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Old 05-14-2016, 04:24 AM   #1
SwaggySyrians
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Default Sleeping in his toilet?

All through today Buzz has been refusing to sleep in his bed and will only sleep in his toilet in a little house. He has dragged a ton of bedding and toilet paper in there that now smells very strongly of urine. I spot clean there every day but if he turns it into a permanent home then it'll be a lot harder to clean, as I don't want to disturb his sleep or his new bed. Anyone know why this is?
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Old 05-14-2016, 04:31 AM   #2
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Default Re: Sleeping in his toilet?

Have you cleaned out his house or removed his nest recently? Sometimes they abandon a house or nest if all their scent is removed. His toilet probably still smells familiar!

If the house is a bit small or not dark enough inside they sometimes abandon it too. A shoebox makes a good dark house/hide. I reckon if you made a shoe box house (cut the bottom of the box out, leave the lid as a lift-off roof and cut a door in the front), put some food or a couple of treats inside it and a bendy tunnel over the doorway so it's dark inside, he'll probably build a nest in there If it's big enough he might move his toilet corner in there as well (mine has always done this when he's in a large house - he has his nest at one end and a wee corner at the other end). If he does this you can move the potty inside the house. Then use the lift-off lid to check his potty without his nest falling apart. They get very upset about their nests being removed - it's their number one most important thing really. So if it gets wee'd in its best to always leave a bit of the original nest behind so it smells familiar. then put a big pile of torn up strips of plain white toilet paper in a big pile somewhere in the cage and your hammy can take some to rebuild the nest. The pile tends to go down slowly but one day you notice a lot has gone.

Spot cleaning every day is maybe a bit too much. I empty the potty about every 5 days and I never take Charlie's nest out if it's dry.

They can get into an itch scratch cycle with cleaning - the more you clean the more they pee on things to keep scent marking them and deter predators. If you remove the hoard they sometimes start hoarding in their potty so the smell deters predators!

I found Erin's Hamster's cage cleaning tips videos really helped me and it works well for our hammy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jVnEjrXbww
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Old 05-14-2016, 04:35 AM   #3
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Default Re: Sleeping in his toilet?

He doesn't have a house to sleep in currently, he has an open nest which I thought he enjoyed more than a normal house because he has so much more room to burrow. He has a few other houses in his cage that he enjoys going into but none of them compare to his open nest. He really doesn't want to leave his toilet and it's confusing me! I'll try that though.
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Old 05-14-2016, 04:51 AM   #4
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Default Re: Sleeping in his toilet?

Just thought I'd mention that he's been acting very odd all night. At 1am he was bar chewing which is something he hasn't done for months. He was very jumpy when I attempted to pick him up which is unusual for him as he knows when I pick him up he'll get to run across the carpet. He woke me up at 5am with some very loud chewing on his wheel! He has never chewed on his wheel before but he was very roughly biting onto it and I had to stop him because I didn't want him to chew through it. He won't let me pick him up either today and he's moved his house, so I'm quite confused today!
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Old 05-14-2016, 04:57 AM   #5
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Default Re: Sleeping in his toilet?

Ok - it sounds like something isn't right for him then if he's doing those behaviours. Have you changed anything in the last few days? Also maybe check his wheel and water bottle are working ok.
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Old 05-14-2016, 05:00 AM   #6
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Default Re: Sleeping in his toilet?

I've checked his bottle and wheel and they both seem to be fine. I changed his house to an open nest a few weeks ago and he's been happy with it until now. I only did that because he had a big house and it was taking up a lot of space in his cage - and he only ever used a tiny bit of it. He has more burrowing room now so I didn't think that would be a problem for him but there's a possibility that he's stressed out because of it. I've changed a few things to do with his cage accessories but nothing extreme. Do you think this could be a stress-related issue?
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Old 05-14-2016, 05:07 AM   #7
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Default Re: Sleeping in his toilet?

If the toilet is enclosed like his house was that may be why he is sleeping in there. He could have his house back and you could find a smaller house.
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Old 05-14-2016, 05:09 AM   #8
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Default Re: Sleeping in his toilet?

I would just put the house back. He's probably used to being in the dark - they like somewhere dark to nest usually. Which house is it? The larger houses do take up a bit of floorspace, but a flat roof one can make a platform which adds to the useable space (so the shoebox one might be an idea too).

I worried a bit when I didn't have much burrowing room in our Syrian's cage because he had a large house and a large wheel, but he seemed quite happy and sometimes they think of their house as a burrow anyway. Now he has both - a large house and lots of floor area, and he likes both lol.

Which house is it that was a bit big? He probably only used the bit furthest away from the door as that bit would be darkest. if you put a bendy bridge tunnel over the door he might use more of it and build a bigger nest.

It does sound like he wants a roof over his head.
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Old 05-14-2016, 05:11 AM   #9
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Default Re: Sleeping in his toilet?

I'll put the house back over his normal burrowing area and see if that does anything. Thanks for the help.
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Old 05-14-2016, 01:43 PM   #10
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Default Re: Sleeping in his toilet?

I'm actually worried now.

I put the house back in but he still slept in his toilet so I just let him be and hoped that he would move back into the house eventually. I moved some of the bedding closer to his toilet into his bed to see if that would help. He slept all day and you could just see him in the house. He wasn't in any bedding, just sat there, unmoving. I got worried eventually that something was wrong because he didn't look to be breathing either. I poked him gently through the house door and he didn't even move, he was just curled there. I lifted the top off his house and he still wouldn't move. He only moved when I eventually started to think that he was dead, and I tried to pick him up. That was a really scary moment. He opened his eyes, looked very drowsy, and then sat in the corner of his cage not moving for about 10 minutes. He has never done this before. If he hears the shaking of his food or his cage door being opened he will run right out, but this time he wouldn't move even when I deliberately tried to wake him. He'll be two in August so I know that he's not a young ham anymore but I don't think this is anything aging related. What could be wrong with him?
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