New Cage disaster after very stressed out Dwarf - please help

[PuddingBear]

Good morning,
I am new to this website but it looks amazing with advice.

We have had our Dwarf campbell since may he was 6 weeks old when we got him and he has been in a Pets at Home cage 70 x 50 with a bedding depth of 7inches.

After some reading up we purchased a Bucastate 2.0 for him. And have spent the last month purchasing new bits for it.

We set it up with lots of his old hides, bridges etc to resemble his old set up and have been putting him in the new one for 20 mins each day.

However fast forward to yesterday when we did the final move and he completely freaked out. He was so stressed and anxious making noises we have never heard before and throwing himself around to the point he was almost hurt himself, it was so distressing to watch in the end we took him out and put him back in his old enclosure.

I think he feels like the bucastate is open wjere there are no bars perhaps ? Or something else?

What would you suggest?

I’ve attached pictures of both the old and new setup.

Thanks

 

[Maz]

Hello and welcome . I hope your little dwarf has settled down again. It sounded very distressing. If he had been in his old cage since May he would have become quite established in it and familiar with it. A cage change is always a big thing and can be very stressful for them if not done carefully but it sounds like you did all the right things and introduced it to him gradually.

When you moved him, did you move all the old bedding across from his previous cage and all his usual items (without cleaning anything)? That is quite important - especially saving his nest and hoard and moving those too.

I’ll post more a bit later but hope he has settled down in his old familiar cage . It sounds like he ls happy to be handled

 

[Socks Mum]

You could try putting a blanket over the Bucatstate for a while. Also, moving during the day when he is likely to be more sleepy might help. Using his old things and setting them up in the same way, with the new cage in the same spot as the old cage was in, and only moving one item at a time might help. I hope he settles soon.

 

[Socks Mum]

He may be trying to find the platforms that were in his old house if he had a sleeping place under them.

 

[Socks Mum]

His new set up is lovely by the way!

 

[Maz]

I would leave him in his old cage for a while if he's happy and then maybe start a slower introduction phase. And when you do move him again, add all his old bedding and spread it on top of the new. And don't clean anything before moving things over.

It is a lovely set up - he maybe just liked his old one! The other thing I've found in the past is if they can still smell their old cage in the room they want to go back to it. So at move over time I used to move the old cage to a different room and even clean up the area where the old cage had been.

Moving cages can be stressful for them though. Especially if everything in the new one is new and clean.

 

[PuddingBear]

Thanks everyone for all your lovely comments and advice its all super helpful

We will try the slower approach and make sure we move all old bedding.

May leave it a week or so for things to settle

Thanks again