Please can someone advise?

[LouHam]

We collected our Syrian Milly on 21st December. We were advised to leave her in the 2 cardboard boxes she was in for transport and let her chew her way out. Initially I was a bit concerned about this but when she was already through the first one before we got home (a five minute drive) and then completely out of the box just as we got her in the cage I relaxed a bit. She seemed to like her hamster heaven cage that we had prepared before we got her. She temporarily lived in my mums outside, heated, office until Saturday when we brought her back to our house. She's always been inquisitive, coming up to the cage door if we open it and generally just having a look at us. We had a bit of an issue with the pipe system to the penthouse. She seemed to be blocking a pipe up and then just staying in there and was unable to get to the food and water. I unblocked it a couple of times but in the end decided to modify the pipes so that she could still go for a jaunt through them but put the penthouse in the main part of the cage. She really filled it up with bedding and food etc and I have been putting tissues in with my scent on and she was using them too. On Monday I decided to clean her cage properly. I'd just like to say that if I saw any droppings I would pick them up but there really were hardly any. This is where I am now starting to worry. I sat by the cage talking to her, put my hand in with a raisin in my palm (I decided a high value treat might work best) she had a couple of nibbles of me which was fine but then she bit me really hard and drew blood. I tried a bit longer to coax her out of the cage but she was having none of it. I gave up! Last night I decided I had to clean it as we are going away tomorrow for 2 nights and did something which may be a bad thing. I picked the penthouse up while she was in it and put her in her playbox with some treats and a few toys. Managed to clean the cage and discovered she had been relieving herself in her nest. I know you have to keep some bedding etc from the house and I managed to get a small amount that wasn't soiled but not a great deal. I had read in lots of places that a plastic house is not ideal so I bought a new wooden one and put that in instead and placed some chew sticks and a tree and her new spinner wheel around etc she seemed ok when I put her back in and then I noticed a shelf was not in properly and potentially dangerous so I faffed with that for a while - she was out and about all the time (she sometimes uses the remaining pipe work to hide from us) being interested in what was going on. After I had managed this we watched a bit of TV and went to bed. Before we went up I noticed she was messing around with one of her tissues in the pipe. The problem when I have come down this morning is that she still has the tissue in the pipe and now some food and was sleeping in the pipe (she is currently chewing on a chew stick that she has relieved from the side of the cage) she doesn't seem to have started building a proper nest anywhere but I'm worried that she is going to do it in the pipe! Does anyone have any suggestions or advise on what I can do to stop her nesting in there? I know it can't be good because even though they have air holes she can't be getting enough fresh air? Also, if she does relocate to her house or cosy pocket thing and continues to go to toilet in it should I clean it out more often? Thanks in advance for your help xxx

[souffle]

This is often an issue with the hamster heaven and baby hamsters.
I would remove the tubes for now and block access to the penthouse until she is tame. Get a box like a shoebox and have the bottom open down on the substrate. Cut a big door and some access holes of decent size and put her bedding in that maybe under the shelf. Even just offer a huge bundle of tissue bedding and let her choose a nest. Babies often sleep out in the open or under the wheel or in very odd places till they settle. Try and not worry over that though and let her do what she wants. Baby hamsters do tend to wee in their nest but they do get in to a routine eventually once they settle and you could try and encourage her to use a potty with chinchilla sand in it. The Hamster heaven can be a bit overwhelming at first and we usually tame hamsters from pet shops in smaller tank type cages before moving them up to a larger cage as these can be easier to access. You could get a plastic storage box and tame her from that. Start using a ball or box and getting her to climb in to that. You may need to put some treats in it and herd her him at first but she will soon start to climb in when she knows it is playtime.

[LouHam]

Thank you for your reply - I'm going to block the tubes off when she wakes up this evening. She has a wooden house now that sits on the substrate and I do have some chinchilla sand so when I block the tubes off I think I might put what's in the tube in the house if that makes sense? And put a little 'toilet' in. I'm ordering a storage tub online today so when we get back on Saturday I will follow your advice! She seemed happy enough until I cleaned the cage so maybe I've upset her and she will come round x

[Coco61]

Soufflé has given excellent advice here. I had my Syrian in a HH for 6 months this year (then bought a larger cage )and my daughter has one too. Neither of us have used the penthouse or tubes. Use the blockers supplied to fill the holes in the top. Some owners like the penthouse and you could add it later. Personally the lack of ventilation etc means I never used it. A wooden house or cardboard like soufflé says is far better. A tea bag box will do for a baby. Cut out the bottom and a doorway but leave the top so that you can peep inside without disturbing her.
The HH comes with a good potty. Although Mocho has moved to a barney cage his potty went too. The Savic 8inch wheel will be too small in time as I think you realise. The pink pods too. Watch those ladders in case she finds them slippery. in Fact if you become a regular on HC you will probably want to design your own interior in time!
Finally please do not make the mistake of cleaning out too often. This really stresses a hamster but particularly a baby trying to make the home their own. Watch out for the pee corner/use of potty and clean there perhaps twice a week. Otherwise leave well alone. Hamsters need their smell around to be happy. If you keep removing it by cleaning the cage, then they go around scenting everything again. I am about to clean Mocho after 2 months. I will remove only about a third of his Fitch substrate, check his nest but try and leave it undisturbed. New Fitch can be mixed with the old as it is returned. Then a peace offering will be a pile of plain white toilet paper torn into strips so that he can repair any nest damage and make himself snug again.
Do ask any more questions that you have. There is always someone to help
Welcome again!

[cypher]

I agree with the others, the HH is much better used without the tubes & penthouse, I have one & never used them at all.
It may upset your ham a little when you remove them but she should soon settle down again & find a better place to sleep & hoard her food, if she does continue to pee in the house it will be a lot easier to just spot clean & take out a little soiled bedding at a time, if your house is big enough you might be able to put a litter tray in there if not put one somewhere close by & put some soiled bedding in that, with luck she'll get the idea & make life easier for you soon but for now just remove the tubes & then interfere as little as possible until she's had time to adjust & settle again.

[racinghamster]

Can`t add to what`s already been said but as far as the sleeping house goes, soufflé suggested what I always suggest and that`s to use a shoe box! Remove the lid, turn the box upside down so she can dig down into the substrate below and make a nice big, roomy nest in a dark place, much like a burrow would be. Just cut two exit/entry doors into the box.

Sometimes a hamster will make a ball-type nest in there and poo at the other end of the box, which works well as you can visually see the poo/pee there and easily remove that damp spot and replenish with a few handfuls of fresh. That`s really the best routine to go with rather than full cleans and stressing her out. The box can be safely chewed too and replaced whenever it needs to be free. Any solid cardboard box would do really as long as it`s plain cardboard and not coated with metalic linings like frozen food boxes can sometimes be, so don`t use those.

Place the box under a shelf if you have one but it`s not necessary. She should enjoy having a nice big dark box to retreat to. Place some ripped up plain white toilet paper near the entrance as they usually like to nab it and take it inside the box themselves. x

[Coco61]

RH is absolutely right. I forgot to say leave the strips of toilet paper outside the doorway because much fun is had collecting it all and making the nest. You have the fun of seeing that it has all gone and know it was wanted!

[LouHam]

Thanks so much to everyone for their replies - I have just blocked the pipes off and I feel like a terrible person because she is just running backwards and forwards between the two entries with full pouches squeaking every so often! I know it's for the best though, I've just put a baby gate up to cease my 9 month old daughters's adventures . I put some of her food store in her wooden house and will see how that goes. She is currently in an igloo hating me! I'll put some tissue in as a peace offering in a bit and will give her some food and fresh water before we set off tomorrow to keep her going till my mum pops in tomorrow. Interesting about cleaning the cage - should I just remove the soiled substrate, bedding etc and top up? Everything I have read says to do it AT LEAST every 2 weeks? There was no smell coming from the cage but I did it to ease my own conscience I guess!

Also with regards to the wheel I removed that yesterday and out in a flying saucer type one - I saw her do a little run on it earlier whereas I had never seen her on the other - I will definitely be looking for tips on her re the interior. I think she likes the cage but I just upset her yesterday when I took away her smell!

Thank you again for your answers I really want Milly to be happy

[GreySyrian]

Regarding the bite part of your post I had an almost identical incident with my new hamster, once she'd bitten me she was much more jumpy and I felt like we'd gone backwards in her taming! When she bit you did you take your hand out?

My hamster went back to taking treats from me a couple of days after so it was nothing long lived!


* Just re-read your post and not entirely sure where the bite part was in the timeline of you having her, so if she's back to normal already sorry for the useless reply!

[LouHam]

Originally Posted by GreySyrian

Regarding the bite part of your post I had an almost identical incident with my new hamster, once she'd bitten me she was much more jumpy and I felt like we'd gone backwards in her taming! When she bit you did you take your hand out?

My hamster went back to taking treats from me a couple of days after so it was nothing long lived!


* Just re-read your post and not entirely sure where the bite part was in the timeline of you having her, so if she's back to normal already sorry for the useless reply!

Yes I did take my hand out which I don't know whether I should've been a bit braver and left it there? She bit me on Monday, the day before yesterday. Thing is it bloomin hurt and it was more reactionary than anything! She still take treats from my fingers but if I'm honest I've lost a bit of confidence now