Replacing the house

[shane]

I’m going to be replacing my young Syrian’s house with a bigger one and I’m unsure how best to do it.

He’s brave enough to get onto my hand for food but too timid for me take him out of the cage without scaring him. His nest is in his burrows about a foot from the house (which he uses only as a hideout and a toilet because - I realise now - it’s too small for him). So I’m thinking of replacing his house while he’s in his nest. I can do it without disturbing the nest but I’m sure he’ll notice something going on, especially because I want to replace the substrate where the house is at the same time.

I can’t decide whether to get him out of the cage while I do it which will definitely be stressful, or try to do it carefully while he’s asleep which might turn out to be more stressful. Any thoughts please?