Hi there - new hamster owner!

[jennyfive]

Hi all

My name's Jennifer and I'm new to owning a hamster (at the age of 30 no less, better late than never?!). I bought my lovely male syrian hamster a few days ago, still deciding on a name but leaning towards Harry Herb (he's so cool he deserves a surname).

I've already managed to make one mistake in that I bought the "large" cage from the pet shop and quickly realised (within a day) that it wasn't enough space for the wee chap, so I bought a second large cage and joined them together with pipes - does this seem like a decent solution? He's very active in the evening and does still chew on bars sometimes (which worries me a bit, I hope he has enough space? I've attached a picture of the new set up!). I've been making sure to let him out every single day - in a hamster ball (though I've read debates on whether they are ok?) and also in the bath with a towel down so he can wander in a bigger space. I got him a hamster toilet but must admit he seems to like to poo either in his house (which he then kicks the poo out of later) or in his sand bath, I move the poos to the toilet to essentially say "this is where it goes" but not sure if that will work! :p

I don't think he's tame enough yet to be held, though he does sometimes take treats from my hand so we are making progress but I want to allow him to learn to know me at his own pace I think? I'd eventually like to be able to let him out in a way that doesn't involve a plastic ball/to be able to hold him!

Anyhow lovely to meet you all and if you think I've made errors based on the above/the pics please let me know, as my hammy's happiness is important to me! I've attached a few pics (hope that's ok) :)

[Gerbil]

Hi Jenny!

I'm sure some more experienced members will be able to help address your concerns, but for now I just wanted to welcome you and one Mr Harry Herb (a very unique title!) to the forum :)

[alpacassei]

Welcome to Hamster Central!

Your hamster is super cute, I love him omg!!

The two cages joined will be fine for now but when he gets older he'll need a larger cage as two cages joined doesn't give him enough space to run and borrow properly once he's fully gown. I also recommend adding deeper substrate since hamsters love to burrow, and buying him a larger wheel. I think my friend's Syrians wheel is 28cm? I'm not sure if that will fit in his current cage though. Hamster balls are safe, don't worry (just remember to let him have a break for a drink and the toilet after 15/20 minutes)!

If he's bar chewing it's probably that he's bored. You can try hiding food under his substrate or scattering it around the cage (scatter feeding), most hamsters also love whimzees and bendy bridges! They also like rat sputniks and cardboard tubes :)

Toilet training hamsters is 50/50 but you could try putting some of his sand in the toilet and seeing if he'll use it then?

[Ruth Edwards]

Harry Herb is a handsome ham, looking forward to hearing more about him.

I dont think you can train hams to poo so much which isn't a problem as the poos are relatively harmless. But they definitely like to wee in a particular place and you want that to be the toilet as it's really stinky. I put potty litter in Cottons toilet and I put a bit of his wet soiled shavings on top so he smells that's the place to go. He got into the habit of using the toilet quickly and it's made it really easy to clean his cage. Cotton is a Syrian hamster. I get the potty litter at the pet shop. Stop me if I'm saying the obvious please.

Haven't managed to train my other ham yet but she's a lot older.

[jennyfive]

Aw thank you all for the kind replies! Thank you too for the advice - I will keep an eye out in terms of a larger cage - what would you recommend when he's fully grown size wise? Hopefully he'll be happy for a wee while in the current setup but I'll keep an eye on his mood! I've just ordered a larger wheel and some more toys for him, want to make sure he's getting lots of exercise and entertainment. I already am amazed by his intelligence and curiousity about the world particularly when he's out in his ball, he's explored every corner of my flat already in it, and he seems not at all scared of the big creature that is me, comes right up to me in the ball and whenever I'm near the cage he comes up to me and watches me/sniffs about. I've also noticed he reacts quite noticeably when I make a sniffing noise back to him! I wonder if this is normal behaviour? He literally perks up on to his feet, turns and faces me when I do it!

I need to work on the potty training, I think he's peeing mostly in his house though I must admit I find it a bit hard to identify the pee (the poo is very obvious :D). I hope he'll let me hold him eventually, because he's such a cutie. :)

[alpacassei]

Ahh, I thought I posted some cages but I think I forgot to click 'post' haha (or I posted it to the wrong thread...)

The minimum cage size for an adult Syrian is 50 x 80cm so I recommend the Alaska (http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/hamster_cages/hamster_cages/284288) (50x 80cm £33), Alexander (http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/hamster_cages/hamster_cages/174238) (100 x 50cm, £70), and Barney (http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/hamster_cages/hamster_cages/189303) (100 x 50cm, £50. There's also the Hamster Heaven (http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/hamster_cages/hamster_cages/197362) (80 x 50cm, £55 but I've heard the tubes can be a bit small for an adult Syrian.

[cypher]

Hi & welcome to HC :)
Congrats on Harry Herb, he sounds lovely & seems to be settling in really well.

Your set up should be fine for a while, I would suggest putting more substrate in the base of both cages if you can fill the base completely so he has something to dig & burrow in.
The cages alpacassei mentioned are the best & most popular, I wouldn't recommend the Hamster heaven for a syrian though, it's a bit on the small side & not tall enough to fit in a syrian size wheel.

If you can I would also get him a playpen or make one so he can have out of cage time without always being in the ball, it's a lot more fun for them & gives you much more opportunity to interact with them.
This (http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/runs_fencing/73299/453205) is a suitable playpen for a syrian or you could try making one of these. (http://www.hamstercentral.com/community/diy-do-yourself-hamster-projects/66471-stylish-playpen.html)

[Quicksilver]

Harry Herb is adorable! I love his colouring. Like yourself I'm a first time hamster owner, hamster central is a great forum and I've found it to be very helpful,friendly.
The bigger the better with cages-hamsters need a lot of space / in the wild would run for miles.
Might be worth checking out erinanimals, hoppinghammy, hammylux, chocolatecolors26 on YouTube.
Look forward to hearing all about harry herb!

[AprilPearl]

Aww he's very cute. Reminds me of one of my last hams! Joining two smaller cages the way that you have is unfortunately not really a solution as Syrian hamsters need at least 80cm X 50cm of uninterrupted floor space. Furthermore, he will need a 12 inch wheel which, unfortunately will not fit in the p@h large cage. The wheel which comes with the p@h large cage is much too small and he will quickly grow out of it - in the mean time, it may cause back damage. I recommend the 12 inch silent runner which you can buy here: Silent Runner 12" regular wheel | South West Sugar Gliders (http://southwest-sugargliders.co.uk/products/silent-runner-12-regular-wheel)

As has been said, suitable cages include the Alaska, Barney or Alexander (all available on Zooplus). The Hamster Heaven is also a possibility, but in my opinion it is over priced for what it is as you have to have very shallow substrate around the wheel because it's not a very tall cage. You could also look into the Savic Hamster Plaza too. That's my favourite cage.

Regarding exercise balls: I don't like the idea of them and gave never used them, but if you do then only let him inside for 15 minutes at a time. The Skyline Arizona ranch playpen from Zooplus which Cypher linked is amazing. Free roaming is even better, but only if you are lucky enough to have a hamster proofed room.

The bar chewing will most likely be from boredom. This is probably because his cage and wheel are not big enough (so he can't run comfortably in the wheel for as long as he otherwise would). Bar chewing can cause scarring of the face and even pulled out teeth, so it's important to nip this habit in the bud now by getting a bigger cage and wheel asap. If this foes not help, you may want to consider a tank style cage.

You cannot train a hamster to poo in a certain area as they will go everywhere, but their poop is fine to leave in as they actually get benefits from eating it. You can, however, train them to pee in a toilet.

[Thin Lizzy]

Hi Jenny and welcome to HC. Congratulations on becoming a hammy owner of Harry Herb who's so beautiful, gorgeous colouring and what a cheeky mischievous face he had.

[CMB]

Welcome Jennifer. Harry Herb looks lovely. He seems to be settling in well. Keep the taming at his pace.

Hopefully you can find a nice big cage for him. Zoo plus have some good sized cages, as mentioned by others.

[jennyfive]

Thank you for all the kind and helpful replies :) just a quick update, I ordered a new wheel which came today - it's approx 20cm though maybe not quite big enough will upgrade once I can get a bigger cage. The wee chap is snoozing right now but will see what he thinks of it later tonight!

alpacassei thanks so much for the links, I'd seen hamster heaven but held off on buying it as almost did as an extension, but wasn't sure if I was doing it right! Those other links look great too, I'm going to gradually improve his set-up over time and I'm definitely in the market to buy a playpen so that he can be out of his cage as much as possible too. cypher thanks for the comments, he's so cute isn't he? I've added more substrate in, I might go for the indoor run on payday, do you find that hammys tend to escape those sorts of things or is it ok? I'm so conscious of Harry being tame with me before I let him out with too much leeway for escapage, since I felt he maybe wouldn't be as easy to retrieve if he isn't comfortable being held yet?

AprilPearl thanks too for your advice, I was concerned that it maybe wasn't an ideal solution space wise, though I do hope very temporarily it may be better than the one cage alone - wee bit annoying that the "large" cage from the shop isn't even good enough (they shouldn't call it large eh?). My bad for not researching the cage enough before buying, but one must live and learn! I'm mixing it up toy wise and will aim to upgrade cage as soon as I can (probably payday time) and he's now got a bigger wheel (about 20cm though I know not optimum I'm hoping ok for now as he's still young). I've been making sure he's only in the ball for about 15 minutes each time, though he really doesn't want to leave it afterwards! I think he hopefully likes exploring in it as he always wants to stay in the ball :)

UPDATE - He loves his new wheel! He's been running on it for a while now, seems like he's much calmer/happier in his home tonight!

[dreamtree1234]

Hi and welcome to HC, Jenny! Congrats on giving Harry Herb is loving, forever home with you. He is SO cute, and I love his gorgeous coloring and inquisitive expression. Since other members have already given you wonderful advice, there is no need in repeating what has already been stated. If you have any other questions or concerns, please always feel free to ask away. I look forward to seeing you around the forum, getting to know Harry Herb, and seeing plenty of pics whenever he is settled in more. My Syrian Eros says, "Hi!" and waves a paw to you both. :)