How to tell if hammy is stressed or just excited?
Hello, first time hamster owner here! My female syrian Milkshake hasn't shown any signs of stress since I got her 2 and a half weeks ago.... until the moment I took her out for a free roam. After I put her back in her bin cage, she immediately started trying to climb up the sides frantically (climbing on top of her water bottle and falling off on her butt, etc.). I've never seen her act that crazed before! And every time I take the lid off her cage now she does the same thing (I haven't observed her doing this when the lid is on).
Is this normal for a hamster that's just been let out for free roam, and does it mean she's excited rather than stressed? Even when she's out free roaming she'll chew at the door trying to escape, whereas I've never seen her chew her cage, although she can reach the top. She's in an ikea samla bin with roughly 480sq inches of space, so her enclosure's on the smaller side.
(I don't grab her to take her out, by the way -- I let her walk into a plant pot and then transport her out of the cage in that, and she always seems really keen to walk into the pot -- not sure if that means anything though!)
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