Hamster sleeping more and more?

Amys_Mum · 01-24-2016, 02:14 PM

We first noticed Harvey coming out of her nest less in the autumn, and after seeing a couple of similar threads on here, put it down to the change in weather. I added lots more tissue for her to add to the nest.
Since then she's moved into a Barney cage, and for the first week, we saw her loads, she seemed to really love her new space. I gave her even more tissue, and she's jam packed the house - when I lifted it up to try to clean, the whole nest came with it!
For the past couple of weeks though, she's hardly coming out - she's eating and drinking, and using the potty, but she must be coming out after even I've gone to bed and that's midnight most nights. My husband has spotted her a couple of times when he's got in after a late shift but we're talking 1 or 2am which isn't then conducive to getting her out for a play.
My daughter is getting upset that she doesn't see her pet anymore.
I don't think she's ill, there's no evidence of anything wrong, and she's not even a year old yet so still young.
Could it still be weather related? Is there anything more I can do?

kuba · 01-24-2016, 02:29 PM

Hamsters tend to get a little more reserved as they mature, so it could just be her growing into her age? Since she was making the most of the cage when it was new to her, maybe buy a couple more toys and keep them on rotation in her cage? The change of scenery might encourage her to come out and play a little more. You could also try scattering some of her food around the cage and maybe hiding it under bedding, etc. That should also keep her interested too. Good luck. X

Pebbles82 · 01-24-2016, 04:38 PM

I think they are a bit more reclusive in winter, yes, but also when they settle into a routine some hams don't come out much except after dark/lights out. Do you have a heater on during the night in the room where she is? I have been doing that over the winter - just an oil filled radiator on low to keep the chill off during the hamster waking hours, and our Syrian has been coming out more in the evening and morning since I've been doing that, so that might help if you're not doing something like that already.

Also is she tame yet? We tamed Charlie in the dry bathtub till he got used to being handled. He never voluntarily wants to come out before 11.30pm even now, so I followed the advice in a little RSPCA book, to wake them at a certain time when putting food out each evening. Our time used to be 6pm but it was always so hectic at that time that it slipped till later so our little boy could see him before bedtime. The other thing we've been doing recently is giving him a bit of porridge on a teaspoon in the morning (he comes out when he smells the porridge!) He eats it off the teaspoon and our little boy likes that little routine. We don't do it every day, just some days.

Our Syrian is pretty reclusive generally, but I believe it's important to get them out once a day and keep them used to being handled. I tempt ours out with a treat in a tube, once I have noisily put his food out and changed his water bottle! In summer though he's out much more and rummaging around and climbing bars, so I do think temperature has a lot to do with it.

If he's in a Barney he'll have a nice big house, so his nest should be big enough. Does he have plenty of white paper nesting material? Torn up strips of white toilet paper is best. I find it all gets taken in winter, every time you put it out as they tend to build a bigger nest in cold weather. So maybe put extra nesting material out once a week or so as well - just a pile of it in the cage somewhere, and he will pouch some and take it back to his nest.

This is my bathtub taming video if you're interested! It's not the greatest quality video but has a few tips and I'm sure your little girl will enjoy the taming. Our little boy used to get in the bath with Charlie sometimes. He would get in first and I'd let Charlie out of his ball and he'd run all over little boy who thought that was great fun. It helps the hamster get used to the child's scent as well. You need someone else there to put a hand/guard up in case the hamster runs up an arm and tries to jump out! Also, when you put the strips of toilet paper nesting material out, you could do the tissue trick first - leave it up your sleeve for a couple of hours, then tear it up and put it in so the hamster will become familiar with your scent in his nest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjyEme2xcq4

Amys_Mum · 01-24-2016, 05:09 PM

Thanks both

I'll try some more toys - she hasn't got any roof toys yet as I didn't want to make too many changes at once, so I'll take a look at some things that might work.

She's tame, and previously would come out around 7:30 / 8pm when my daughter was getting ready for bed (the cage is in her room), and sometimes in the morning too, probably due to the noise.

I wanted to handle her everyday in order to keep her tame, but it's tricky when she's not coming out at all during my waking hours! Her nest is fine, I've been adding more and more toilet roll/tissue every few days and the house that came with the Barney is totally full.

I'll see if we can start to get her to wake at Amy's bedtime again, I know when I had hamsters when I was younger, I always played with them after school which is obviously not their natural wake up time at all so they must have adjusted somehow!

herbi7 · 01-25-2016, 06:15 AM

My ham did the same thing this winter,getting up later and later. She was also old, though,and it ended up that it was getting close to her time to go,although I didn't know that at the time. Since yours is still young I'd put it down to the winter. You may be able to encourage her out earlier as serendipity said. If didn't work with mine, I could persuade her to come out but if she felt she should still be snoozing she would give me a little glare and go straight back to bed again!

CMB · 01-25-2016, 02:53 PM

Would giving a treat/food a little while before they wake (if they wake at 10pm, give the treat/food at 9.45pm) for a few evenings, then give the treat/food at 9.30pm for a few days and gradually get them coming out earlier until they come out early evening. This would give time for more out of cage time, in an excercise ball, playpen and handling.