brainee

Hi all! I've had a Syrian female hamster (named Pumpkin) for about 4
months now (she was about 4-6 weeks old when purchased). Her behavior
seemed normal -- sleeps all day, bounces off the walls at night. But
for the last week, I NEVER see her out of her nest. Well, she'll climb
out when I put more food in the cage, but quickly stuffs her pouches
and goes back into the nest. She seems otherwise ok -- she doesn't look
sick and I took her out of the cage to clean and she rolled around in
the ball for a bit. I just never see her fully awake at night, or
running on the wheel. I've also noticed that the cardboard tubing she
usually gnaws on has been untouched. Have any of you seen anything like
this? Could this be just a phase she's going through? Thanks.

ookie wonderslug

Have there been any severe thunderstorms lately? I have noticed twice
now that the day after a big thunderstorm my hammy hides in his wheel
and pees it stuck. When I coax him out of the wheel to clean it he
hides in his potty (an overturned vase that fits him nicely) and won't
come out all day.

Have you changed his "home" any? I tried to make more efficient use
of the space in mine's cage by making a 3 leveled "rack" that he could
climb on and such. Didn't like it one bit and hid in his wheel until I
took it back out. I find the oddest things can freak out a hamster.
At least a dwarf hamster. My sister's syrian seems unfazed by
anything. I gave mine a very small earthworm and he hid from it until
it was gone. I gave sis's a cricket yesterday and he attacked it like
a cat and ate everything but the legs. Really different animals.

It is probably a phase, given her age but it pays to keep watching and
see if something else is going on.

This is the kind of behaviour our Cubby exibited a little when we
adopted her at age 1. In her case, I truly believe that just a bit of
her behaviour had to do with the fact that she got little attention in
her old home. I think the poor little thing expected little, so she
didn't go looking. I asked the vet about this and he said that it is a
reasonable assumption but not to discount the fact that it could simply
be her nature. When I go and wake Cubby for activity, she is more than
happy to come out and play. She is very active in the playpen. It was
getting better as she was with us for a bit, then all of a sudden, it
changed. Now, when I put her back in the cage, she heads right for bed
- skipping her wheel and tube ventures. Recently, I have attributed
this as coinciding with some skin lesions that she has had. They
started small - after we had her for about 2.5 months and she has
gnawed them a bit bigger and more raw. After ruling out fungus and
bacteria, we are now doing a 6 wk course of Ivermectin to rule out
mites and I have swapped her aspen bed shavings for CareFresh in the
hope that maybe we are dealing with an inderlying allergy. Her bedding
changed a bit when we adopted her and that may be the cause of some
irritation, I just don't know yet. I am also using a little
hydrocortisone to try to control the obvious itch.

Continue to engage your ham during normal wakeful times and watch her
behaviour. Hopefully, she will resume a more active lifestyle.

Keep us posted! I think we all learn a lot from hearing about other's
experiences.

Joann

brainee

Well, the change in behavior seems to date approximately to 2 cage
cleanings ago. There were a couple of minor changes I made: 1) I
starting using this "Carefresh Ultra" litter, instead of the regular
"Carefresh" brand. It looks the same to me, but it's white (the old bag
ran out, and I picked up this bag of litter). 2) I added a section of
tubing to her cage -- just a little loop to give her more space to
crawl. I didn't think the loop addition met with much approval (I never
see her in it), but when I hide treats in the loop they always seem to
disappear, so she must be using it when I'm not watching

These 2 things couldn't result in a dramatic change in behavior, could
they? Arrghhh, stupid rodent I picked up several bags of that litter
so I wouldn't have to go back to the store soon (hamster food is easily
found in the supermarket, but "Carefresh" litter is a bit more out of
the way).

Here's another odd recent behavioral change. You all know how hamsters
pick a spot to build a nest, and this nest location can change on a
whim. Well about 4 weeks ago, Pumpkin has decided that the wheel was
the ideal place for a nest. Now the wheel (it's one of those SAM
enclosed side add-ons) is completely stuffed with TP and a food stash.
But she would still try to run in it, with the food rattling around and
all the TP continually knocking into her!