Is my hamster going crazy????

Flossypet · 02-15-2021, 06:32 AM

My hamster has been doing something very strange today. This morning she was up till ten,
digging up the woodshavings in her smaller cage and trying to push them through her tunnel
to her big cage. She was doing this for HOURS, piling the woodshavings into a mountain so that
she could get them onto the platform and then into the tunnel. She was really aggressive about
it as well, digging as if it was the most important thing in the world to be doing.
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I have NO idea what on earth she thought she was doing, but she ended up
blocking her tunnel up with woodshavings and she still kept going.
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I am just really curious as to what her aim could have been for doing that and whether
it is anything to worry about, and please tell me if anyone has ever seen anything like this!
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cypher · 02-15-2021, 06:36 AM

Sounds like fairly normal ham behaviour to me! Moving the substrate around is nothing unusual but maybe your set up with multiple cages just made it difficult for her to get it where she wanted it.

Cotton · 02-15-2021, 07:27 AM

She sounds like a busy, normal hamster, rearranging her home. I had a dwarf hamster who used to do this regularly with a wheel. Her home did not have tubes. I put a second wheel in her home so she still had one for running and she put substrate in and around the first wheel.

Is your hamster a Syrian or a dwarf? I am looking at the paper towel rolls and wondering if a dwarf could "pancake" through that? That's not meant to be critical. I was shocked the first time I saw just how small a space a hamster can get through.

Flossypet · 02-15-2021, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

Sounds like fairly normal ham behaviour to me! Moving the substrate around is nothing unusual but maybe your set up with multiple cages just made it difficult for her to get it where she wanted it.

This is a bit more than moving the substrate around, isn't it? It is VERY difficult for her to even get it into the tunnel, nevermind through, and she still kept doing it for hours anyway. Surely she would have given up if she was just doing it as a way to pass the time?

Also, she is a syrian so no worries about her escaping

sushi_78 · 02-15-2021, 02:05 PM

She might be trying to create a dark and secure area to sleep in. I'd suggest giving her a large wooden house to use instead, if she doesn't already have one.

Pebbles82 · 02-15-2021, 04:04 PM

It’s probably to keep the draughts out

. They feel the cold and blocking a house entrance is very common. The tube is a bit like a house entrance.

Flossypet · 02-16-2021, 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

It’s probably to keep the draughts out

. They feel the cold and blocking a house entrance is very common. The tube is a bit like a house entrance.

That actually makes sense. She was doing it again this morning for hours but while I was watching her it seemed as if she was trying more to block the tunnel than to push it through.
The problem is that she blocks off her own main cage by doing this

I might need to start changing her cage around then, to stop her doing this. I could remove her tunnel nest as well, but she might sleep in the tunnels then I am not sure.

Ria P · 02-16-2021, 07:12 AM

In my opinion the easiest and most obvious way to solve this problem is to do away with the two cages and tubes and get one large cage with a big house in it so she can make a big comfy nest and close up the door with substrate to keep the draughts out.

Flossypet · 02-16-2021, 11:58 AM

I wish I could do that!
I don't have anywhere near enough money though. I could only just about get the cages she has now in the first place.

Ria P · 02-16-2021, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flossypet

I wish I could do that!
I don't have anywhere near enough money though. I could only just about get the cages she has now in the first place.

Keep an eye on Gumtree. That's where i get all my cages from.