New hammy, presenting my Girlfriend and I with some questions

[Stormy94]

Hi! I just joined this little community cause our little male syrian is making my Girlfriend all panicking and worried.

We got him about a month ago and since we brought him home I guess hamster puberty kicked in, cause his gentleman bits have gotten surprisingly large. Thats the only indicator I have for his age, sorry.

Anyways, we started out with a small wire cage and quickly figured out that a 40 gallon glass tank would be much more suitable. We haven't put a whole lot of stuff in there, about 4-6 inches of bedding (cedar chips and brown fluff) a nice, big, ten inch niteangel wheel, some ceramic pots, and a couple of little toys and such. He had been quite active, both when we first got him and when we gave him a bigger home, but for the past week or so he has been staying in his burrow pretty late into the night. We feed him plenty of fresh veggies, as well as dried fruits and veggies, plus regular hamster pellets. Our house and his are consistently around 60-70 degrees F, and he isn't overwhelmed by any sorts of noise or activity. We're pretty quiet for twenty-somethings.

I figured its probably just Bartok being a moody, lazy adolescent, but my Girlfriend is convinced that something is wrong. Should we just go ahead and take him to a vet? We've been very careful about not giving him anything to make him sick, lots of research before we really do anything or give him anything. Or is he probably ok and just a lazy boy. I've read around a bit that male Syrians tend to be pretty lazy. I wouldn't say he's lethargic, but maybe bored? He likes to burrow a lot but like I said, he's been staying in his burrow a lot later in the evening than he used to.

[Ria P]

Hello and welcome to HC!

It is so easy to worry about our hamsters because we want to give them the best life we can.

What is the brown fluff bedding you mentioned? Fluffy bedding always rings alarm bells because they can get their toes tangled in it and it can be harmful if ingested.

You soon realized that a Syrian grows quite quickly and that they need space. My first Syrian outgrew everything in a matter of weeks which took me by surprise too.
A hamster needs a big, bottomless house that's dark inside to make a nest and keep a hoard. A roof that lifts off is practical to check the nest now and again without disturbing it. You could make a shoebox house by using the lid as the roof and by cutting out a big enough entrance.

He could be staying underground because he has no where else to sleep.

Hamsters love to forage and hoard. Pellet food is pretty boring but some people may disagree considering that pellets contain all the right nutrients. So, i'm only expressing my views on matters regarding food. I'd change to a good quality hamster mix and then scatter feed half of it with the other half going in the bowl which will give him something to do.
Fresh veggies are good but should be fed in moderation like a small amount daily and dried fruit i wouldn't feed on a regular basis because they are full of sugar. I use the odd raisin as a treat to be found in a homemade boredom breaker toy.

How much out of cage time does your hamster get? Even lazy hamsters make the effort to get up if they enjoy time out of their cage. I also have a lazy male Syrian and another who is a busy one. Their temperaments and personalities vary a lot.

He may need more enrichment and once you've done a few posts it would help to see a photo of your set up.
In the meantime you could have a look at the thread "Let's see your cages" on the Forum under Housing for ideas.

As for his gentlemen bits, in comparison to their overall size they really are huge. Sometimes they use them like a stool and sit on them.

I would advise you to take him out of his cage for a health check though, just to make sure that he is well and not suffering from an ailment that requires a visit to the vet.

[AmityvilleHams]

Cedar chips are also a huge red flag. Cedar is very toxic to many animals, hamsters included, and should never have been used - definitely remove that immediately along with the fluff and swap out for a substrate that is safe. In a pinch even cheap unscented non-dusty toilet paper can be torn up and used for this, providing it dissolves readily in water!

[VOESSY]

Welcome to the forum!

Kudos for looking up a good source for information to improve your new friends environment.

Once you have decided on a new, safe bedding, increase the depth, around 10-12" to give him the opportunity to burrow properly. It would be helpful to see a picture of the setup once you are able to upload.