Hey all! I am a new hamster owner, so I am probably just being paranoid, but I think some advice would help me to sleep better at night lol. I got my lovely ham Boris at the beginning of June. I have not confirmed gender, but for now I am referring to Boris as if he's male. Boris is a Campbell's dwarf I got from a local pet store who sources their hams locally. They told me Boris was 7 wks old when I got him. The setup Boris is in now is a 30 gal deep with 10 inches of bedding. I plan on upgrading him to a large bin enclosure soon, but figured I'd keep him in something smaller for what I assumed would be the month or so it took to tame him. That isn't working out well... For simplicity, I am just going to bullet point my concerns, and hopefully some hammy pros out there can tell me what is normal and what isn't. Keep in mind I've had Boris for about a month.
1) For the first few days Boris was relatively active. He was up around 10 pm every night and I heard him running on his wheel (his cage is in my room) all night long. His wheel was a cheap plastic thing that was only 8 inches and was super loud, so it was just a place holder until his 10 inch nite angel wheel came in. However, I replaced his wheel, and have not seen him above ground since. There is also no bedding disruption or clear signs he has been coming out at night. I've been putting food on his wheel to see if he's using it when I'm just sleeping too deep to notice, and the food is untouched in the morning. Another note to add is that I am an insomniac and light sleeper, and though I go to bed around 10:30 I wake up often throughout the night and have not seen him up when in that first week he was up all night. Also, he is definitely alive because he burrowed against the glass back of the tank so I've been able to peek in on him.
2) I put in toilet paper that "smells like me" for some nesting material, and he has squirreled it all away. However, the pieces I have been seeing have a dark orange substance all over them.
Thank you and let me know if you need anything else clarified!
1) For the first few days Boris was relatively active. He was up around 10 pm every night and I heard him running on his wheel (his cage is in my room) all night long. His wheel was a cheap plastic thing that was only 8 inches and was super loud, so it was just a place holder until his 10 inch nite angel wheel came in. However, I replaced his wheel, and have not seen him above ground since. There is also no bedding disruption or clear signs he has been coming out at night. I've been putting food on his wheel to see if he's using it when I'm just sleeping too deep to notice, and the food is untouched in the morning. Another note to add is that I am an insomniac and light sleeper, and though I go to bed around 10:30 I wake up often throughout the night and have not seen him up when in that first week he was up all night. Also, he is definitely alive because he burrowed against the glass back of the tank so I've been able to peek in on him.
2) I put in toilet paper that "smells like me" for some nesting material, and he has squirreled it all away. However, the pieces I have been seeing have a dark orange substance all over them.
Thank you and let me know if you need anything else clarified!
It sounds to me like Boris was a bit spooked by the wheel change. I'd suggest putting the old plastic 8" one back in 
