Hammy Help

Bananachicken · 03-04-2016, 04:24 PM

Starting tomorrow I will have had my Hammy for a week, but there is still one thing about him that really bugs me. I have boxes, and an igloo for him, but he still sleeps underground! I play with him everyday and he even goes in the boxes when I want him to. We are pretty close already, but this just bugs the heck out of me.

P.S: His name is Quasar.

cypher · 03-04-2016, 10:01 PM

Sleeping underground is perfectly normal for hamsters, they do live in burrows in the wild so it's natural behaviour!
What boxes do you have for him? Always make sure any house/box/igloo has no base & is on a good deep layer of substrate so he can burrow down underneath if he does want to sleep in there.
He will sleep where he wants though so just let him do his own thing!

Bananachicken · 03-04-2016, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

Sleeping underground is perfectly normal for hamsters, they do live in burrows in the wild so it's natural behaviour!
What boxes do you have for him? Always make sure any house/box/igloo is on a good deep layer of substrate so he can burrow down underneath if he does want to sleep in there.
He will sleep where he wants though so just let him do his own thing!

I have an igloo, he barely uses it though. He prefers a mini cocoa crispies box. He doesnt sleep in it, although he likes to crawl in it. The box is also used as a means for me to pick him up without scaring him, he crawls in, I pick the box up, and he crawls into my hand. Simple as that. I clean out his cage later today, maybe once he realizes his burrows will be gone every week, he wont sleep in them. Unless he spends a day making a new burrow. I enjoy spending time with him, and I think he is beginning to grasp that feeling for me. When I hold him, he is a little nervous but mostly licks me instead of nibbles. Today celebrates my first week I have had him. Anyway, Quasar is happy right now I assume. And is it okay that when hes underground (presumably sleeping) I pad the bedding for him to come out?

AnyaAndLyra · 03-07-2016, 06:59 PM

Yes. It's okay to pat (if thats what you meant) when hes underground. Just be careful not to push down and flatten it unless he's not there and you're absolutely sure of it. I don't know what type you jab but when I had my robos I used to do that when they were sleeping to let them know when I was there and they'd always come out to see me
They also slept burried most of the time. One day you could try to get them to come out is to provide a variety of different hideys (try natural things like wood and carboard and things like plastic and ceramic) and for a cpuple of cage cleans only put enough bedding to cover the bottom. I wouldn't really encourage this as it is natural for them to burrow and can lead to stress of they can't and feel they need to. However if there's enough they could also push it to one spot and dog under there if they must do it is okay to do. Keep working at taming him and I'm sure he'll look forward to playing with you. You can also gently wake him at a certain time every day to change his sleeping schedule so he's up when you want him up.

cypher · 03-07-2016, 10:19 PM

Don't clean the cage every week or try to destroy his burrows.
He is a ham after all & will want to behave like one, if you do things like that to try to prevent natural behaviour he will begin to get stressed & won't be happy at all.
Just spot clean when you need to but don't do a full clean.
Try to enjoy your ham for what he is, take time to get to know him & his own personal little habits, the more you allow him to do the things he likes the happier he will be & the easier taming & bonding will be.
Gently rustling the bedding to wake him is ok, try to always do it at the same time & close to a time he naturally wakes up, you can gradually make it earlier if you like, if he comes out reward him, maybe make that feeding time & just do it once each evening.

AnyaAndLyra · 03-08-2016, 07:47 AM

What type is he? Maybe you could get another hamster and get one that will want more attention most of the time. I've noticed that the more a hamster wants to play with you, the less they tend to burrow. That's just from my own personal experience but if he's a Syrian or a Russian you could consider getting a new cage for a new hamster. Some hamsters just don't really like too much attention from people and like to burrow and be more hamster. But as far as wanting to see him more, you could try (slowly) to adjust his schedule so he's sleeping when you are or when you're not home