I have a new baby Syrian called Clover!

[Frida]

Hello and welcome back to the forum. Clover's home looks very cosy

 

[Doro]

Clover still stays out of sight although yesterday I got an unexpected 1 sec glimpse of him when I came back downstairs after everyone else had gone to sleep to get sth. I saw his back but he immediately disappeared! Two questions: first, he’s emptying his food bowl every night probably to hoard it somewhere. Should I fill it up every day or leave empty given that he probably has plenty stored somewhere? Secondly, one night ago I heard him rustle in the breadstick box on the top shelf. He had made himself a bed there! Am not sure he’s still in there as I tried to tempt him to his house with some treats (he didn’t make any noise yesterday so am not sure where he is), but if he is, should I move the box? Am a bit worried he will tumble down with it at one point… I have added a pic to show you where the box is.

 

[elusive]

I would continue to put food out daily, with such a young hamster it’s important he has plenty as he’s growing, if he is hoarding a lot that’s still fine, I wouldn’t worry about that.
I wouldn’t have thought he’d fall out of the box but maybe you could move it closer to the bars & away from the edge?

 

[Maz]

It's just time and patience when he is so young Definitely put food in the bowl every day or they can get anxious - their habit is to forage for food every day. He probably does hoard most of and then eats from his hoard, which is fairly normal. Their hoards do build up over time but can be left for quite a long time as it's dried food. Unless it's pee'd on. Then when you come to do a substrate clean, you can "prune" the hoard so it doesn't take over (I remove the bottom part of it/oldest food). But you never remove all their hoard as that also makes them anxious about where food will come from. Unless it's pee'd on and then you have to remove it but try and leave a bit of dry hoard behind and add new food in the same place instead. It might seem like a waste of food, but hamster food is not that expensive and a bag lasts a long time, and it keeps the hamster happy and able to forage and hoard.

 

[Maz]

I forgot about the box. I wouldn't think it would fall off either but as long as there is plenty of depth of substrate in front of the shelf, if it did fall off, he'd have a soft landing.

 

[Doro]

Hello it has been 9 days now but Clover still doesn’t show himself. He’s active at night, taking all the food, but we see no sign of him. Any tips about what we could do to lure him out…? Other than patience I keep talking to him and sometimes (rarely) hear him rustling but that’s it.

 

[RainbowBrite]

9 days is still very early. I would just give him time. He is eating and active at night which shows he is healthy. You may like to get a camera so you can watch his night adventures.

 

[elusive]

It can take some of them quite a while to settle in & begin to come out, what I do with mine if they’re being a bit shy is spend some time talking to them than leave a nice tasty treat they can. smell close to where they are, house entrance or burrow, then walk away, they usually soon begin to associate my voice with the treat & start to make an appearance. If they’re still shy you can then try leaving the treat a little further away from where they are so they have to come out to get it.
You can try the same thing when giving veg too, if you do it at the same time each day they come to expect it.

 

[Maz]

I usually reckon it's day 10 or 11 when they suddenly start feeling more at home and confident You could maybe tray scatter feeding a little bit of the food, as well as putting it in the food bowl - then he'll want to forage for it and may stay out a bit more and you can talk to him then Similar to Elusive's idea.

 

[Member ID2]

I would also keep in mind that at his age he would normally have the reassurance of his siblings. They learn from each other and by the time they are old enough to be rehomed at around 6 weeks old, they would have gained some confidence.
I think patience is what you need with Clover. It could be that he needs to mature a little to be able to face life outside his place of safety.

 

[Maz]

That is a good point - I had forgotten he is much younger than most baby Syrians. It sounds like he has got himself a nice little routine and at least isn't too scared right now. You could also do the tissue trick - I forgot to mention that. Put a few sheets of toilet paper up your sleeve or down your bra and leave them there for a while - I usually leave them for at least an hour. Then tear each sheet into a few strips for nesting material and put the pile of nesting material in the cage - perhaps not far from his box where he's sleeping. He will take some for his nest and will have your scent in his nest then, which can help them familiarise with your scent and accept you easier.

 

[elusive]

I was thinking about his age too, it will have been more stressful for him to have been separated & moved somewhere alone at his age than for an older baby Syrian so just go slow & let him take his time.

 

[Doro]

Clover has started to show himself hooray! Still very early days, but when I check on him before I go to bed and he’s out he at least doesn’t run away straightaway. Last night I held a treat through the bars and he came to sniff it (then I made a noise trying to push it through and he was off again). He’s doubled in size! I have another question: I have not done any spot cleaning so far as I didn’t know where he burrows and didn’t want to disturb him. But I now know that he lives in his house / the shoe box. I also haven’t filled his his toilet with sand as the breeder said he’s too young for sand. Should I put some sand in now and actually check his house for old veg leftovers and soiled bedding? Or should I leave it for another week given he has just started to show himself?

 

[Maz]

That's great news I bet he's doubled in size! I would leave it a bit longer unless you can easily see where he pees and it smells a lot! If it doesn't smell, don't worry about it yet. They sometimes choose a corner of the cage as a toilet which is fairly easy to see and spot clean, but it maybe isn't clear yet where he's peeing. I think it might freak him out a bit and won't do any harm to leave it another few days. Has he taken nesting material put out? If so I'd maybe just add another pile of torn up strips of toilet paper in the cage (quietly when he's asleep) and he'll probably take them and make his nest cosier.

 

[elusive]

That’s really great that Clover is getting more confident now. They do grow so fast at that age!
I think it best to leave it a bit longer too before doing any cleaning, it should be fine for another week.

 

[Member ID2]

I'm so happy to hear that Clover is doing so well. I'd also wait for a bit until you do some spot cleaning unless you can smell wee.

Clover is lucky to have a human friend who is patient and gives him the time he needs. It helps him to learn to trust you and build a bond over time.

 

[Frida]

Lovely update on Clover

 

[Doro]

Clover is coming out now!! Eating from our hands in the cage. I also have pictures now

 

[RainbowBrite]

Aw, so lovely to see Clover! What a cutie pie.

 

[Maz]

Aw that's great! I was just thinking about him the other day and wondering how it was going . He looks adorable. He is already accepting you which is great.