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qekkon
03-04-2017, 02:55 PM
Hello!
I'm qekkon, and I got my first Syrian hamster two days ago.
(I used to have lots of hamsters when younger.)
He is Cesare, and I took him from a petshop here in Italy; the guy from the staff told me he was about 2 months old, and perfectly fine. (he had a visit from a vet every week from what he said.)
Before getting him I informed myself about the kind of cage, bedding, food, and basic stuff. (Used to watch alot of ErinAnimals ahah)
Although, I probably should have known I had to get a bigger wheel. (Which is something I will do once I expand his cage :) )

But, I know it's probably normal because he needs to adapt to his new home and stuff.. but what concern me is the fact that he is already used to having people around him. (He was one of those that are exposed outside.) And he didn't try to run away at first when the staff guy got him in his hand, and he was pretty at ease when I hold him first. (I wanted to make sure if he was comfortable enough with me before getting him.) Although, since I put him in his new cage, he gets out only when I go to sleep and there's absolute silence. Or when I'm not looking. (Like, if I'm on my PC typing, he gets out of his burrow to drink or get some food, if I stop what I'm doing to look at him, even at distance, he runs back in his burrow.)
Yesterday for exemple, he got out when I was doing my stuffs, and he stopped to watch me from the cage in a meerkat position. Today, when he got out of his burrow, I slowly approached him with some treaths, which he gladly accepted and even used my hand to support his, and he looked content. Then my parents kind of made some noises, and he got back on the meerkat position, (Not hissing nor doing anything, just blankly standing in two feet.) right after my mother's partner tried to approach him, he ran inside his burrow once again. Am I scaring him or something? :-k
Even after that, he got out of his burrow, and started to dig furiously in the corner and then biting furiously on the bars of the cage, I approached him slowly, he saw me and stopped for a bit, and then bit the bars again furiously, I then opened the door of the cage to see if he wanted to get out, but he just ran back in his burrow-

Also about the biting part, I'm really quite worried about his teeths, he keeps biting the bars of his cage whenever he's out, and I know it's a sign of the cage being too small, but it's mostly just for now, as I want to make it bigger. Any advice for that?

cypher
03-05-2017, 12:24 AM
Hi qekkon, welcome to HC.
All hams, even those that appear tame in the shop or are used to handling coming from breeders still need time to adapt to their new environment, it's such a big change for them so Cesare will need some quiet time just to settle in.
Just talk to him quietly for a couple of days & don't try to handle him just yet, you can put some plain toilet tissue up your sleeve for a few hours then shred it up & put it into the cage (you can repeat this daily for a while) this will help him to begin feeling comfortable with your scent.
He should calm down a bit then & you can start to offer treats, through the bars first if then try putting your hand flat in the cage & let him approach you, take your time & just go at his pace.

If he bites at the bars just ignore him & walk away, you don't want to reward the behaviour by paying attention to it.
Make sure he has plenty of other things to chew on, most hams don't enjoy "chew toys" so much but do like whimzees/antos dog chews (not sure if you can get those?) a dog biscuit like biscrok (just check the ingredients are safe for him) & scatter feeding rather than using a bowl can help to keep them busy & distracted.
What cage & wheel do you have?

qekkon
03-05-2017, 07:18 AM
Hi qekkon, welcome to HC.
All hams, even those that appear tame in the shop or are used to handling coming from breeders still need time to adapt to their new environment, it's such a big change for them so Cesare will need some quiet time just to settle in.
Just talk to him quietly for a couple of days & don't try to handle him just yet, you can put some plain toilet tissue up your sleeve for a few hours then shred it up & put it into the cage (you can repeat this daily for a while) this will help him to begin feeling comfortable with your scent.
He should calm down a bit then & you can start to offer treats, through the bars first if then try putting your hand flat in the cage & let him approach you, take your time & just go at his pace.

If he bites at the bars just ignore him & walk away, you don't want to reward the behaviour by paying attention to it.
Make sure he has plenty of other things to chew on, most hams don't enjoy "chew toys" so much but do like whimzees/antos dog chews (not sure if you can get those?) a dog biscuit like biscrok (just check the ingredients are safe for him) & scatter feeding rather than using a bowl can help to keep them busy & distracted.
What cage & wheel do you have?

Thank you,
I will try to do what you suggested with the paper thing.
I noticed he calmed a bit down if I actually speak to him instead of just stare at him or making squeeking noises :???:
I guess he just needed to be reassured ahah

The cage I have now for him is a small hamster cage, long around 43cm and wide 29cm plus tall 43-45cm, the wheel was the one that came with the cage and is around 14cm wide.
We are going to take a 78x56x44 IKEA box this tuesday, and probably a new wheel tomorrow (along with the tubes to connect with the new cage.) I figured a DIY cage would be way cheaper and probably more larger than one we buy in a petshop. (Like this one he has now)

ladyntramp002
03-05-2017, 07:32 AM
I totally agree with cypher.


Bar chewing is normal for new hamsters with a smaller cage, but you still don't want to reward this behaviour. You changing the cage into a Ikea box is a really good idea.


The tissue trick is amazing! I used it myself to tame my Mr. Kiliwonkers. I have had him for a little less than three months. ( three months on March 17th)


Best of luck with your new little hammie!

cypher
03-05-2017, 07:45 AM
I'm sure he'll be happier in the new cage with a bigger wheel when you've done it all, when you change him over keep all the substrate from his current cage so the new one smells familiar, he may need a couple of days or so to settle again after the move so don't worry if he seems a bit nervous again that's normal, just give him some quiet time to get used to it if he does.

Thin Lizzy
03-06-2017, 08:36 AM
Hi Qekkon and Welcome to HC. Congratulations on your new addition Cesare.
Everything Cypher has mentioned I agree with. The tissue trick really does help.

Spunkys_Owner
03-06-2017, 07:57 PM
Hello!
To stop the bar chewing, try rubbing a little pure olive oil on the bars. Pure olive oil is safe for hamsters (in small amounts, of course!) and they usually don't like the taste. To get him to chew the wood chews, rub a smelly treat onto them to get him to chew.
Hope this helps!

qekkon
03-07-2017, 03:19 PM
Thanks everyone!
I'll try everyone's method, for now cesare seem at ease, yesterday he even climbed on my hand!
I'm still working out on his new cage though, we are going to buy the IKEA box tomorrow, and I'll probably transfer him there meanwhile I work on doing an entrance on the first cage! Meanwhile we bought a 27cm large wheel for him, since the other one was way too small!

Thank you all for these tips!

ladyntramp002
03-07-2017, 05:07 PM
Good luck with everything my fingers are crossed and Kilian's paws are crossed in hopes everything works out!