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New hammy parent need help!

Whitepiggies

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Hi all!
I gotten a chocolate banded syrian 4 days ago. I go house for it to sleep in but she prefers to dig a hole in the corner and sleep or under her wheel.
Her food intake is quite low and water also quite low. She is rather active at night running on her wheel or going around the houses and tube.

She doesnt like treats. Sometimes i observe her to rub her head then to nose then to hands then to legs.

And when i wanna touch her, she will squat down and sometimes flip over or turn her head up to look at me.

Is there anything wrong with her?

The pet shop i got her from says from 3rd to 7th day i should bring her to the vet for body checkup.

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She's absolutely gorgeous :-) She looks bright and perky and healthy there :-) As for the vet check up after 3rd to 7th day, that isn't necessary if she seems well. Unless she had some issue when you got her. When you say she doesn't eat or drink much, that's normal. We rarely see them eating. They tend to pouch food and hoard it and eat from their hoards. Their water hardly seems to go down at all, especially when younger, but she will be drinking or she wouldn't be alive! They can't live more than about 2 days without water. The important thing, if using a bottle, is to check daily that it's letting water out and hasn't stopped working - by tapping your finger over the spout. You could give her a water bowl as well, then you might see when she's drinking. For a water bowl though, it needs to be small and heavy - and in a location where she's not likely to fall in it or walk through it. Something like the little Ikea glasig tealight holders (I use those). My Syrian uses both - the bottle and the bowl. If using a bowl, the water needs changing every day.

So settling in - it takes them a few days to decide where to nest. It can take them a good two weeks to fully adjust to their new enclosure and surroundings and feel more secure and confident. So during that time, it's best to leave everything alone. You can add the odd new thing without it stressing them, as long as it doesn't mean moving things around or taking anything away generally. After a week you can just spot clean any pee - they often pee in a corner of the enclosure, or baby hamsters (which she will be) sometimes pee where they are sleeping at first, and that is tricky as you don't want to disturb her nest ideally. However the rule of thumb is - if you can't see it and can't smell it, then don't worry about it for now. It'll be fine.

Hence a vet check after 3 to 7 days will disturb her settling in time. If you do decide to do it I would leave it at least 7 days.

They groom a lot, which is normal - they are very clean little things. Also baby hamsters are quite scared at first and easily frightened, hence her flipping if you try and touch her. It's just a bit of time and patience :-) Hand taming is usually better done out of the cage than in it, because their enclosure/cage is their territory. They behave differently out of it. But it's best to wait till she's been with you for at least two weeks before trying out of cage time - unless she shows clear signs of wanting to come out (eg coming to the door).

She sounds fine to me. Try putting a tiny bit of cucumber out - I bet that is gone next day :-) You could start introducing veggies as well as her hamster mix - every 3 days for the first couple of weeks and then daily. They love fresh veg. Cucumber, broccoli, carrot are all popular. But just a tiny piece no bigger than her ear. They eat it all. Anything bigger and they can hoard it and then it goes rotten and you have to poke about in the next, which is best avoided. I've linked our cage cleaning tips below as well, as too much cleaning out, will set her back as well. There are ways of doing it to minimise stress.

 
Your little hammy is very sweet. She still has the instincts of a wild animal, so adopts a defensive position when an animal much bigger than herself reached out to her. In the wild, hamsters will go up on two legs like a bear and jump up at a predator, biting hard. It's better if you can tell when she is getting scared and avoid having her become defensive as it is a bit stressful. Offering her food with your hand flat and further away is better. She can approach and you are at her level. But for the first week at least just talking and sitting nearby, moving slowly are probably all she can handle. She will probably want to create a nest in a burrow, so giving her six to twelve inches of paper beddding (Nightangel or Carefresh if you can get it) will help her and she can destress nicely in her burrow.
 
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You will probably have local brands of paper bedding as well which are nice and soft. I change my hamster's water bottle twice a day and give him new dried food and fresh food every day using food as Maz has described. Often they don't show much interest in pet shop treats and prefer natural food, so this is normal.
 
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Thankfully Syrians are not known for being biters 😊. There is the occasional exception but your hammy looks so innocent - usually they only bite of very frightened or in pain and even then it might just be a gentle nip to let you know they’re not comfortable.
 
Yes, Syrians are kind natured. It's good to keep your hand steady and move slowly if your hands are near her. She will probably be curious and come up for a sniff, but it is very unlikely that she will bite. If you need to move her to a different location, gently guiding her into a plastic tunnel works well so that she doesn't jump out of your hands while being carried. It's best to keep them at floor level if they are in your hands as hamsters may suddenly jump and falls are very dangerous for hamsters.
 
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