Hamster prefers to sleep outside cage.

[Saya]

Uh I'm not sure how to explain this but it happened with my own stupidity. I find it easer to list the events I guess.
- One night my hamster got out his cage and I didn't realise until near morning where he climbed up and was sniffing my face before diving back down. He'd built a bed under my bed. He must have been gong back and forth and pulling the paper out his cage he also had a little bit of food.
- I cleaned it up and put him back in his cage but he refused to sleep. (He has his own little bed and sleeps in it fine. I haven't cleaned his cage in around a week so it has his scent.)
- Next day I let him out in his ball, he manages to get out of that.
- He did the same thing and built something under my bed with toilet paper and was sitting there.
- Cleaned it and put him in his cage and he started biting the bars and trying to get out under the bars toward where he can see under my bed (his cage is right next to it).

He refuses to sleep in his own bed now. He never bit his bars before but now he always does, and always in the direction of my bed. I let him out thhis morning to sort out something in his cage (toy had fallen) and he immediately stuffed toilet paper in his mouth and dived under my bed.

Seriously, why is he persistent in being under there and having a bed? Or is it because I need to get him a new little cubby? It's big enough for him and he's had it for weeks and never a problem.

It's really annoying, the bar biting keeps me up.

[kyrilliondaemon]

Are you sure hes not sleeping when you're not there (or are asleep yourself)?
It sounds like he's just found somewhere he likes and unfortunately is being a nuisance about it. Could you block off access to the spot under your bed so he can't get there even when out?

[Skeever]

I've heard of this happening. They find a perfect nesting spot outside the cage. I don't know what size cage you have or anything, but - and this is extreme- you might want to reorganize his cage so it gives him things to set up again and places to resort. And keep him away for a while from access to the 'best' spot under the bed. Maybe even take him out in another room for a while?

In short, distract him from his favorite space. If the cage is too small, cramped, too open for him, he may want another space. Bad luck that he found one, lol.....with a bit of reorganizing his cage, he may settle into something he likes. Once in a while their cages get a bit of reshuffle if they seem bored with it. Not everything, but adding a house, or toy, removing and replacing one.....moving things to areas they seem to like. And notice when they reject a change. Like toppling over a house and moving it to a different place.....

[Shana]

It seems like your hamster got a taste of freedom and feels comfortable outside of his cage. Sounds like he put a lot of effort into making his nest under your bed and is frustrated that he can't get back to it. Hamsters can be very determined. By biting the bars he's either trying to escape, get your attention so you take him out, or both.

How big is his cage? A small cage often leads to bar biting. If it is large enough, providing more than one place for him to make a nest could help.

Also, how long has this been going on? If it's a recent thing, it might be a behavior he'll stop if you give him enough distractions.

[Saya]

Thank you for all the replies

Originally Posted by kyrilliondaemon

Are you sure hes not sleeping when you're not there (or are asleep yourself)?
It sounds like he's just found somewhere he likes and unfortunately is being a nuisance about it. Could you block off access to the spot under your bed so he can't get there even when out?

My bed is in the centre, I've been thinking about getting some towels and stuffing them around the bottom to stop him getting there. So that might help a bit.

Originally Posted by Skeever

If the cage is too small, cramped, too open for him, he may want another space. Bad luck that he found one, lol.....with a bit of reorganizing his cage, he may settle into something he likes. Once in a while their cages get a bit of reshuffle if they seem bored with it. Not everything, but adding a house, or toy, removing and replacing one.....moving things to areas they seem to like. And notice when they reject a change. Like toppling over a house and moving it to a different place.....

Originally Posted by Shana

How big is his cage? A small cage often leads to bar biting. If it is large enough, providing more than one place for him to make a nest could help.

Also, how long has this been going on? If it's a recent thing, it might be a behavior he'll stop if you give him enough distractions.

The cage is a 1m long cage (annoying to carry it haha), he only started this two days ago. Though the suggestions by Skeever are really good and I might try moving things around. He likes some of his toys so he isn't bored most the time.

[Artsy Hammy]

What kind of cage do you have for him?
From what I heard, my thoughts are that your hamster (if he has a small cage) did not have enough space, and when he found the big open world under your bed, decided that he would much rather sleep under there where he had more freedom.

Depending on the type of cage you have, I'd suggest getting him more room. Since you are saying that he is chewing on bars and that he was able to escape, I'm assuming you have a CritterTrail, or something similar (I'm sorry if that's incorrect. Please correct me if I'm wrong). Bar chewing is most often related to hamsters who do not have enough room, and I'm assuming that once he found out about all of the extra space in your room, he realized that his cage isn't as big.

I'm going to stop myself there, since I do not know what cage you have.

Let me know what cage you have for him, and I can give you more specific ideas.