Hiding in tunnel

[Cath]

Hi all,

I finally got a new baby hamster, after Nibble had to be put down. I've had him for about 3 days now, and he's 4 weeks old and just so cute

He's quite brave and curious, but the problem is that he's discovered his tunnels, and now hides out there a lot. He's put some bedding and food up there, and only comes out every now and then (and then he stays ready to dash back). I want to get him out, firstly so that I can clean the tunnel section that he's been sleeping in (not sure if he's using that as a toilet space as well!), and secondly so that I can start handling him. How on earth do I lure him out of the tunnel?!

I tried a trail of peanuts, but he's so fast he comes out carefully, grabs a peanut and then dashes back into the tunnel. I don't think I'd be able to grab him that quickly.

I might have to try to take out some sections of tunnel while he's in them, but I don't want to scare him too much.

Any other ideas that you can suggest?

[souffle]

I would remove access to the tunnels totally till he is tame and settled.
It isn't good for them to sleep in tubes as they get damp and smelly and can cause chest problems.
There are end caps available for most tube systems to cap them off or remoce them totally and blook the places they fit.
This is usual for baby hamsters. Yours is very young to be separated from it's siblings. At 4 weeks they should still be with same sex litter mates so he will need very careful and gentle treatment.

[hobopotato]

When I got Peanut he used to hide in his tunnel, to the point that he would only come out to eat and was basically sleeping in his own filth. My solution was to replace that section of tunnel with a "T" shaped section that had a little "lookout" house coming off of it, so that he would start using the regular house. Once he was used to it, i just moved the house back to the section that it was designed for, and he used it fine and was normal ever since.