet litter keeps the smell down.
I'd take a piece of kitchen roll or some shavings and rub them in the urine stained tubes, then put that in the toilet.
You'll find taming easier if you take the tubes away for now - they tend to retreat there otherwise.

[GhostsInSnow]

The Mini Duna is advertised as being suitable for 1 Syrian yet it's only really suitable for a dwarf hamster. I hate that cages are marketed at the wrong animals >.<
You could take a look at the show us your cages thread for ideas.
My Syrian is in an Imac Fantasy with 2 expansion packs. you can normally pick the base cage up for between £20 and £30 second hand off ebay or between £30 and £45 brand new.
Other good cages are the Hamster heaven, ZooZone 2 and the Alexander cage :)
Or alternatively (and cheaper) you could make your own bin cage :)

She was using her litter tray within a week (or maybe even just a couple of days, I can't wuite remember). It means I don't have to clean the cage as often (just spot clean for poops and stuff and her litter tray gets a spot clean every couple of days :)
Yeah try rubbing some shavings or some ripped up tissue in her tubes and then put it in the litter and see how she goes :)

[NotsoLittleOlive]

Just realised you thought of that :P

Some hams will never use their toilet. You just have to persist and see.
Usually the key is preventing them peeing in the areas they shouldn't - which can usually e done by putting toys there etc, but that's not really going to work with the tubes :P

For a Syrian you ideally want a cage that is 80x50cm. One example (which is really cheap on sale at the moment) is the Barney from zooplus.co.uk. With the new customer 10% discount it's £35 with free delivery.

[P0pc0rn]

Yeah the cage-size thing sucks, it means that people like me, who have never had a hamster before, feel really incompetent for buying the 'wrong cage' that's too small - which then makes me worry that people will say I'm a bad owner for my little Popcorn having a little cage!

But yes, anyway. Thanks for the idea about the 'show us your cages' thread, I didn't know there was such a thread! I'll have a look over there. I'm tight on money at the minute so I'm going to have to try and get her out the cage as much as possible until I can get a bigger one - making a hamster bin might be a good idea! I don't have much storage space either, though, so will have to think of something!

I think I might take her tubes away and see how she is - she moves all her food up there too, instead of leaving it in her bowl. Not sure if this is something all hamster do.

Plan of action:
- rub sawdust in pee, put in toilet thing
- remove tubes
- get her out every evening to play in more open areas
- look for a bigger cage!

Also, is there a limit to how long they should be out for? Does it not matter so long as they have access to water and food? Thanks for all your help so far, this forum looks really great. :)

[NotsoLittleOlive]

If they have access to water then it doesn't matter - they usually let you know when they wanna go back anyway ;)

[GhostsInSnow]

I don't think there's a limit as long as you don't keep her out excessively (like if she wants to go back and nap or something)
Fudge's routine is a quick cuddle then 20 minutes in her ball depending on how long she wants (she chews when she wants to come out) then she gets cuddles and free roaming on my bed. She has about an hour and then I pop her back. If she wants to come out again she does, if not she goes and plays on her flying saucer :)
Your ham will make sure you know if/when it wants to stay out/in :)

And don't feel too bad about the cages. I was lucky and joined here before I got Fudge otherwise if I hadn't and hadn't researched, Fudge would probably be in a way-too-small cage. Shops shouldn't be allowed to sell the wrong sized cages. it doesn't help when the picture on the box/tag is a Syrian seemingly happy in there
There's also the bargain cage thread in the housing section. You might be able to find a good cheap cage/tank there too :)

[P0pc0rn]

Update on Popcorn:
She's started using her hamster toilet, hurray! I took out her climbing tubes for the time being, so she can't pee in them, and she's learnt to pee in her toilet. She possibly does a little bit in her house too, which is naughty, but I'm sure she'll stop over time.
She now takes all her food from her bowl and puts it in her house - obviously doesn't trust me!
Also, she's a lot more tamer! I get her out into her ball every evening for half hour to an hour every night, and will open the ball and she'll crawl onto me. She now seems very content to crawl all over me without being too scared. She doesn't make that horrid squawking noise any more, which is a relief!

I am also looking to get a bigger cage with a bigger exercise wheel, as this is clearly too small for her. For the moment, until I get some spare money, she seems content though. I have also bought some hamster wooden chew toys for her to chew on to try and stop her chewing on the bars (which I think she does because she wants to come out and play, rather than being bored or anything serious).

Thank you for all your help! :D I feel a lot better now, I was really worried in that first week.

[Cgallduff]

Hey I'm having similar issues, only my hamster JUST pees in one place in his tubes...the bit that hangs over my carpet lol! I've just cleaned his cage out Took away the tubes but I'm feeling really guilty as he has just ran from entrance to entrance searching for his beloved tubes (where, yes, he too stashes his food!)...he eventually quit running about desperately and went into his little house for a snooze or a sulk...how long does anybody think it is ok to deprive him of his tubes? I did have quite a groovy set up for him with bends and hills etc..should I try a hamster toilet? How big are they? His cage is quite jam packed with items So I might have to remove one to put one in 😰😰...

I was also wondering how you know when the want to come out/go back in??

Our old hamster was a roboroski and I never managed to tame him...he would take food from me and sometimes come on to my hand if I put a pile of food on there but if you got him out he would leg it all over the pen super stressed out and would never sit in our hand and let you stroke him or anything! I don't want this one to go the same way...ziggy is a Russian dwarf hamster and will come up to the bars and interact with me but I'm a bit scared of him as he launched himself onto my thumb one time when I was putting something in there lol! I'm sure he was just frightens of my giant finger and not rabid but it's got me a little scared! My daughter sits in the pen with him and he runs about and climbs on her but I can never work out if he's happy or not!

#rabbitsareeasiertoworkout #usuallygrumpylol