Scared of the new hamster

[Nush]

We’ve had Maximo, our 5 months old Syrian, for 3 months now. He was at the time, our only hamster and has been living in the guest bedroom by himself.

Yesterday we brought home a rescue dwarf hamster, a 2 months old hybrid called Eric, who’s also got a cage in the same room but the cages aren’t near to each other. We left the new hamster to settle like usual.

But we noticed that Maximo was scared of the changes that took place in his room. At one point I found him staring at the other cage and when I went near him, he jumped. He’s been very jumpy. The new hammy has been in his wheel which makes a noise (but isn’t exceedingly noisy).

Maximo is generally a bit skittish but I haven’t seen him this jumpy since we first got him. I was just wondering whether anyone has ever encountered this before and what their experience of this was. Did your hammy get used to his roommate?

[Kaztrekie]

I don't know about two hamsters but when we introduced a second budgie we did it slowly by first putting the cages in same room for a short time letting get used to each other then we put he new cage in same room etc.this took several weeks so it may ge same thing for hamsters maximo may just have to get used to the new smells etc.

[Nush]

Thanks for replying Kaztrekie. I didn't want to disturb the new hamster since he needs a lot of quiet to settle in. I'm reluctant to move his cage because he's been through a bit of change already. He traveled from the rescue via public transport with us but did very well:)

I didn't expect Maximo to react at all. I asked other people with more than one hammy and researched as much as possible. All of them said their hammy didn't react at all. But Maximo is generally scared of a lot of things.

Eric's cage is starting to smell of him. I'm hoping that Maximo will smell it and realise that Eric's not a predator. He's in fact a small hamster (with a big personality), about a third of Maximo's size!

[Nush]

Just an update on the situation. I thought Maximo was getting better. Last night I put him in his ball and got him to smell Eric's cage , while Eric was sleeping. He was very curious but relaxed then he went for a run in his ball. And was normal in his cage.

In the early hours of the morning when my OH checked on him, he was staring at the other cage, cowered in a corner and shaking. It upset both my OH and me that he's so scared.

Eric is doing well. He's a gregarious little chap and is taking food from my hands. But I'm worried that Maximo is not going to get used to him.

[Kaztrekie]

It may be better to keep them in separate rooms ,maximo seems very scared of Eric for some reason who knows what he is thinking,as long as they are happier apart where max can't see Eric then that's gonna be the only solution.could Eric be making some noise at night that is scaring max I met a hamster once called decibel and the name suited her you have never heard anything so loud.

[Nush]

Eric seems to keep his food in his wheel. So when he runs in it, it makes clanky noises. I think that's what Maximo is scared of! I might need to put them in separate rooms in the end, I suppose. But I'll give it a few more days to see if Maximo can get desensitised to the noise, if not we'll move Eric (because his cage is more movable).

Actually Kaztrekie, until you asked that question I didn't really think about what he's scared of. I'm wondering if there is a way to soften the rattling.

[Kaztrekie]

It sounds like it could be that. If he is not used to the noise he might as you say get used to it ,let us know how he gets on. I don't know how you could soften the noise as Eric likes to keep his food in it.

[Nush]

What I've done is given Eric a small bowl of food near his wheel so that he doesn't feel the need to carry the food into the wheel. I have no idea whether it's working yet. I checked on the hamsters at 2am yesterday but both of them were in their nests.

I suppose I'll find out in the next few days.

[shiny]

If Maximo always lives in the guest room is he maybe not used to so much coming & going in there & noises? I expect he will get used to this sort of environmental changes over time as he realises the noises aren't hurting him. I would keep an eye on him & monitor his weight over the next couple of weeks; if he is very stressed / not eating so well / losing weight then you may need to reassess the situation.

Hopefully it might just settle down though :)

[Emanon]

Separating them seems to be the answer for now. Frankly, putting hamsters in unused guest rooms doesn't seem to be a good choice to me. Your hammies should be in a space where they are around their family most of the day (one that isn't too terribly well lit or noisy) to prevent skittish behavior from developing. He sounds untamed. So handle them for a little bit most days and get in the habit of handing them treats to soften them to living with people.

[Nush]

Emanon, it's not like I have put my hamsters in a room, locked the door and forgotten about them. The guest room gives onto the living room where we spend most of our evenings and we spend hours handling the hamsters every night.

Maximo is not untamed, he loves being stroked and playing in his playground but he's very sensitive to noises. He used to be scared of my foot rubbing against the carpet! But now he's ok with a lot of the usual noises including the hoover.

I've been getting up in the early hours of the morning to check on the hammies. So far both of them are doing well. Eric is taking food inside his wheel but I put a small food bowl for him next to his wheel. And in there I put only the small seeds from his mix. So the food that he's taking in are smaller and make less noise.

Maximo came out to play every day since Eric has arrived. He behaves normally in the evenings. It's only when he hears the rattling at night that he gets scared. But I'll watch him a few more days and see how he does.

[DrKMcK]

I really think your older hammy will get used to his new neighbor. All long as he has no physical changes, such as weight loss, I'd give it time. :-)

[Nush]

It's starting to look like it might, although I can't be 100% sure. I got up at 2am, 3am and 4am last night, trying to catch Eric in his wheel (paranoid much)!! I did manage to. He was in it without any food and Maximo didn't seem to mind. I've caught him with small seedlings in before and the noise wasn't too bad, Maximo didn't mind that either. I'm hoping that if the rattling starts again, Maximo wouldn't mind that too much.

The only time that we found Maximo scared was on Sunday night which was upsetting. He's been eating well though. He gobbled his oats biscuits yesterday:) But I'll weigh him on Saturday (I weigh him every 7 days) and find out for sure.

[Kaztrekie]

It sounds like maximo kis starting to get used to the new noise
And just like the Hoover etc he is getting used to it ,it was a noise at night he was nt used to.and now Eric has stopped taking if seeds in they both seem happier hopefully maximo will calmer now and you can start to pop them together In same room. :)

[de4life]

Separating them seems to be the answer for now. Frankly, putting hamsters in unused guest rooms doesn't seem to be a good choice to me. Your hammies should be in a space where they are around their family most of the day (one that isn't too terribly well lit or noisy) to prevent skittish behavior from developing. He sounds untamed. So handle them for a little bit most days and get in the habit of handing them treats to soften them to living with people.

Keeping a hamster in a guest room is perfectly acceptable. Plenty of people have 'hamster rooms'. It's nice for the hamster(s) because it's a quiet area and their sleep won't be disturbed by people walking around, turning on televisions or in general making noise which can easily disturb the hamster's sleep pattern and make him/her even more skittish.

If the pets were never being handled then yes, that would be a problem, but it's clear that this isn't the case here.