Hamster cage change query

[Gemma_xo]

Hi
I'm new to Hamster care so this might be a stupid question but it's something that's worrying me so I figure I'll ask it anyway (don't know till you ask, hey? xD)

I got my Hamster (Zak - A Russian Dwarf) from Pets At Home, with him I got a small - lets call it "beginner" cage which was small with no separate floors. Anyway, first chance I got I ordered a bigger cage, this one has three different floors / sections at heights. The new cage arrived today and was put together within 10 minutes of arriving. The "house" compartment is on the top floor on it's own level but Zak keeps burying himself on the floor compartment in the tray in a corner under a "floor"..
I've tried to put him in his house with new bedding, and bedding from his old "house" he just wont have any of it and keeps going back down, I've moved him 3 times but I feel that's 3 times too many, I don't want to make him miserable moving him but I also want him to utilize his new bed whish is waaay bigger and looks way more to his style (the last one was pink, in a purple cage. Now it's a blue, green and silver, much more "masculine", not that I can see it really bothering a hamster, but hey!)

Just wanted advice on ways to get him to use his new house area.
Things I've thought of is
-move the ladder from the new house so he can't get down and therefor gets used to the new house being at a height. (would only take it away for about 5/10 minutes and I wouldn't leave the side of the cage to avoid him falling)
-move the new house into the old cage so he gets used to something new in an old surrounding
-deal with it and let him do what he wants, it's his cage (however with that I wanted to buy some new boredom busters for the bottom of his cage, I didn't want to push him out of his chosen "bed" area with toys etc in case it upsets him.

Sorry this post is so long winded, and thank you for taking my silly question seriously
Gemma x

[cypher]

You can't make a hamster sleep where it doesn't want to! They really will sleep in all sorts of weird places & it's best to let them decide.
I'm not sure which cage you have but a dwarf can have trouble with ladders, plastic or open rung ladders can be hard for them to climb, also if you have levels you need to be really sure they can't fall from any of them, russians are quite good at falling off things & generally do better with one large area rather than lots of levels tbh.

[Gemma_xo]

He's fine with the ladders, they're flat and pretty much at levels where there is no climb whatsoever due to the layout I've got it at, to ensure he doesn't struggle., I will get a tank cage- they just take a bit of DIY & I'm in a situation to do that right now with my flat being at the "still moving in" stage.
I've decided to let him sleep where he wants, even put his old cage house in the corner he chose so he has some cover which isn't see through.

Thanks anyway.

[Pebbles82]

It's usually best to have a house on the floor of the cage - a house which is open at the base, and sat directly on the substrate. Firstly this makes it easier to clean if they wee in the nest or the house, but also it allows them to be comfortable and build a big nest, and also to bury hoards under the nest. You could try moving the house to the base of the cage, but it might be that he just doesn't find the house suitable. Sometimes doors are too small or there just isn't enough room for them to build a nest inside.

I did something similar when we first had our hamster - some of these things are appealing to our eyes, but hamsters don't see very much and can only really see blue or green colours (a bit), otherwise they are colour blind. It's a balance between having a cage not look like a bomb site and having a cage set up for a hamsters needs and preferences.

I assume he is making a nest just in the substrate on the base. You could make a nice big hide out of an upturned shoe box and cut an entrance door (no window, they prefer it dark inside) big enough so he can get in and out easily, and put it on the substrate on the base of the cage. He might move into it if it's nice and dark inside (try hiding a treat or some food in there). Or he might just prefer to stay where he is!

Also the best thing you can give him is lots of deep substrate on the base of the cage - as deep as can fit as they like digging tunnels and burying food for hoards. Digging is supposed to reduce their stress levels I believe (after reading a research article on this). It's one of the reasons why large floor area is recommended on the base of the cage, with levels being a bonus rather than instead of floor area on the base. I'm sure he'll enjoy exploring the levels and you can leave the original house where it is and it could make a nice little sitting place or hideaway (if it's big enough for him), but watch out for drops from a height. It's important to set up a taller cage so that the hamster can't drop from the top to the bottom - a drop of more than 30cm can cause serious injury, and even then they need to land on something soft like deep substrate, rather than on top of a toy or a hard shelf. Particularly with smaller dwarf hamsters who are so fast and active. If you post some pics of the cage we can advise on set up and moving things if necessary

[dave123791]

Hamsters sleep wherever they want, so you moving him constantly is just stressing for him. Its like you sleeping on a bed and someone was constantly moving you on the couch. I would personally move the house to the level where he enjoys sleeping.