Register FAQ Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
Navigation
Front Page
Forum
Gallery
Wiki

Ads by Google


Go Back   Hamster Central > Hamster Central Forum Topics > Housing

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-01-2022, 09:18 AM   #21
heidii
Hamster Pup
 
heidii's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: England
Posts: 232
Default Re: Houses and hides

Neptr, at least at his young age, seems a bit like a ghost hamster. He's never had an interest in me or food, and therefore waits till I've gone to bed late into the night to wake up. I'm fine if he stays like that for his entire life, as much as I'd love a hamster that I've got a bond with, he is perfect just the way he is. However, in the short time I've had Pico, my adopted Robo hamster, Pico has sat on his waterbottle right beside me and watched me on my computer, wait to be fed, runs off with his pouches full and then will come right back after storing his food. He seems incredibly friendly, but I do find it incredibly stressful as I'm used to my DIY cage where I can have my hand in there with no risk of Neptr getting out. However the barred cage Pico is in, he can get out when I'm offering food, so I'm always quite anxious on that note.

As for hides, I wouldn't see an issue in them. In the wild, I doubt they have 'perfectly' sized hides. As long as it's safe for them to leave and enter without risk of injury, it should be fine. So, the real risk is giving a Syrian a small hide, as they can get stuck.
heidii is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2022, 09:23 AM   #22
cloudy
Whimzee dealer
 
Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: World
Posts: 1,912
Default Re: Houses and hides

Quote:
Originally Posted by heidii View Post
Neptr, at least at his young age, seems a bit like a ghost hamster. He's never had an interest in me or food, and therefore waits till I've gone to bed late into the night to wake up. I'm fine if he stays like that for his entire life, as much as I'd love a hamster that I've got a bond with, he is perfect just the way he is. However, in the short time I've had Pico, my adopted Robo hamster, Pico has sat on his waterbottle right beside me and watched me on my computer, wait to be fed, runs off with his pouches full and then will come right back after storing his food. He seems incredibly friendly, but I do find it incredibly stressful as I'm used to my DIY cage where I can have my hand in there with no risk of Neptr getting out. However the barred cage Pico is in, he can get out when I'm offering food, so I'm always quite anxious on that note.

As for hides, I wouldn't see an issue in them. In the wild, I doubt they have 'perfectly' sized hides. As long as it's safe for them to leave and enter without risk of injury, it should be fine. So, the real risk is giving a Syrian a small hide, as they can get stuck.
Thank you for sharing this with me. It is so nice to hear how well little Pico is settling in and that he likes to interact with you. I can see your point about being worried he could get out the cage when you offer food. They really are so tiny!
cloudy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2022, 10:54 AM   #23
Pebbles82
Hamster Antics
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: Houses and hides

I haven't heard this term ghost hamster before and I am not sure if it is a thing actually. It's true some syrian hamsters can be reclusive or very shy (or sleepyheads or very lazy). But that's partly what taming and bonding are all about. It can take quite a bit of effort, initially, to get them to interact, and even the most reclusive of hamsters can be much more interactive out of the cage than in it. Then they behave more like hamsters! So to speak. It took us two months to tame our first Syrian - taming sessions every 2 or 3 days. He was feral to begin with and also reclusive. At the same time!

He never liked to come out, would never come out of his house, and only run in his wheel after dark. But once he was out, he was so affectionate and interactive (and sometimes grumpy). He was quite sensitive as well - didn't like anything moving in his cage even a centimetre. The only way I could get him out was put a tube over his house entrance with a treat at one end - the entire time we had him. And he developed a knack of trying to evade that by grabbing the cucumber or treat, stretching himself out so his back legs were outside the tube and then backing up quickly before I could put my hand over the end and pick it up! So I got a longer tube lol.

Once out he loved playpen time, sofa time and was so dopey and lazy he would often go to sleep on my knee under a blanket. That was the plus side of a reclusive hamster. Lovely nature.

But many hamsters won't come out until after lights out unless you train them with a set feeding time early evening and a bit of cage noise at the time so it wakes them up. Then they get in the routine of waking at that time.

Sometimes as well, if you never see them at all, it can be to do with the cage or cage set up not being right for them. Their personalities vary there too.

But the key is to get them out regularly - every two or three days at least really. Most of our hamsters haven't come out in their cages during the evening when the TV is on and people are talking. Newt was an exception (active and liked to be out) and Raffy is very much an exception - he's a livewire and running in his wheel from about 9pm with all the lights on and wanting to be out of the cage. But that might change as he gets older and into a routine.

Cloudy I am sure whatever feels right will be right for you when it comes to getting a hamster and it's lovely you have that attitude.
Pebbles82 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2022, 11:06 AM   #24
cloudy
Whimzee dealer
 
Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: World
Posts: 1,912
Default Re: Houses and hides

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
I haven't heard this term ghost hamster before and I am not sure if it is a thing actually. It's true some syrian hamsters can be reclusive or very shy (or sleepyheads or very lazy). But that's partly what taming and bonding are all about. It can take quite a bit of effort, initially, to get them to interact, and even the most reclusive of hamsters can be much more interactive out of the cage than in it. Then they behave more like hamsters! So to speak. It took us two months to tame our first Syrian - taming sessions every 2 or 3 days. He was feral to begin with and also reclusive. At the same time!

He never liked to come out, would never come out of his house, and only run in his wheel after dark. But once he was out, he was so affectionate and interactive (and sometimes grumpy). He was quite sensitive as well - didn't like anything moving in his cage even a centimetre. The only way I could get him out was put a tube over his house entrance with a treat at one end - the entire time we had him. And he developed a knack of trying to evade that by grabbing the cucumber or treat, stretching himself out so his back legs were outside the tube and then backing up quickly before I could put my hand over the end and pick it up! So I got a longer tube lol.

Once out he loved playpen time, sofa time and was so dopey and lazy he would often go to sleep on my knee under a blanket. That was the plus side of a reclusive hamster. Lovely nature.

But many hamsters won't come out until after lights out unless you train them with a set feeding time early evening and a bit of cage noise at the time so it wakes them up. Then they get in the routine of waking at that time.

Sometimes as well, if you never see them at all, it can be to do with the cage or cage set up not being right for them. Their personalities vary there too.

But the key is to get them out regularly - every two or three days at least really. Most of our hamsters haven't come out in their cages during the evening when the TV is on and people are talking. Newt was an exception (active and liked to be out) and Raffy is very much an exception - he's a livewire and running in his wheel from about 9pm with all the lights on and wanting to be out of the cage. But that might change as he gets older and into a routine.

Cloudy I am sure whatever feels right will be right for you when it comes to getting a hamster and it's lovely you have that attitude.
Aww, how cute he loved being on the sofa and would even sleep on your knee. That is just lovely. Thank you for your kind words.
cloudy is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
hides, houses, size, sized, syrian

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.43 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Copyright © 2003-2022, Hobby Solutions
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 04:03 PM.