Less Running? He's Not Coming Out?

[Hammie Heart]

Hey hammie lovers!

It has come to my attention that Little Bear hasn't been running in his wheel on his normal schedule. He hasn't been coming out of his burrows lately, either. I normally go and see him every night, but he hasn't been coming out and it's worrying me. He just doesn't seen interested in me anymore. The nights he does make an appearance, he won't take seeds from my hand. like he used to. What am I supposed to do? It's very worrying!

-Hammie Heart

 

[elusive]

They do change their times for coming out & doing things sometimes so it may just be that.
Have you done any cleaning recently? They can get a bit stressed by cleaning especially if it includes the nest so something like that may have set him back a bit.
You need to spot clean where he pees to keep that clean but other than that you don’t need to clean much very often & it’s best to leave the nest & hoard alone as much as possible.
If you need to clean the wheel ( which does tend to need doing quite often with Chinese) don’t clean anything else the same day.
Has anything else changed you can think of that might have knocked his confidence a bit or given him a bit of a scare?
Sometimes you have to take a step back & give them some time going back to just talking to them quietly until they’re ready to interact a bit more again.

 

[Hammie Heart]

They do change their times for coming out & doing things sometimes so it may just be that.
Have you done any cleaning recently? They can get a bit stressed by cleaning especially if it includes the nest so something like that may have set him back a bit.
You need to spot clean where he pees to keep that clean but other than that you don’t need to clean much very often & it’s best to leave the nest & hoard alone as much as possible.
If you need to clean the wheel ( which does tend to need doing quite often with Chinese) don’t clean anything else the same day.
Has anything else changed you can think of that might have knocked his confidence a bit or given him a bit of a scare?
Sometimes you have to take a step back & give them some time going back to just talking to them quietly until they’re ready to interact a bit more again.

Yes, I did cleaning on Sunday, but it was happening way before that.
Maybe it was that I tried to do bathtub bonding twice, but he seemed stressed, so I put him back about five minutes later. He does seem scared to take food from my hands now, but he wasn't like that before. Could that be it?

 

[RainbowBrite]

Perhaps you could have a look through Elusives tips for taming Chinese hamsters. I think she advises against bathtub taming.

 

[Maz]

Yes apologies - the taming article on the home page doesn't say that it may be different for Chinese hamsters!

 

[Hammie Heart]

Perhaps you could have a look through Elusives tips for taming Chinese hamsters. I think she advises against bathtub taming.

Then what do you think I should do now? What should I do first, do I need to give him a month or two to forget about the terrible experiences he might have had & I had no idea about any of them? Do you think it might be too late? What should I do?

 

[RainbowBrite]

Then what do you think I should do now? What should I do first, do I need to give him a month or two to forget about the terrible experiences he might have had & I had no idea about any of them? Do you think it might be too late? What should I do?

I hope I did not worry you. You have not done anything wrong. It is not too late at all. Perhaps just go a little slower. There is no rush.

Have you seen Elusive has a new Chinesy? Perhaps you could read her hamsters diary and see how she is going about bonding.

I can tell you love your hamster very much and that is beautiful.

 

[Maz]

Then what do you think I should do now? What should I do first, do I need to give him a month or two to forget about the terrible experiences he might have had & I had no idea about any of them? Do you think it might be too late? What should I do?

Don't worry - he'll probably settle down in a few days. So give him a few days You have made me realise that I need to amend the taming article to say there are different methods with Chinese hamsters. If you have a look back at this thread, Elusive had some tips for taming Chinese

Any Tips for Taming?

When I first got him, I didn't interact with him for a week. Then I started talking to him while he was running on his wheel. After that, I gave him different foods every night. Then I was putting my hand in and offering seeds. He's nibbled a couple times. Lately, I have been having him go into...

www.thehamsterforum.com

 

[elusive]

Don’t worry he will get over it.
Chinese hams can be very sensitive & they get spooked quite easily but they do get over it after a little while.

I think the bath will have scared him so just give him some time, for a while go right back to the start & just sit by the cage & talk to him each day, if they’re really nervous I do this then leave a nice tasty treat in the cage & walk away so they can enjoy it in peace.
After doing that for a few days or so they start getting a bit braver & you can gradually begin to interact with them.

Not all my Chinese have enjoyed out of cage time & have just wanted to interact while in the cage.

You could try a plastic bin/box (not sure what you have available there) just large enough for a wheel & a hide & tube or something like that, tall enough so he can’t get out put some substrate in there & scatter a few treats or seeds in & let him explore in that (when he’s ready, not just yet) & you can put your hand in & let him climb or sit on your hand & try taming like that.

Do you have a photo of your cage? If we could see that we might be able to offer some ideas to help there is he’s feeling a bit exposed in the cage.