Leo

Good to hear Leo seems better, I’m sure he’ll soon get over it.
I’ve found them to be quite sensitive too but they do tend to get used to things.
I would always clean the wheel one day & do other things like spot cleaning another day with a break in between.
I used to clean my wheels weekly & with nothing else being changed at the same time it didn’t bother any of my Chinese at all, they would have a look to see what I’d been up to then jump in & pee on them again!
I very rarely changed sand, just sifted out any clumps or other bits in theer if need be.
If hammocks weren’t being peed in I just left well alone, maybe once in a while scooping out seed & food debris.
So maybe it’s better to do one small job at a time rather than changing too much at once.
 
As I mentioned in another thread, Leo has been upgraded to a Savic Plaza. It's early days, but I'm not sure if he likes it or not. I scatter his food all over the cage, even on top of his cube hammock, and he finds all of it so I know he's using all the space, but he's just not very active. He comes out to gather his food and doesn't seem especially nervous when he does that, but that's about all he does. As I say, it's early days so I'll give it longer and see if he perks up again. Maybe he just needs time to get used to the change.

The main issue is that he's stopped using his wheel. He has a new Niteangel wheel instead of his previous Trixie wheel but I don't think he's used it at all since the move. The first few nights I didn't hear him running but thought it might be because the Niteangel wheel is much quieter than the Trixie wheel. Then I put the Niteangel pedometer on his wheel and that reveals that he definitely hasn't been running at all (zero laps recorded).

As some might remember, he did previously sulk when I replaced one of his hides with a different one, so maybe he just hates the Niteangel wheel because it's different, or maybe he finds it too heavy, or too open, or maybe he just doesn't want to run because he's cross about the cage change. I think if he doesn't run at all tonight I will give him the Trixie wheel and see if he runs in that again.
 
Maybe try putting a bit of cheese in the wheel? To tempt him in. Then he might start using it. I've had a hamster ignore a wheel completely just because I cleaned it, but tempting them back in with a treat usually does the trick.
 
Maz said:
Maybe try putting a bit of cheese in the wheel?
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I have tried putting food on the wheel and he takes the food but doesn't run at all. I don't think he likes cheese but he loves pumpkin seeds so I suppose I could try those.
 
I would give him his old wheel back, it may be that he prefers that wheel or it may just be that he’s still adjusting to the change.
It will take him a while to get used to the change so having his familiar wheel to run in might help him adjust.
Is his Trixie wheel an enclosed wheel? They do seem to like having an enclosed wheel although I have had Chineseys happy enough in an open wheel before.
They are sensitive little things & Leo maybe particularly sensitive maybe so it could take quite a while for him to become more active again as he gets used to things.
 
Maybe he is suspicious of the pedometer! :ROFLMAO: . That sounds like an idea to give him his old wheel back, or you could just give it a bit more time. Do you have a nightcam to see what he gets up to at night? Maybe the pedometer isn't working? How long has he been in the Plaza now?
 
I looked back at your September diy thread and he only moved into the Plaza on Wednesday - so just a week :-) I sometimes find it takes a good two weeks for them to start being confident and start acting active and confident, and he's maybe just a bit overwhelmed right now. So personally I would leave the wheel in for a bit longer and keep putting the odd treat in it or spinning it round occasionally. I actually had to do that once - show the hamster the wheel spinning! If you see him that is.
 
I think a lot depends on the individual hamster but it hasn’t been long.
They often run in the wheel to destress so if he is finding the change a bit overwhelming I think his familiar wheel might help there & the rest will just take some time.
 
elusive said:
I would give him his old wheel back, it may be that he prefers that wheel or it may just be that he’s still adjusting to the change.
It will take him a while to get used to the change so having his familiar wheel to run in might help him adjust.
Is his Trixie wheel an enclosed wheel? They do seem to like having an enclosed wheel although I have had Chineseys happy enough in an open wheel before.
They are sensitive little things & Leo maybe particularly sensitive maybe so it could take quite a while for him to become more active again as he gets used to things.
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He did have the enclosed plastic Trixie wheel before so I wondering if it could be because the Niteangel wheel is open. He didn't run again last night so I've given him the Trixie wheel back.
Maz said:
Maybe he is suspicious of the pedometer! :ROFLMAO: . That sounds like an idea to give him his old wheel back, or you could just give it a bit more time. Do you have a nightcam to see what he gets up to at night? Maybe the pedometer isn't working? How long has he been in the Plaza now?
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I do have one somewhere. I suppose I could set that up and see if he's perhaps more active than I thought late at night.
 
It could also be that he liked his old cage and felt confident in there or maybe he doesn't like changes. Is his new set up similar to his old one with all his things in the new cage?

I'd give him his old wheel back and use the new one for out of cage time. Maybe he prefers an enclosed wheel.

When i moved Bernard from the Kerry to his xl grosvenor i hardly saw him for ages and he didn't seem to use much of the new cage. He used his wheel and had the same one but i started to wonder whether he preferred the smaller cage he had been perfectly happy in. After a good month his cage started to look lived in and i was reassured that he did like and use the extra space.
 
Beryl said:
It could also be that he liked his old cage and felt confident in there or maybe he doesn't like changes. Is his new set up similar to his old one with all his things in the new cage?

I'd give him his old wheel back and use the new one for out of cage time. Maybe he prefers an enclosed wheel.

When i moved Bernard from the Kerry to his xl grosvenor i hardly saw him for ages and he didn't seem to use much of the new cage. He used his wheel and had the same one but i started to wonder whether he preferred the smaller cage he had been perfectly happy in. After a good month his cage started to look lived in and i was reassured that he did like and use the extra space.
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The new setup is very similar to the old one with all of his old things, plus some new.

He doesn't like out of cage time currently (maybe when he's older and more confident he'll feel differently) but he has his old wheel back in his cage.

I'll give him a few more weeks to settle in :)
 
The camera footage shows he was very active last night. He seems quite happy and confident. I think the reason he wasn't coming out much before was just because he didn't have much to do without his wheel.

Here he discovering the camera:

His old wheel is a little bit small for him really. I don't want to change it again now, but in a few weeks I might try him with an 11 inch plastic Trixie. It's similar enough to his current one that hopefully he will accept it.
 
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