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Biscuit2024!

Biscuit2024!

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Hello , I am new to the forum .. this is biscuit , she is around 2.5 months old .. I have had her for 4 weeks now .. sadly the pet shop recommended the wrong cage so I upgraded as I did my own research and I could see she wasn’t happy as she started chewing the bars ! She started burrowing tonight , it was so exciting to see .. any tips on taming as the new enclosure has set me back a bit .. she lets us pet her but when I got her she was a biter as not handled much so now I am little scared to pick her up . She wlll eat treats from my hand ..

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I just edited the title for you :-)
 
She is absolutely gorgeous :-) Is that the Bucatstate she's in? I think one of those photos would be nice for the next photo competition! (In a couple of days time....)
 
Biscuit2024! said:
Hello , I am new to the forum .. this is biscuit , she is around 2.5 months old .. I have had her for 4 weeks now .. sadly the pet shop recommended the wrong cage so I upgraded as I did my own research and I could see she wasn’t happy as she started chewing the bars ! She started burrowing tonight , it was so exciting to see .. any tips on taming as the new enclosure has set me back a bit .. she lets us pet her but when I got her she was a biter as not handled much so now I am little scared to pick her up . She wlll eat treats from my hand ..
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Thank you !
 
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Maz said:
She is absolutely gorgeous :-) Is that the Bucatstate she's in? I think one of those photos would be nice for the next photo competition! (In a couple of days time....)
Click to expand...
Yes it’s the 2.0 , it seems very sturdy… 😃quite pricey though but she seems a lot more settled and happy
 
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It is expensive - a lovely cage :-) As a female syrian I am sure she will really appreciate it. Females are notorious for being very active.
 
Yes .. annoying she is sleeping in her ceramic mushroom and also using it for a toilet ! And storing food there so it’s all a bit messy .. she had a little potty before but is now not using it , hopefully she will soon .. just feel bad for having to dean it everyday as she probably thinks I am stealing her food ! 😬
 
Biscuit is beautiful! It's great that you can see her in her nest, so cute 🥰
I found it useful to stroke Socks on his scent glands or just touch them to make my hand smell like him. You could use a paint brush or a feather if you think he might bite you. If it doesn't work, and he bites the brush, just leave it. Hand feeding treats should help as well.
 
Aw, she's still very young and maybe a bit disorientated after the cage move. She clearly loves the Mushroom hide! My experience has been that they do like to nest, hoard and toilet close together in one hide, and if you give them a large hide (like a shoebox house or multiroom hide) they will have separate areas within that for nesting/burrowing down, toiletting and hoarding. This worked for me with my first syrian who also tried to cram everything into a little round house becuase he liked it :)

Have you got a photo of your cage set up and we could maybe suggest the odd addition or tweak that will encourage her into normal behaviours - or rather better behaviours :) Do you still have the little potty from the old cage? For now you could try and put that next to the mushroom hide (or later put it inside a shoebox house?

If you have a larger or multiroom house, they tend to use one of the rooms as toilet and you could put the little potty in there with sand in.

I believe they like to be somewhere dark, with a roof over them and have an ensuite toilet without leaving the dark house :) If she had a large house, then she would maybe use the mushroom hide as a treat pot :-) That's what mine have done. It doesn't have to be expensive - a shoebox hide is fine :-) With that you cut the base out of the shoebox, keep the lid as a lift off roof and cut a hole for a door - ideally on one of the long sides towards the corner. That way one end is darker inside than the other end. I usually put the litter tray in the back corner opposite the door as they usually nest at the other end where it's darkest. If you put a bendy bridge over the door it makes it dark inside and also makes a ramp onto the roof so that makes another platform as well or area to go.
 
Ah thank you so much for your help . I have used the little litter box from the old cage , weirdly she has done all her poos in that !! Ha .. she does love the mushroom , her food stash is at the bottom , she puts paper bedding on top and goes to the toilet in there .. with it being ceramic .. I do have a little burrow hideout I could try .. the shoebox idea very good , the kids would love to make her one I am sure ..I have attached a photo of cage set up , please let me know if you have any suggestions! Thank you 🤩
 

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I suspect she's nesting in it because it's near the wheel :) And because the carrot topped hide isn't quite big enough to tempt her in. You can actually get a guinea pig sized one of those carrot topped hides that makes a good large house. The only thing is it then needs replacing if it gets pee'd in whereas cardboard is cheaper.

If you have the funds, then something like this one is good. I use this for all my Syrians and they all move into it (although one of mine sleeps under it rather than in it :) It has legs/stilts as well so it won't sink in the deep substrate. They do need supporting underneath as the hamsters tunnel under them sometimes and it could sink and hurt them.

www.happyhenryshomes.co.uk

Hamster Chamber House - Formaldehyde Free, Non Toxic, Wooden, Slot Together & Mo | Happy Henry’s Homes

Slot Together Wooden Hamster Chamber House Made from robust materials Assembled without glue or nails Flat packed to save on packaging materials Modular, allowing you to change the design to suit your requirements Chambers can be changed into two main configurations Removeable roof for checking...
www.happyhenryshomes.co.uk www.happyhenryshomes.co.uk

You choose the length of stilts depending how deep your bedding is

Stilts | Happy Henry’s Homes

www.happyhenryshomes.co.uk www.happyhenryshomes.co.uk

If funds are tight after getting the new cage then a shoe box house is fine :) I find if there is a large house, that is dark inside, and with a toilet inside, the hamster will move in and start using it. It helps to put a smelly treat inside at first (eg cucumber) and a little trail of sunflower seeds leading to it. And a pile of torn up toilet paper strips next to it. They usually move in within a night or two, having investigaged.

A good place for a large house might be on the left of the cage, with the door pointing towards the wheel (ie opposite the wheel) then maybe have the carrot cottage in the middle. A few more things to fill up the space would help too as they often don't like being too exposed getting from the house to the wheel. So more tunnels or hides in the centre part can help. Eg the carrot hide and the cardboard tunnel you have already. Also pringles tubes make good tunnels :-) they are just the right size for a Syrian. You just wipe out the inside and remove the metal end. I actually pull the silver paper out as well, you just pick at one corner of it and it tends to unravel and can be pulled right out in one piece usually.

A large cork log can be good for the centre part. It's a big tunnel to run through and something to climb over and an interesting texture for them.

So maybe a shoebox house and a large cork log?

This place is good for cork logs and quick delivery usually. You choose the one that you think is about the right size and shape.

The one on the top row on the right looks good to me :-)

Cork caves and hides are perfect for decoration, hiding and nesting

Cork Caves / Hides. Caves and hides are perfect for decoration, hiding and nesting. The Cork Shed UK. Full Worldwide Delivery on all cork products.
www.thecorkshed.co.uk www.thecorkshed.co.uk
 
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Ah thanks so much for your help , I will definitely get her a cork log .. we added in more tunnels tonight and another little hide out . I had to clean her nest as it had all urine all over her food 🥲so I replaced new food but she didn’t take it well and has been hiding .. she wouldn’t take a treat off me either , it’s like she knows 😀
 
It's a bit of a catch 22 with peeing on the food. They sometimes pee on it to stop someone stealing it :-) If it's pee'd on you have to remove it, then they pee on it more. I think tempting her with a bigger house is probably the way to go so she has plenty of room to have her hoard and sleeping area and toilet separate, within the same house :) Shoebox house is the cheapest option. It doesn't have separate rooms but they will almost always nest at the darkest end and toilet nearer the door end. Hoards they often bury under the sleeping area.
 
Thank you ! I will get her a bigger house .. I think she is upset with me as she is hiding a lot now .. I heard her on her wheel but she didn’t burrow .. Maybe I have confused her by adding more to the enclosure and she thinks I am a food thief ! 😀
 
It can upset them if they're cleaned out. Adding new things is usually accepted fine and they're curious - unless it means moving around a few old things. She might need a couple of days without disturbance to adjust to it :-)

Actually another cheap multitroom house option is this cardboard one from Omlet! I think they are clever. Just a cardboard house. You can partly submerge it in the substrate. But it still costs about £11 and a shoebox house is free. Also the rooms are maybe quite small in these for a female syrian for a main house, but one is quite long :) A toilet would fit better in a shoebox house.

www.omlet.co.uk

Compostable Hamster Chamber Hide - 3 Pack | Omlet

Our compostable and completely pet proof Hides simulate their natural burrows and tunnels, where they snuggle up, sleep and stash food.
www.omlet.co.uk www.omlet.co.uk
 
Thank you so much for your help . I got her this hide out , it was expensive but I thought the shape would help as I can fit her litter tray in the corner near the door . She seems to like it as she is in there all the time !! She did come out to have a few treats from our hand but I didn’t put her in the play pen or spot clean so she could get settled .. I am really hoping she now stops going to the toilet on her food so I don’t have to upset her ! I am a bit worried about her as she isn’t playing in het enclosure as much , she hasn’t burrowed at all …
 

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I'm sure she'll really enjoy that house. Did you get the legs for it as well? The main thing with that particular one is not to put anything on top of it - particularly something heavy, because the roof lifts quite easily, so if a hamster decided to push up and lift the roof, it's safer if there's nothing heavy on top :)

Do you mean she's disappeared a bit since she moved into the house? Or do you think it's coincidental? She's maybe sorting out her arrangements in there :-) She might be burrowing under it?
 
Ah I didn’t realise about the lid , it seemed quite heavy . I have the ceramic mushroom and water bottle on top of it so I will move them … I have ordered stilts as mine didn’t fit … yes she has disappeared a bit ..
 
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