Rearrange cage for syrian hamster

[pumpkin13]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

If the substrate was a bit low at one end when she took it for her nest, and it got pee'd in there, I sometimes used to just wipe the base of the cage in one or two spots and spot clean. Does she use a potty litter tray? And does she pee in the same spot always, and does she pee in the wheel? That'll give an idea as to when she'll need a bigger clean out. Also depending on how deep the substrate is depends on whether the pee goes down to the base or not. If it's deeper, you can usually just spot clean the top half and the bottom stays dry.

Poops aren't really an issue by the way - their poops aren't smelly or dirty, they're like little black seeds and sometimes they eat them or hoard them because they can redigest extra vitamins second time around So don't worry too much about trying to get rid of all the poops. Unless it starts to look like poop overload everywhere

Thanks for the reply. she tends to pee in two of the corners. I put a potty in one corner with sand in it and some substrate that had pee on it. The next morning when I looked she had removed all the sand from the potty and somehow got a pile up to the outside of her nest, so there is some sand under the substrate, so don't know whether to try the sand again or just put a bit of substrate in the potty. The substrate is deeper at one end because she has moved it all to one end of the cage. It is not as deep at the other end as the wheel is quite low on the stand. Not really seen in her nest yet as it is under the shelf and can't see inside without removing the shelf. Am going to put the new house under the shelf but sticking out a little so can hopefully remove the roof and see inside. A bit nervous of medling in her cage while shes in there as she is a bit nippy. but hopefully that will change as she gets used to us.

[Pebbles82]

It amazes me how they can transport sand! I've found things like that too. Sounds like she's just working out how she likes things. Is she still using the potty?

I used to be a bit nervous at first, before our hammy was tame as he used to charge at your hand and scare you off lol. So maybe spot cleaning while she's asleep and just swap the houses round when she's asleep another time. A bendy bridge should encourage her to move it.

[pumpkin13]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

It amazes me how they can transport sand! I've found things like that too. Sounds like she's just working out how she likes things. Is she still using the potty?

I used to be a bit nervous at first, before our hammy was tame as he used to charge at your hand and scare you off lol. So maybe spot cleaning while she's asleep and just swap the houses round when she's asleep another time. A bendy bridge should encourage her to move it.

Hi. Well I have put the new house in, but couldn't get a bendy bridge over the door as it would have disturbed her present nest and I didn't want to do that yet. She did keep going into it though for a look around so hopefully she will move her nest in there. I have had to move the shelf by a bar space. Do you think it would be better if the shelf fit snuggly onto the roof as she tries to climb between the shelf and the roof of her house, she does manage it but shes practically flat as a pancake when she does it. I put the old house in the bath for her. we are trying to tame her. My daughter feeds her treats using her fingers and she will take food from the palm of my hand and sometimes nips, but tonight she bit my thumb and drew blood. I jumped and she jumped. I am trying to move too quickly in taming her. We have had her for just over 3 weeks now.

[Pebbles82]

Aw - it really hurts as well! What we used to do when Charlie was in the bath was stroke him with a toothbrush (not one you use lol) at arms length at first - because if you tried to touch him he jerked his head round as if he would bite, which scared us off. We needed to build confidence and not show fear to make progress but we were scared of getting bitten. When he was slithering up and down the side of the bath we would gently stroke him on the back once or twice with the brush. His head would jerk round and we'd take it away again. Then do it again maybe 5 minutes later. Then leave it till another session. It can take time and patience. We did the bathtub taming sessions about twice a week and I started to find it a bit of a hassle! But we kept going. We moved onto using a finger instead of the toothbrush. He jerked his head round and I moved the finger away, but a few minutes later, he accepted the stroke from the finger (he started as if to jerk round and then didn't as if to say - ok I'm used to that now and it's safe). That was the turning point - when we could stroke his back without him threatening to bite (while he was slithering up and down the side of the bath that is). We then moved onto cupping a hand under him while he walked around in the bath. You just cup your hand under the tummy, lift about a centimetre and let him walk off, don't try to hold him. We did this a few times and suddenly he was tame and we could pick him up and he was sweet as anything! Never threatened to bite since. So it's about building familiarity, them getting used to you and that it's safe to be touched and then you turn the corner. It took us 6 to 8 weeks to get to that point, but once he was hand tame it was virtually instant. We could all hold him, I popped him in my dressing gown pocket while we sat down and he was used to us. For a long time he used to sit between me and OH on the sofa Or fall asleep on my knee under a blanket.

Re the shelf. A gap they could get stuck in isn't good as you say. If you had the shelf on top of the house you wouldn't be able to get the top off, but it would be a useful bit of shelf extension maybe. I guess the alternative would be to move the shelf up a bit higher - but then access to the shelf might be a bit steep? Adjusting the height of the substrate one way or the other in that area might help to jiggle it all about. (Best done while she is out of the cage I use the pet carrier for things like that - pop him in it upstairs on the bed with a blanket over and then do what I need to do to the cage.

[Pebbles82]

I would go back a step with the treats and feed them through the bars for now. I never did get to the stage of Charlie taking a treat from the palm of my hand, as people usually advice, because he didn't like having a hand in the cage. So we went straight to bathtub taming from treats through the bars. He still won't take a treat from my hand lol. And looks suspicious until I put it down, then he'll take it.

[pumpkin13]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

I would go back a step with the treats and feed them through the bars for now. I never did get to the stage of Charlie taking a treat from the palm of my hand, as people usually advice, because he didn't like having a hand in the cage. So we went straight to bathtub taming from treats through the bars. He still won't take a treat from my hand lol. And looks suspicious until I put it down, then he'll take it.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. My daughter is able to stroke her when she is eating from her food bowl. but yes when shes finished in the bowl she does turn around and my daughter then withdraws her hand. We have been putting her in the bath via her carrier. Probably been about 4 times since weekend. will see if I can do something with the shelf. Her old house roof sloped down at one side, so she was able to climb on top under the shelf which she is trying to do with this new house. I think we just can't wait to give her a cuddle and my daughter is dying to hold her, but I know we will have to be patient with her and take it slowly, we are just hoping she will stop the biting as she gets used to us. We will try stroking her with the toothbrush, sounds a really good idea and we wont feel fearful of getting bitten. Thanks again.

[AmityvilleHams]

I know that it can seem scary to get bitten or to feel like you might get bitten,but hamster bites aren't bad.Most of the time if you do get any sort of bite it will end up being a nibble,which if done fully ends up feeling like a pinch of sorts Even very tame hamsters can still be nibblers,but I've found that a lot of the time a firm no will work to stop a hamster from biting otherwise distracting with something else to chew or eat will do.Just be patient and remain calm!

Also,don't give your hamster easy chances to bite.This may seem a bit like common sense,but dangling fingers around especially after holding any sort of food is a big risk and makes you more likely to get bitten as hamsters are just so curious and always want to taste everything

[pumpkin13]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

I know that it can seem scary to get bitten or to feel like you might get bitten,but hamster bites aren't bad.Most of the time if you do get any sort of bite it will end up being a nibble,which if done fully ends up feeling like a pinch of sorts Even very tame hamsters can still be nibblers,but I've found that a lot of the time a firm no will work to stop a hamster from biting otherwise distracting with something else to chew or eat will do.Just be patient and remain calm!

Also,don't give your hamster easy chances to bite.This may seem a bit like common sense,but dangling fingers around especially after holding any sort of food is a big risk and makes you more likely to get bitten as hamsters are just so curious and always want to taste everything

Thanks for your reply. Going to try and take things very slowly with her now and not try and feed her from my palm. Think I am trying to rush taming her.

[Pebbles82]

I know it's so hard waiting for the cuddles! Especially for children. Our little boy desperately just wanted to pick Charlie up and hold him and it was two months before we could do that! Mind you I think the waiting and desperation and anticipation taught him something lol! And the progress of taming kept up its motivation - to get to that goal!

I would avoid putting hands in the cage at all right now. This will make her feel more territorial. So only attempt to stroke when she is out of the cage. She will then learn eventually that a hand in the cage is ok and not to be "seen off" or a threat.

If it helps I have a little video of our taming - it doesn't actually show much but there are some tips in boxes throughout the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjyEme2xcq4

Hmm fitting the house seems a bit fiddly. Maybe you could just have it butting up to the shelf rather than partly under it and leave the shelf where it is. As long as there is access to the house roof your hammy can still get onto the shelf via the house roof. I used to have a bendy bridge as a tunnel over the house door (I'd push it down into the substrate, or push the house down into the substrate, until they lined up over the door ) - so it was a bridge to climb up to the house roof and also a tunnel entrance to the house. But a little ladder or ramp at the side of the house would do.

Did she move into the house?

It looked like this (this is actually a really big medium sized bendy bridge which is quite long - I later used the small sized one to take up less space).

[pumpkin13]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

I know it's so hard waiting for the cuddles! Especially for children. Our little boy desperately just wanted to pick Charlie up and hold him and it was two months before we could do that! Mind you I think the waiting and desperation and anticipation taught him something lol! And the progress of taming kept up its motivation - to get to that goal!

I would avoid putting hands in the cage at all right now. This will make her feel more territorial. So only attempt to stroke when she is out of the cage. She will then learn eventually that a hand in the cage is ok and not to be "seen off" or a threat.

If it helps I have a little video of our taming - it doesn't actually show much but there are some tips in boxes throughout the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjyEme2xcq4

Hmm fitting the house seems a bit fiddly. Maybe you could just have it butting up to the shelf rather than partly under it and leave the shelf where it is. As long as there is access to the house roof your hammy can still get onto the shelf via the house roof. I used to have a bendy bridge as a tunnel over the house door (I'd push it down into the substrate, or push the house down into the substrate, until they lined up over the door ) - so it was a bridge to climb up to the house roof and also a tunnel entrance to the house. But a little ladder or ramp at the side of the house would do.

Did she move into the house?

It looked like this (this is actually a really big medium sized bendy bridge which is quite long - I later used the small sized one to take up less space).

Hi. No she hasn't moved into the house at all. I keep having a little look in there when she is in the bath(not literally having a bath!). The house is pushed down as far as it will go. I have had to move the shelf up by a bar space so there is a gap between the roof of the house and the shelf. Not sure if there would be enough room to move it out more. She seems to have made a good nest in the substrate under the shelf. So not really sure what to do about the house as there doesn't look a lot of floor space as she has 2 bendy bridges, a tube , chew toy and wheel in the main cage and coconut house on the shelf. If we place anything on the shelf she just moves it to the bottom of the cage. It all looks very untidy lol!! She has moved lots of food from her hoard in her nest into her wheel. Does this mean she no longer wants this food or she hasn't enough room in her nest. She seems to do this every so often. shall I move this out of her cage as she can't run on her wheel because of all the food. She makes us laugh. Every morning we say hello to her and see what she has done in the night.