Settling a new hamster

kazisindahouse · 12-09-2012, 03:47 AM

Hi there
I'm new to the forum so hi there everyone! I just wanted to ask some advice on settling a new Hamster.
We brought our new addition (now called Fudge after much deliberation) home on Friday afternoon. We put him into his new cage and although he buried into a corner he did come out in the evening and have a sniff around. However he didn't eat anything or drink much water. Yesterday we barely saw him at all and we didn't go to bed until the early hours of the morning. He again had a little bit of water but still no food.
Should I be worried about his not eating? He looks okay in himself, his eyes as bright and when he does come out of his bed he is not literally running round his cage but he doesn't appear lethargic. We haven't handled him yet either as we wanted to give him time to settle into his new cage, how long should it be before we handle him?

Any and all advice would be great please!

Amethyst_ice · 12-09-2012, 05:18 AM

Hello and welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new addition.

All hammies are different..some get home and want to meet their new pets (yes we belong to them

) staright away, others can take months and months or are quite content by themselves.

However, it has only been two days and it will all be very scary. New smells, home, leaving brothers and sisters, new diet.

When I get a new hammy I don't give a closed house, this can tempt them to run for cover , I usually give a large cardboard box or bend some cardboard in half to make like a mini shelter. I dont put a wheel in straight away or tubes..you ned hammy to have a "safe place" but the more toys you put in the more inclined he will be take interest in them and not you. A tiny house will encourage him to hide away as well..so a few chews, mebe a large pringles tube that he wont completely fill.

Leave him in a dark room for a few days..as tempting as it is, this will let him settle..then continue with the many methods of taming tips you will find on here and gradually introduce toys...a wheel perhaps for an hour each day as they can get addicted as babies and wear themselves out!

Good luck and hope to hear more soon xxxx

kazisindahouse · 12-09-2012, 06:26 AM

Thanks for the advice, that's great.
I think I may have overdone it with the toys in the cage as I have put everything in all at once. Poor little fella, no wonder he's scared to come out, I best take some of the things out. I left everything in as its quite a big cage and I didnt want him to get bored ... lol ...

Re his bed, by closed house do you mean a proper hamster house? Fudge has one but he doesnt sleep in it. He's buried himself into a corner under one of the solid shelves of the cage. I was worried he could get a little cold huddled there so have put a little of the bedding in this corner too to make him snug. He seems ok with that and hasn't moved it. I might try the cardboard shelter idea tho. Is it normal for hamsters not to want to go into those little house things?
Thanks again!

shiny · 12-09-2012, 07:35 AM

Hi, congratulations on getting Fudge

We have one Syrian that makes the most amazing volcano-shaped nest under the shelf of his Hamster Heaven cage from piled up substrate & bedding & another that loves his little snuggy house - they are all different in what they prefer. We tend to leave a pile of bedding in the cages for our hamsters & they make their own nests where they like.

Some of the little houses you can buy are pretty tiny & can be a bit too small for hamsters really especially when they are full-grown so you may find your hamster doesn't take to it or if he does, you may need to keep an eye out for it being too small as he grows.

Moving to a new home is such a big thing for a teeny hamster, I expect he will calm down over the next few days & start to be a bit more confident. There's loads of great advice on here about taming & housing - I hope you find it useful.

Best wishes to you & Fudge from shiny & the hammies

kazisindahouse · 12-09-2012, 08:24 AM

Thank you for the advice .... Fudge is a Siberian Teddy and the pet shop said he is about 15 weeks old. He's a lovely pale brown colour, with no other markings. He is already quite large for his age I thought but the other hamster that was there was also a Siberian but not a Teddy and was supposed to be the same age but was slightly smaller. The man at the pet shop said it was because his fur was longer that made him look bigger.
I'll keep my eye on how he grows with the house etc. I have a feeling I may have to take it out too.
I'm enjoying reading lots of the other posts as although I had hamsters as a child its a long time ago and so am wanting to make sure that nothing has changed in the way of feeding etc.
Thanks again!

kazisindahouse · 12-11-2012, 11:32 PM

Glad to say that Fudge is now coming out from his bed a lot more and is already becoming quite amusing. When he comes out if I go over to his cage and talk to him he comes up to the bars. I've now started to hand feed through the bars a little of his hamster food in recognition that he's come over to see me, am I doing the right thing. We haven't handled him yet as I wanted to give him chance to settle.
He hasn't used his house yet however and still prefers his little home made bed in the corner so I guess that will be coming out of the cage.

shiny · 12-14-2012, 06:32 AM

I'm sure Fudge will be keen to come out & chat to you if you are feeding him treats, he will start to associate your voice & smell with nice things

. Just make sure you don't have hands that smell of food before starting to handle him though just in case he mistakes you for his favourite treat & has a little nibble! You could start putting your hand in his cage a little & see if he will come over to you & maybe even walk on your hand or stand still for you to stroke his fur. Remember that their eyesight isn't great & they get alarmed by sudden movements from above as they are prey animals naturally.

Fudge sounds very cute, good luck with the taming, sound like you are making some nice progress

kazisindahouse · 12-15-2012, 02:42 AM

Thanks for the advice shiny. We have been trying to handle Fudge a little more day by day but even though as you suggested we have just been initially just putting our hand on the cage in the first place to let him get used to us he still seems to run a mile. Bless he seems so nervous!

kazisindahouse · 12-29-2012, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kazisindahouse

Thanks for the advice shiny. We have been trying to handle Fudge a little more day by day but even though as you suggested we have just been initially just putting our hand on the cage in the first place to let him get used to us he still seems to run a mile. Bless he seems so nervous!

I'm after some advice please as Fudge still wont let us handle him. He runs a mile and jumps out of our hand etc. I tried using a baby toothbrush to gently stroke him as I saw recommended on here but he hates it and literally jumps if the toothbrush goes near him.
Does anyone have any mor suggestions please?

Dandelion07 · 12-29-2012, 01:01 AM

Is it the actual handling he doesn't like or the getting him out of the cage? From what I've read on here, some hamsters don't like to be picked up but are ok once they are out of their cage. I'm not remotely qualified to give any tips but I do hope you find a way for Fudge v soon. Ps my hamster likes burrowing too. I never know where he'll pop up!