Syrian Bar Biting on cage

She loves cardboard but gets through it so quickly, then goes to the bars. I did a little treat with a wicker ball and food inside yesterday, that keep her busy for a bit
 
I was wondering if you changed her name now that you have found out she is a she. :)
 
Hank said:
She loves cardboard but gets through it so quickly, then goes to the bars. I did a little treat with a wicker ball and food inside yesterday, that keep her busy for a bit
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That is a great idea. I find as many boredom breakers as possible keeps them busy and gives them a puzzle to work out.
 
I have been trying to find more boredom breakers any good sites I should be trying?
 
On the subject of cage changes I've read a few articles, do you have any advice?
 
Hank said:
On the subject of cage changes I've read a few articles, do you have any advice?
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I would use her bedding and items without any cleaning and put them in the cage. Some people let the hamster play in the cage to get them used to it at first too.
 
RainbowBrite said:
Did you look on the threads on here? There are quite a few different ones you can make.
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Yes, I've got as many as I can and when I have some materials I'll try some of them too. Its frustrating when you look on sites that recommend items and then you find out they are not safe
 
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I did read that I should set up the new cage and let her explore it first a few times? I was thinking I could use some items from her playpen?
 
Hank said:
Yes, I've got as many as I can and when I have some materials I'll try some of them too. Its frustrating when you look on sites that recommend items and then you find out they are not safe
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I agree. It is so annoying there is a lot of misinformation out there and some sites still recommend outdated things like using a hamster ball. When you look at sites, often the ones that come up first are sponsored blogs written by people who do not know anything about hamsters but are being paid to promote a companies items. If you are ever curious about if something is safe or not then please feel free to ask on here.

There are also puzzle toys you can buy for Syrian hamsters. Things were you hide a treat and they have to slide a little panel to get it out. I find making boredom breakers can be more cost effective if they are going to be chewed up.
 
Hank said:
On the subject of cage changes I've read a few articles, do you have any advice?
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As Rainbow said don’t clean for a while before the change ( a bit of spot cleaning is ok if needed) then transfer all the substrate over to the new cage & don’t clean that for a while, having their scent in the new cage really helps.
Having a similar layout might help too if that’s possible.
I always swap them straight over but others do let them have a run around in the new cage first for a while.
Take your time getting the new cage set up to try & minimise the need to make more changes after the move too.
 
Hank said:
I did read that I should set up the new cage and let her explore it first a few times? I was thinking I could use some items from her playpen?
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That sounds like a nice idea. You could try that and see what she makes of the new cage.
 
As the new cage is bigger it'll take more substrate. So I put new substrate in the cage first - almost to the top of the base. And spread the old substrate on top of that (so it smells familiar). That really helps as others have said.

You kind of do the opposite of what you would think. Instead of having everything clean and perfect for a new cage, you just move everything over without cleaning.

I find it helps to let them play in the cage the day before the move. It's just a kind of adjustment thing and along with keeping everything smelling familiar, can help a hamster settle quicker. The other thing is, it means they have already scent marked a lot while exploring it the day before moving, so it's already familiar.

So for the play/explore day, I put new substrate in the cage - almost full. And just a few items in there. Maybe 2 or 3 new items you're going to use in the cage, plus one familiar toy from the old cage. They tend to enjoy exploring any new environment. Then even if they're enjoying it I still pop them back in the old cage overnight. Then do the changeover the next day. It makes a huge difference keeping everything smelling familiar and can only need a few days for them to settle without being too skittish. Whereas a cold turkey move - they can be very stressed for about two weeks.

It may be different with dwarfs - I've mainly done cage upgrades/changes with Syrians - who can be quite picky! Our robo was much more adaptive quickly.

But the main thing you need is plenty of substrate, some kind of shelf ideally - and a large house that's dark inside ideally, and then a few floor toys etc. You don't need to spend a lot. A house can be a shoebox house, tubes can be pringles tubes. I also use cardboard egg boxes sometimes.

General items that are good for syrians are - cork logs, rat sized tubes, a coconut hut has always been popular with ours. I tend to have one of the Rosewood rainbow bridges - they all seem to like running over that. I also use the hanging rat sputniks - next to a shelf - a kind of hanging hide.

So if wanting some ideas, what I have in my Syrian's cage is:

Shelf on the right - with a hide, a water bottle over and a ceramic dish where I put his veg, and a rat sputnik hanging next to it

Large house on the left. This has a small shelf over it with a ramp up to the small shelf - next to another rat sputnik.

Wheel centre back in between them.

I also have a rat tube tied to the roof of the cage, leading between the two sputniks. This creates a kind of roof run - somewhere else to go and another way of getting to the shelf on the other side. Plus it provides some overhead cover. Some hamsters don't like too much space above them.

I don't think you will need to get much more if you have a house and a shelf but I'd say a priority with a syrian is a large house that's dark inside - it really helps them settle and have normal behaviours and build a large nest. They do need somewhere dark to retreat to. A nesting box basically.

You can use the existing familiar items from the current cage (some if not all of them). And you can always add the odd thing later as long as it doesn't mean moving things around. They accept new things added quite well but they don't like things changing position!
 
Coconut hut - I get this Happy Pet one as I know the opening is big enough for a Syrian - but you'll probably see some in shops too

barksandbunnies.co.uk

Coconut Hut

The Happy Pet Nature First Coconut Hut provides small pets such as hamster, mice and gerbils the perfect luxurious snooze spot!
barksandbunnies.co.uk barksandbunnies.co.uk
 
I'm sure others will link favourite items for cages as well :)

All our hamsters have liked this hyacinth tunnel as well which has holes in

hopeshealthytreats.com

Small Hyacinth Tunnel

This natural hyacinth tunnel is a great addition to a natural enclosure! Suitable for Hamsters, Gerbils and Mice Diameter - 9cm wide and 20cm long
hopeshealthytreats.com
 
Maz said:
This is the bridge - all our hamsters have had these :-) I have mine next to the door in the plaza


Here's raffy sitting on it waiting to come out

View attachment 1803
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That looks like a happy hamster, I one of these in the playpen, maybe I'll move it to the new cage
 
Maz said:
I'm sure others will link favourite items for cages as well :)

All our hamsters have liked this hyacinth tunnel as well which has holes in

hopeshealthytreats.com

Small Hyacinth Tunnel

This natural hyacinth tunnel is a great addition to a natural enclosure! Suitable for Hamsters, Gerbils and Mice Diameter - 9cm wide and 20cm long
hopeshealthytreats.com
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She had this in her current cage, so that will come across
 
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