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Old 08-26-2021, 06:37 AM   #1
aalmondmilk
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
Posts: 2
Exclamation Help! My hamster has its heart set on escaping and focuses on nothing else

Hello everyone,

I have had my female syrian (Stella) since the beginning of July. She is currently in a 60in x 20in. It’s a half bin and half mesh (on the top half)—the bin part is filled with bedding (about 12-14in).

It seems that no matter what I do she just wants to escape. She ignores her toys and doesn’t run as much on her wheel anymore. I’ve put cardboard up around the mesh areas of the cage so she cannot climb and throw herself off the top anymore (she doesn’t chew on the mesh, just climbs).

She comes out 9:45-11:30pm usually and goes back to her burrow by 5-6:00am. I work a laborious job and always fall asleep before she’s up even if I try to stay up. Since she burrows I do not want to take everything out and destroy her burrow to have her wake up earlier (or even to spot clean /: )

I’ve disconnected the mesh upper half before and used that as a playpen or the bathtub but she wants to escape either within minutes of being in there. Even when she gets free in my room she tries to escape the room. I use a ball sometimes but she will run the perimeter of the room looking for an escape or just sit by the door because she knows that’s how to get out of the room.

Stella is tame, she comes to my hand when i tap on things like 40% of the time and doesn’t bite (unless i had to snatch her up when she’s escaped her cage in the past but it’s secure now)

………………My Ham Care…………………
I scatter feel Stella a mix of higgins sunburst and kaytee forti pro pellets. I have been giving her dried veggie mix and a flower based forage mix sprinkled around the cage. I have also been giving her lettuce, half a baby carrot, or a lil cheese. She’s got a water bottle attached to the side of the cage.

Her toys/substrates include:
kaytee clean and cozy (3/4 of bin)
aspen
care fresh (small corner)
meadow mix hay
white play sand
coco fibre
reptile moss
cork logs
12” niteangel wheel
multichamber hide
multiple huts/hides
one of those snaking logs
cardboard bridge
2 whimzees (she got halfway through the first one and decided she doesn’t like them anymore)
apple wood & other wood chews
sprays (4 kinds)
lava stone with a very thin layer of pb on it
forage mat

I just got some new chews / toys from the pet store (shakers, willow balls, dif flavor chews) and I made some stuffers with toilet paper tubes. I dipped some of the wood chews in olive oil and hung them from the cage ceiling as well.
……………………..

all the new toys I put in her enclosure she didn’t touch last night except for minimal nibbles on the hanging chews.

I just want to give up, I’m exhausted with her. I do not have room for a larger enclosure at the moment and I have already upgraded her bins twice.
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Old 08-29-2021, 06:57 AM   #2
Ria P
House of Hamsters
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Posts: 7,103
Default Re: Help! My hamster has its heart set on escaping and focuses on nothing else

Hi and welcome to HC!

I'm sorry that i don't have any new ideas because you have already provided your hamster with so much.

Your Stella seems to be one of those females who just want to be free and are never happy. 60inx20in is a very large enclosure. I didn't even know that bins that big were available.
One possibility to keep her safe and stop her from climbing would be a large aquarium with a diy lid but it wouldn't resolve her need for freedom.

Hopefully she'll calm down as she gets older.
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Old 08-29-2021, 12:16 PM   #3
flowerfairy
Fluffy Hamsters
 
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Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 4,231
Default Re: Help! My hamster has its heart set on escaping and focuses on nothing else

I had a very lively female syrian hamster (Kashi). She was in a barred cage 100 x 50cm with deep substrate and two wheels!!!

I used to weave cardboard through the bars to help minimise bar chewing. She loved rilping the cardboard.

I would give her loo roll inners stuffed with hay and food and would aim to change her toys every day or so in orser to give her plenty of new things to explore. I left her nest, water bowl and food dish in their usual places so she felt secure.

She did mellow a bit with age.
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Old 08-30-2021, 05:11 AM   #4
aalmondmilk
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
Posts: 2
Default Re: Help! My hamster has its heart set on escaping and focuses on nothing else

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
Hi and welcome to HC!

I'm sorry that i don't have any new ideas because you have already provided your hamster with so much.

Your Stella seems to be one of those females who just want to be free and are never happy. 60inx20in is a very large enclosure. I didn't even know that bins that big were available.
One possibility to keep her safe and stop her from climbing would be a large aquarium with a diy lid but it wouldn't resolve her need for freedom.

Hopefully she'll calm down as she gets older.
I’m hoping she mellows with age too cause she’s still fairly young.

I have her in a tv stand on its back with a home built wire attachment on the top. Investing in an aquarium may have been cheaper to be honest.
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Old 09-27-2021, 07:28 PM   #5
lisa_a_alves
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Sep 2021
Posts: 3
Default Re: Help! My hamster has its heart set on escaping and focuses on nothing else

Hey! Your Hamster sounds a lot like mine; Eleanor. She's just an adventurer. In terms of toys, she'll most likely start looking at her toys in a few days. I never see Eleanor with her toys, but one day, there was a hole in one of her chew toys. Good luck!
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