Are My Babies Avoiding Me?

[JoeyH]

Help! I am the loving spoiler of Mo (Dwarf) and Able (Syrian). They have huge homes (40 gallon terrariums. Not living together) and I made sure that they have plenty to do. Since they both seem to love tunneling, I’ve put a lot of substrate into their homes. I think my decision to do that may have caused a bit of a problem… Neither of them comes out of their burrows during my waking hours anymore.

Mo was starting to eat broccoli off my hand while I gently gave him a pet or two. Since I made the substrate deeper for him to tunnel to his heart’s content, I never see him!

Able… well, I just brought Able home so I hadn’t had a chance to work with him yet. But he has now started to come out even later in the evening than he was before.

The only reason I know they’re doing ok is because their food is gone, their water is drank up and I surprised the lil bums running on their wheels when I’ve gotten up to use the restroom in the middle of the night. As soon as I turned the light on they both dove for cover.

I’ve not been mean or neglectful. I haven’t pushed them or pestered them so I’m really confused on why they may be avoiding me. Are they just night hammies? Is there something I am doing wrong? Is there a way I can adjust their sleep schedule without causing trauma or bad ham feelings?

Thank you for any advice or observations you can give!

[MissGSFL]

Most likely Able is still getting used to your home and the sounds. Until he is used to it he will probably only come out when it is quiet. I would give him a few weeks to settle down before worrying about him. I barely saw any of my syrians for the first week because of them being nervous.

What breed of dwarf is Mo? They do tend to be shyer, so maybe you just need to lure him out with some yummy (and smelly) foods? He may just be excited by all this new substrate and just wants to burrow and play!

As long as you are not a very noisy person and the room they are in is not too bright then they should start to appear more and more.

[JoeyH]

MissGSFL,

I'm not sure what breed of Dwarf Mr. Mo-diddly is. I don't even know his age. He was slated to be snake food when I was able to help him escape (legally and with the help of a pet store assistant who knew me). I'll attach a picture of him, hopefully someone will be able to identify him :)

He used to come out to eat broccoli off my hand but once that substrate was put in, "what broccoli? I don't know what broccoli is..." is what he seems to be saying.

Unfortunately, Mo and Able-iscious live in my bedroom with me since I rent a room in a house. I keep it as quiet as I can but I do need lighting to do what I need to do once I get home from work. I try to give them peace when I can.

[DrKMcK]

JoeyH, you've given them a hamster paradise and kind of had it backfire on you. :-(
Hammy's are most active in the evening, night and very early morning hours. I think they may be very entranced with their lovely new homes. Give them a few weeks to get used to it and have fresh treats available if they poke their heads out. ONLY give them the fresh food if they come out, don't leave it in the cage if they don't come out. They'll get the point that the good stuff comes out if they do. They do not have to actually come up to you, just out of the burrows. Time should resolve this.

[JoeyH]

DrKMcK,

Boy, did it ever backfire on me. If they're happy, I don't mind at all!

Mo just came out for a drink, I gave him some carrot. He pouched it and ran back into his burrow. It's something :)

[samzyzg]

I wouldn't worry too much. I almost never see my Robo Loki (Pretty sure its been about 1-2 weeks since I last caught a glimpse of him) he isn't in my room but i'm lucky enough to have a spare room to keep some of the hamsters.
He's happy to have no contact with me, he's extremely skittish (I do watch his water and food intake and hide a treat in a particular place which I can keep an eye on to see if its been taken) but generally happy and thats all that matters :)