Makes me feel guilty :(

[tippy24]

Hi guys, I am not sure what to do:/

My syrian hamster Alfie makes me feel so guilty..

Every night I have a seperate box that I purchased for him and I fill up with lots of toys. I have purchased him 3 wheels, three massive wooden structures to climb in, a dark tunnel, and huge tunnel that extends to another box.. Lots of chew stuff and climbing frames.

In his actual cage he has 1 good wheel, lots of chew toys, a litter tray and some tunnels. It is quite a big cage for a syrian with 3 different levels..

I have spent over 500 pounds on my syrian Alfie yet he still makes me feel guilty because he acts so bored.. he is always trying to get out of his box, bar chewing on his cage at night times trying to get out.

When i approach his cage he will run to the top all excited and as soon as i lift the lid up he will climb onto the top and onto my hands. This is nice to see.. But when i put him back he always tries to get back out again but unfortunatly I can't keep him out all day everyday but he is so dang good at making me feel guilty but im not sure what else i can provide Any ideas anyone or suggestions?

Thanks for reading if you read it all xD

[Jamskin09]

I think it's a Syrian thing, you know. No matter how much space we give them, however many toys, they're never satisfied! :P
My Syrian used to pine to come out a lot until I started enriching his cage with different food items. If I feed him in a bowl he just pouches it all, takes it to his stash and then he's back searching for an escape point. If I hide his food around his cage or even just sprinkle it about if I don't have a lot of time it seems to keep him happy for a while. Syrians love to forage for food and are very good at it so anything with a strong and tasty smell hidden somewhere is bound to keep him interested. At least until he finds it lol

[tippy24]

Haha yeh. I scatter some food around but he just looks at me like im crazy and then puts it all back in the bowl xD I gave him a monkey nut that was included in his food and he placed it straight in his pouch, I was really worried incase he choked on it so now I have to break then up for him haha.

Syrians are just brilliant at getting what they want

[becky1412]

I don't even think it's just a Syrian thing, it's an animal thing! All of mine do it except Penelope my dwarf hamster who will happily come out and play and happily go back in. Roland always wants more cuddles, Abi always wants to climb about on me more when she's out and I have to go, Joseph always wants out more and more attention and Max the dog who is left completely alone for no more than 3 hours a day because there is generally always someone home will kick his food bowl about when there is no one home for the pettings and his entertainment. So don't feel guilty if you are giving an animal a good life and doing the best you can provide for them chances are they're a lucky little fluff!

[bbbarker]

Would you mind me asking what cage he has? If you've got a picture or know the name of the cage that would be great. Bar chewing can be down to bordem especially if the cage is too small. When I first got my Hamsters I had them in what I thought was a massive levelled cage, since being on this forum I've learned the cages were far too small and that was the reason why my hamsters were bar chewing. I've since moved them in a bigger cage and my male's behaviour has changed completely. Saying that my female syrian is in a Detolf and she is always trying to find an escape route, she has a large wooden lid which she chews at.
Hopefully you can do something to stop the bar chewing because it isn't great for their teeth plus it is very noisy, I had many sleepless nights

[Thin Lizzy]

They're so good at it! Some hamsters don't need a lot of toys, some will have a favourite.
Maybe give him a bit more one on one time. And do this everyday at a set time.

[RubyDG]

Would you be able to hamster proof a room so he can free range? My Syrian hated being confined to a playpen or bath and it seemed to upset him rather than give him a fun time out of his cage. When I started to let him free range though he stopped being so frantic and actually started enjoying himself. It's not an option for everyone though and you have to be absolutely certain that room is completely hamster proof, I also wouldn't recommend unsupervised free ranging either.

[Piebald]

Hamsters are natural explorers. No matter where you put him is will want to see what else there is.

[tippy24]

Large Plastic Hamster Home | Pets At Home

This is the cage he has, I would think its big enough because he is quite small, but Im not sure ,

I will have to try and hamster proof one of the rooms because at the moment the only room that has no wires at the moment is a small room but I can fix up a room and try him then.

I tried him in the small room and he just went to the corners and started digging so i thought he felt a little trapped

[becky1412]

Unfortunately the cage he is in is smaller than the RSPCA minimum recommended size for a Syrian which is and correct me if I'm wrong around 75cmx50cm. There are lots of cage available which aren't very expensive online, Barney, Alaska, Alexander, Mamble 100 to name just a few or you could look in the DIY section and make him a bin cage he'll love the extra space.