Excited for First Hamster!!

[Salem13]

I'm picking up my first hamster this weekend (either tomorrow or Sunday) and I'm super excited! He's a 1 and a half year old dwarf who was rescued from a critter trail filled with pine bedding.

I was hoping to see if anyone has any last minute tips or suggestions for someone new to hamsters! My brother had one once when I was maybe 4 but remember very little of that. Below I've detailed his cage and my plans on bonding with him.


His new home is all set up- a ZZ2 large (around 800 square inches) with paper bedding (average depth of 5" with a 8" mountain). He has a 7.5" wheel, lots of hides (cardboard, pots, handmade sisal caves), tunnels (toilet tubes, handmade sisal tubes, handmade tent), chews (kabobs, a wooden wheelbarrel, more cardboard), some misc toys (handmade swings, seesaw, bridges), and a sand bath (play sand in a 5"x5" container) with a platform over it. I've also ripped up a bunch of paper towels and toilet tissue and scattered it around for him to use for a nest. He has a water dish as well as a bottle and I plan to scatter feed him.

I plan to leave him alone to settle in for at least 3 days, I'll still stick my hand in to clean and refill things and offer him a treat if he comes near. After he's settled I plan to take a bit of time a few times a night to place my hand in with some treats. Once he's comfortable with my hands I'll slowly introduce him to being picked up and hopefully if it goes well I'd like to try to use the bathtub method of bonding. However if thats too scary for him I have a big bin to work as a play pen instead.