:( boredom

[xkellyx]

I've just gone to feed Peter and he's just laid there in his ledge. He often sits there and sorts his food out etc but he was just laid down and he looked sooo bored :( I feel so sorry for him!

He has a hamster heaven cage with a few toys in (wooden maze mainly to chew, toilet roll tube, massive wooden wonderland wheel, a treat stick and a wooden climbing frame with holes in and a ladder to go up it. He very rarely uses his wheel. He's not quite hand tame so its not like I could pick him up and have him out for a bit- we have a spare room which at the minute just has 2 sets of drawers in. I wouldn't mind letting him roam in there but I dread to think how I'd get him back in his cage and he's most likely going to go under the drawers. He loves his ball- I normally put it in the cage near him and he walks straight into it and loves running around for ages and then I put it on the stand so he is running continually for a good 5-10 minutes because I know he doesn't seem to like his wheel.

What else can I try to cheer him up and not be bored. I feel terrible :'(

[Cupcake]

Hello xkellyx, I'm sorry but I don't know what sort of hamster Peter is and neither how old he is, but if your wheel is massive it could be that he has a hard time making it turn? this might explain why he doesn't use it... have you tried a flying saucer? it has increased in popularity among hams that don't like wheels :) hope this helps!

[xkellyx]

Hey. Sorry maybe should have said! Peter is a Syrian hamster and he's 4.5 months old. He's quite a big Syrian even at his young age. He LOVES running in his ball when its on the stand so I'm sure it can't be much different to running in his wheel which is why I'm confused. But yes that probably is why! He has the 29cm wooden wheel. He does look tiny in it but I thought with it being quite thin and lightweight he'd be ok running in it. What size wheel is best for a larger Syrian? A local pet shop said 6" would be fine but personally that's far too small! He does use it now and again as you can see wee marks which I've tried to clean off with not much luck. I'd probably say he was about 12cm in length but that's not measuring him properly

[Cupcake]

No worries! nono 6'' is a lie, 12'' is good just like your wheel. My syrian has a 12inch silent spinner and is just perfect for her. You can't go wrong with big wheels it;s better to be safe so that their little backs don't arch and cause health issues.
Cupcake loves running in the ball too, but is not wheel shy, however it is not uncommon for a hamster to prefer a flying saucer to a wheel. Look into it and give it a try if you can, it might make your little guy a little more active while in the cage :)

[xkellyx]

I've just had a thought, now I feel thick!!! I had a 6in one cos I had two dwarfs but I kept it when they passed on and Peter used to use that, the only reason I took it out is because it was too small and he couldn't run on it but her always sit on it (clearly wanting to run) so I will buy a 12" one and hopefully he'll use it! Can you recommend any good boredom buster toys that hamsters are likely to use. His cage is pretty full with stuff so i would like to get some more toys that he's more likely to use to replace those he doesn't use?

[Cupcake]

The kabob is a hit with my ham and i put some favourite treats on it but also other stuff like wood chews, it makes her chew through the wood to get to the treats making it a longer process, also I found in a local petstore small willow balls and opened them up and put something like her food in it, makes her work for her food! and also her food I place in toilet paper rolls and close both ends :)
and I got her a hammock recently and she spends a lot of her time in there grooming and snoozing so I guess she loves that too.
But one sure way of making your hamster more active is scatter feeding , in case you aren't doing it I really recommend it. Plus it encourages natural behaviour like foraging, digging and burrowing

[xkellyx]

I'm about to order him a wheel and a few small treat/toys. Also, he's currently in sawdust. Do you know where is best to get that horse bedding from? I want to say megazorb but I'm pretty sure it's not? Lol

[Cupcake]

Sorry I'm not aware and I'm not sure we live in the same place

[shiny]

Hi xkellyx, we use Megazorb - that's the horse bedding stuff. We get it from our local horse supplies place. You can just go on to the Northern Crop Driers website Graze On Natural Horse Feed Grass Products - Northern Crop Driers (http://www.northerncropdriers.co.uk/) & look for stockists near you. I think it's great substrate & our hamsters all like digging in it.

Our Syrians both have the 29cm Karlie wooden wheel & can turn them fine. We hardly ever see them use their wheels though, they seem to like to run on them really late at night, 2 or 3 in the morning.

Do you have a sand bath for Peter? Our hamsters all love their sandbaths. I have also got those little treat burgers & cones occasionally from Rat Rations, they seem to give the Syrians a bit of a challenge :). We also give mini Bonios which seems to keep them occupied.

I would keep going with the taming so that eventually you can get Peter out more. Have you tried setting up a playpen for him? Maybe just a big cardboard box that he can't climb out of with some new things to do in it. You could get him in & out of the cage and box in his ball or in a nice big jug or something if he is happier with that than being picked up.

Peter sounds cute, I'm sure he was just looking a bit sleepy, it sounds like he has lots of things to do in his Hamster Heaven :).

Let us know how you're both getting on :)

[xkellyx]

Yeah that's the stuff I meant! Lol thank you! Ill have a look and see if I can find one locally.

I'd like to get him a playpen but wasnt too sure what I could use. It's a shame I can't get something that folds away because our spare room has pretty much nothing in it so he could have a pretty big playpen.

No he doesn't have a sand bath at the moment. Sand is on my list of things to buy this weekend. What do you use to hold his sand and do you leave it in there all the time?

Thanks :)

[evel_lin]

I stuck Sherlock's sand in an old ice cream tub! Contains it quite well for the most part :) Playing in a full size bath (obviously without the water!) can be good fun for them and near impossible to escape from. You could put lots of toys in there for him to explore?

[Seedless]

If you let him run around the floor or in a playpen you'll probably find that he'll willingly get into his ball when you want to put him back in his cage. My 4 month old hamster is very skittish and difficult to lift. I have her out every night in the bathroom so she can run around and get used to handling. When time's up I just put the ball on the floor and she hops in straight away. Then I just transfer her back to the cage.

[shiny]

I'd like to get him a playpen but wasnt too sure what I could use. It's a shame I can't get something that folds away because our spare room has pretty much nothing in it so he could have a pretty big playpen.



We got one of these in the small size Fabric Pet Playpen Dog Cat Puppy Guinea Pig Rabbit Play Pen Run Pink New S M L | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fabric-Pet-Playpen-Dog-Cat-Puppy-Guinea-Pig-Rabbit-Play-Pen-Run-Pink-New-S-M-L-/290781372073?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Dogs&var=&hash=item43b3eb9ea9) & it's great.

It folds up in its own little bag & stores flat when you have finished using it. I never leave a hamster unattended in there though just in case they siuddenly become a little escape artist! You can put loads of toys etc in. I use it with the zip on mesh top as the base with a towel over the mesh to prevent little toes getting snagged.

Lots of people use salt pigs or something similar for a sand bath, I have a big ceramic utensil pot on its side half buried in the Megazorb for Teddy's sand, he loves it :)

[essentiallysue]

When I was in a sewing fabric shop, I bought a cardboard cutting board for cutting fabrics. They have them in all the stores and they fold up. I cut it in half and taped the ends together. It makes and nice gate that I use to section off the living room from the kitchen area. When not in use, it folds up nicely and stores against the wall. It is tall enough that a Syrian can't get over the top, as he could do with the pet store playpens that fold up. I hammie-proofed the living room and he loves running around with us while we watch TV.

[xkellyx]

sorry for the late post. I have been having him in the bath(with no water) almost every night but I end up putting him back in his ball because he seems to walk around and on me for about 5 minutes and then he just tries to run up the side and slides back down and he will do this for ages. The spare room we have is a double room so there is loads of room for him to wonder but at the same time do you not think it could be too big of a room when trying to tame a hamster? He has started getting used to be picked up in the bath and he will willingly walk from hand to hand so there is progress but I just dont want to get him out in the double room and then he just run off all the time. The flying saucer i have ordered for him was 'dispatched' on wednesday and its still not arrived :( hopefully it'll be here tomorrow!

[Flamestriker]

My long haired rescue Syrian often just plonks herself down somewhere in her cage for several minutes and lays still...I think it's because she's cooling down after all of the running around! It really is cute...and she is the only one to ever do this.

[xkellyx]

So even though Peter is fully tame, he's never *touch wood* bitten me so I've decided to hamster proof my spare room which he's in and I've taken the lid of his cage for him to have a wonder round the room. I'm hoping its going to be fairly easy to get him back in- I've got a ladder going from the floor to his cage so he can go in if he wants. Should I leave him to wonder for tonight and then maybe start picking him up tomorrow? He seems to be loving running around as he's pretty much got a big double room to just run as we only have two set of drawers in this room

[xkellyx]

Sorry to bring up an old thread but his boredom doesn't seem to have got any better. He just looks so bored and just sits there. He's got plenty to chew. I'm so stuck for ideas now and he stills crouches down when being stroked so he seems to hate the whole taming process. I feel sooo guilty when he looks like this. He has a wheel, chews, see saw, sand, toilet tubes, wooden stick(tunnel thing) his house, another level and a Sputnik. Any other ideas how he can entertain himself? He goes in his ball occasionally but I never make him go in, only if when offered it he actually walks in himself. There's been times when I want to give him to someone else because I don't feel like I'm giving him a good life :'(

[shiny]

I think you have given him every opportunity & maybe he is just not the adventurous type of hammie! Maybe he just likes sitting around & looking at stuff... I know people like that & others who are at their happiest when going off bungie jumping or something :). Like us, all hammies are different. My 2 Syrians are like chalk & cheese; Teddy is incredibly laid-back & Bubble wants to climb everything (& fall off!) and runs like mad in his wheel.

Don't feel bad, just go with what your hammie wants :)

[xkellyx]

It's the way he lays down on his shelf and just looks so sad :( like you say he probably isn't I just want him to have a good life!

[Seedless]

It's the way he lays down on his shelf and just looks so sad :( like you say he probably isn't I just want him to have a good life!

He's probably contented, not bored. If he were bored would he not be trying desperately to escape or engaging in repetitive behaviours instead of sitting there.

I know what you mean about feeling guilty though. My hamsters are in a Zoozone 2 and a large aquarium, but it still upsets me a bit that they're caged...I know that they can't survive in the wild, but I still feel guilty that they naturally would roam free and I have them cooped up in a relatively miniscule space. I just tell my self that I'm most likely giving them a better life than they'd have with someone else. It does take some of the joy out of hamster ownership though when you feel sorry for your hams all the time.

[Munchies]

I haven't had my hamster for very long, about a month actually, but I recently bought him an extension to his cage and connected them with tubes. Since then he's been a lot more lively and just seems happier. Maybe your hammy would like some tubes to explore?