Introducing Minx

Hi!

Having had hamsters as a child I am now pretty horrified to learn that the advice we had then was pretty poor and the environments which they were kept in were not great. I'm am pleased to now be much better informed thanks to this forum and hope that we have created a much better home for our first family pet! This is Minx, as named by my children. They are missing seeing her now as she only seems to want to get up at 8pm but we haven't started interacting with her yet as this is only day 3 and I don't want to stress her. We're going to try to open the cage this evening at about 7pm and see if she stirs for some broccoli.

She loves her sand box and mainly just seems to spend all night on the wheel but hasn't taken any interest in the thatched chew hut, the ladder and coconut or the eggbox food puzzle the children made. I assume she just needs time and is still 'bedding in'.

She hasn't tried to burrow/dig at all - is this because she is still young? She has made a bit of a nest in the house at the back. The house only has one chamber. Do you think she needs something else which has more separate areas? I dont want to crowd the cage or put in new things if it will stress her out.

Thanks all!

She is absolutely gorgeous Very sweet and innocent looking. She will still be a baby presumably. Her set up looks lovely. And the house at the back looks nice and big so she will like that - it will be dark at the end furthest away from the door. I wouldn't worry about anything. It will be a lot easier to spot clean in future if she decides to nest in her house! I doubt she will use the hanging coconut though as the ladder will be hard to climb as it will move and has gaps so it won't feel secure or be easy to climb. However she might get up there and then it would be hard to get out of again - she'd have to jump out and could get caught on the ladder while doing that. So while I wouldn't change anything else or disturb anything else just yet, I think it would be best to put the coconut hut at substrate level - you can leave the ladder attached if you want as it won't be an issue at floor level. You could do that during the day when she's asleep, quietly

I agree, don't change or disturb anything just yet - let her settle in. Maybe in a couple of weeks you could put the coconut at floor level - I'm sure she'd love that as an extra hide. The main thing that stresses them initially is things being taken away or moved around to different locations. Adding the odd new thing is usually accepted ok but best to wait that couple of weeks while she settles in.

It can take them a good 10 days or more to be fully adjusted to a new enclosure and surroundings, and feel like it's their own and scent mark everything - so she may still start digging and burrowing. The fact she hasn't yet is, in my view, a good sign - because she clearly feels secure being above ground - partly due to that lovely big house maybe. A scared hamster would burrow down straight away and not come out again!

Thank you so much for your feedback. That's very reassuring. My children chose the accessories and in their eyes, a swinging hide out with a rope ladder must be the most fun (!) but that totally makes sense and the last thing we would want is for her to catch her foot and injure herself - I'll give it a week or so then lower it to ground level.

I would do it now to be honest It's only a small change - you could have it in the same position next to the house but on the substrate - as if it had fallen down Because hamsters do try and climb things especially at night.

Maz said:

I would do it now to be honest It's only a small change - you could have it in the same position next to the house but on the substrate - as if it had fallen down Because hamsters do try and climb things especially at night.

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ok will do thanks

Minxis a very beautiful hammy Congratulations ❤ Its great that she is using her wheel alot and very active and healthy

Thanks