Packing Cheeks With Bedding

[Riscat]

Recently acquired a Syrian Hamster and have noticed twice now him packing his cheeks with bedding. I'm assuming hes filling his little hut with it but one of the times he unloaded his cheeks near his food bowl to refill his cheeks with food. The bedding he removed from cheeks was all wet and in little tube shapes.
Is this normal for a Syrian to do?

Bedding I have is natural kiln dried pine bedding.

[kittokitty]

Get rid of that bedding! Pine is super dangerous. Get aspen or carefresh or something.

[Shannonmcn]

Lol calm yourself kittokitty, I think kiln dried bedding is a lot less dangerous than untreated pine. The drying process is supposed to remove a lot of the natural oils which is what makes it dangerous.

Not that I use it myself normally, but I used it when I first got both my hams since that's what they were used to. I used about a third of a cage worth and then switched after the first change. It doesn't smell strongly of anything, certainly not like untreated pine shavings do.

It's certainly not the greatest substrate though Riscat, there a lot of paper based ones on the market that a lot of people prefer like carefresh, Fitch, megazorb, aubiose or kaytee clean and cosy.

Pouching bedding isn't an issue, they'll pouch almost anything and you're right, he is probably just moving it around to make his nest. Do you have anything softer for him to nest in? Like tissue paper or paper based flakes? Pine shavings aren't the most comfortable and my hams like to line their nests with tissue.

And it shouldn't be wet, it's probably just compacted. Hams little pouches are designed to keep things dry, it's a cool little feature :)

[Riscat]

Could have been wet because it was near the water bottle.

Can I use paper towels or toilet paper?

[Thin Lizzy]

You can use toilet paper, make sure you give a generous amount of the stuff so your hamster can shred it and make a nest.

[Riscat]

Thank you!

[Shannonmcn]

I give a lot of toilet paper yeah, my housemate doesn't appreciate the increase in the household budget lol. I usually shred about 8-10 sheets into maybe 4 or 5 strips just so it's easier to pouch then add a few more sheets every few days to see if she wants them. If I don't shred it first the state of her trying to pouch whole sheets is ridiculous but maybe your little buddy is smarter than mine ;)

I'd look into the paper based substrate too, just because it's softer and nicer for their nests than the shavings and I think it absorbs pee better too. If you can find a bulk supplier its super cheap :)

[Riscat]

lol trying to pouch big sheets of TP :p

I will give that a try. He is all packed in his little hut right now so just waiting for him to get up before putting it in there :)

I wasn't planning on keeping him which is why I got the cheapest bedding they had. They did have some softer multi colored stuff but it was 5x the price.

If no one ends up claiming him or saying they lost a hamster then of course I am gonna keep him :) he's so cute lol. (Posted how I found him in introduction forum)

Once I move I will make him a nice huge cage. One from Wal-mart is way to small.

[Shannonmcn]

I just saw your other thread! You're very good to go to so much effort for a little lost ham you didn't even plan on :)

Even if this little friend already has a human slave I'm sure there are plenty of lonely rescues in need of a home wherever you're moving ;) hams are the most addictive of all the things you find in your walls :D

[Thin Lizzy]

I so agree with Shannon!
It's really great you went and done that! Should the owner ever be found, there's plenty other hammies in need of being rescued/adopted.

[Riscat]

I'm an animal lover :)

[Thin Lizzy]

How is the little hamster doing?

[Riscat]

He is doing good. He sleeps a ton and a couple times got a little restless and insisted on chewing the bars on the cage which i stopped him right away both times. Even opening the cage up so he could come out he still wanted to chew. I put a couple cardboard toilet paper rolls in there a while back but he doesnt seem interested. He really needs a bigger cage so i can spoil him with toys and things to chew on. Im moving in a little over 2 weeks and once i get to new place i am going to hook him up with bigger place :)
He is doing good though. Ive held him twice so far.

[Thin Lizzy]

Have you named him yet?

[Riscat]

I have named him Opsu

[Thin Lizzy]

Well that is a unique name - Opsu! I like it!

[Gatsby]

Very cool, I love this story. Opsu is one lucky ham :)

[DrKMcK]

He'll be okay in the small cage for the 2 weeks. Try letting him run around in the bathtub with a few tubes and toys. Just make sure the drain is well blocked and the cats are locked out of the bathroom.You can transport him back and forth in a plastic container so he doesn't leap from your hands as you are walking. I've had more than one new hammy do that. :-D Check out Erin's Hamsters on YouTube. She has a wonderful video with step by step instructions on tub taming. She also has loads of other great videos. I check out her site all the time. :-D