Syrian behaviour during heat

[Biscuit2024!]

Hello ,
I have noticed my female Syrian hamster ( she is about 5 months old ) goes a bit crazy every 4/days so I am wondering if any others do the same … when I got up around 6am she was up running around , I gave her a treat and she quickly climbed the ventilation holes to make an escape ( she is in the Bucatstate 2.0 enclosure) she then tried to chew one of the slots by standing on her cork log ! Later she went a bit crazy digging the bottom of her sandbath like she was trying to make a hole and borrowing .. she finally went to bed around 8am . Just wondering how common this is ? I upgraded her cage quite soon after I got her as the pet shop recommended one that was to small so after research I got her the 2.0 , I will attach a photo of her set up . I am worried she is unhappy but I do think it could be ‘heat ‘ related and she wants to escape to find a mate

 

[Maz]

I am sure other female syrian owners will relate and come along soon! She has a lovely set up

 

[Biscuit2024!]

Thank you … she has also started nibbling fingers , not biting in an aggressive way but having a little taste .. my 12 year old has done a good job of getting her use to hands as he has no fear and absolutely adores her ! He is desiderare to cuddle her I think i told him it maybe better not to try and handle her when she is on heat !

 

[Maz]

I'm not sure if it makes any difference handling when she's on heat or not

 

[Lovelyness]

When Blossom was younger, she would be seriously CRAZY when in heat she’d be furiously burrowing, chewing, swinging from the roof of her cage, climbing up behind her wheel, and so on…. I used to get her out for some time in her playbox to encourage her to burn off some energy without getting up to no good! She responded especially well tho to the addition of a dig box in her cage. It’s just a too small wheel filled with shredded cardboard from a delivery, so cost me nothing really, but she loves it, and it did help calm her down…plus lots of natural chews as she is very much a chewer! From experience, I would advise lots of deep bedding for burrowing, lots of natural chews, dig boxes with different substrates (scatter some of her food in there to encourage foraging) and some playpen time

 

[Hank]

When my little girl was in heat, she had so much energy, she just couldn't release it all. If it is happening every four days, it is probably that. My girl had a bit of a routine, the day before and the day after she was in heat, she had bursts of energy, but when she was in heat, she was constantly on the go. She had lots of play time, in her playpen, usually at least a couple of separate times. I used to create cardboard boredom breakers as well, as she would like to chew.
I don't think handling is a problem, when she is in heat, however some don't like it, also be a bit careful when you stroke her, don't stroke too far down her back. If she freezes and lifts her tail, then she is definitely in heat, if this happens, just leave her and give her some space.

 

[Biscuit2024!]

Thanks ! Biscuit was a little crazy tonight again , as as soon as I lifted the lid on her enclosure she climbed onto her cork log and tried to get out of the top ! Luckily I caught her in time .. this was after some play time in the pen , which she didn’t like ivery much and wanted to get out after about 5mins ! I have noticed she has chewed a hole in her cork log and has chewed a chunk off her branch .. so I think she enjoys chewing … she is busy burrowing now .. she has a few chew toys but maybe she needs more ..

 

[Maz]

She does sound a bit frantic at the moment! Have you seen the cardboard creations thread? For boredom breakers to chew?

Cardboard creations

This is a thread to show how many things you can make for your hamster or enclosure, out of cardboard :-) Cardboard is your friend.

www.thehamsterforum.com

 

[Lovelyness]

I got some lovely natural chew toys from Pride Rock Blooms online

 

[Maz]

Very nice! Also lots more cardboard! She'll like that too.

 

[Lovelyness]

Yes! Blossom loves chewing on a bit of egg box too!

 

[Steve]

What a lucky little girl, that looks great.

 

[Biscuit2024!]

Thanks for the advice …I didn’t see her at 6am do hopefully she is calmer in bed ! I had to move the cork log as I didn’t want her to fall .. the chew toys look great ! And I will save her an egg box …

She does sound a bit frantic at the moment! Have you seen the cardboard creations thread? For boredom breakers to chew?

Cardboard creations

This is a thread to show how many things you can make for your hamster or enclosure, out of cardboard :-) Cardboard is your friend.

www.thehamsterforum.com

ah great !!

 

[Biscuit2024!]

She came out for a little bit at 7am and was much calmer this morning , we stroked her and she had some treats , I have a cardboard box in the corner with forage mix and she enjoyed finding some food in there ! Thanks for your help !

 

[Maz]

Aw that's lovely she came out and you managed to stroke her That's progress.

 

[Biscuit2024!]

Yes sometimes she will run back to her nest if she hears us come in , but then will pop back out and come up a few seconds later when she realises it’s safe !

 

[Biscuit2024!]

Hello ,
Just looking for some advice .
Biscuit was getting a lot more comfortable with us but the last couple of days she seems so desperate to escape her enclosure , my son ( he is nearly 13 so not a young kid ) tried to pick her up ( she has been comfortable with him for a while ) but she bit him quite hard , it was bleeding for a while , he was very upset as he thought he had gained her trust . She doesn’t like the play pen , we did try and free roam her but she was digging up the carpet and seemed a little stressed … she is about 5 months old I think .. thanks for any advice ! Feel a bit sad she is biting again .

 

[Socks Mum]

I am sorry to hear Biscuit has bitten. The playpen might be worth persevering with. A fleece blanket as a "floor" might give her something to chew at rather than the carpet. My hamster loves dashing through tunnels, those plastic concertina type ones you can squeeze up to a small length and then open out to about 75cm and can be arranged into a circuit of the playpen. He tends to chew the ends so I only use them in the playpen under supervision. When he was younger, he would run so fast that the tunnel would start skidding when he reached the bend. He still likes to work his way along them upside down to scent mark them, which looks quite funny
Biscuit might be more guarded in her cage, so removing her safely might need a short tunnel for her to walk into. You could transfer the tunnel with Biscuit in it into a shoe box so that she can be carried to the playpen. A hamster ball, just for taxi use, can also be good as once it's closed she can't take a sudden jump out of it. I've seen Socks "ping" a couple of times at least a foot into the air, which is of course rather hazardous.
Biscuit will probably want to nest build, as if she were going to have pups, so nice soft bedding she can stow in her pouches would be good. I hope she comes round and learns that there are much nicer ways to interact than biting.

 

[Biscuit2024!]

Ah thanks your advice , you have suggested some great things that I will try . I did read that some females can be moody and aggressive when on heat so it could be that . It’s just so sad that she bit my son as he loves her so much ! He understands though that she is just scared , he stroked her this morning but is very nervous now .. and she was focused on climbing the lid again I had moved her ( temporarily) to a different room so the piano didn’t hurt her ears so do you think this may have scared her ? And I had spot cleaned as she likes to poop under her log ! We will keep persevering as she is very loved

 

[Maz]

I am so sorry she bit your son. Yes moving the cage to a different room will stress her and unsettle her. It's best to leave it in one location all the time. If there have been a few changes in the cage recently as well, this may have stressed her and made her more territorial about her environment, so as Socks Mum says, it would be better not to try and pick her up in the cage, but let her walk into a "taxi". These early stages the focus is really on building trust. So it might be better to pick the days. Eg if she is on heat she may well be feeling very active and maverick and not be in the mood for handling. It's not aggression though, it's fear as you say, but possibly also feeling territorial about her environment. I would hold back on the spot cleaning. Poops don't really matter - that may have been her "emergency stash" of poops They aren't really dirty or smelly, they're like solid little seeds and they actually eat them sometimes, which is normal. They have two stomachs and can redigest vitamins etc from their poops. This is hard wiring, like pouching and hoarding is - in case of food shortage.

So the only unhygienic thing that needs spot cleaning really is the pee. If you know where she is peeing. Most Syrians will use a litter tray for peeing in, if you put it in her current pee location. Although if that is underground that could be tricky. You could try putting it in a corner of the cage near where she's nesting though.

I think for now, it's best to give her time to settle in the new location. If you've moved her back again, then give her time to settle in the original location. It could take a couple of weeks again now. They are very sensitive to any change of environment or location again,

Yes your son must be feeling a bit nervous after being bitten - it always feels personal, but it isn't.

So to build trust, I would give her at least a few days to settle, alone. She maybe wants to escape if she feels stressed by the changes but should settle down into a routine again. Feeding at the same time of the evening helps. Leave any spot cleaning for at least a week.

If she looks interested in coming out, then maybe sort out something suitable as a "taxi". I use a rat tube and have my hands over both ends but they can push quite hard against your hand sometimes, which can make you jump if there's a fear of being bitten and then you could drop the tube. So at this stage it might be better to wear gloves if using a tube as a taxi, unless you have something more enclosed like a hamster ball as Socks Mum mentioned. I would never pick her up from the cage and carry her as she could wriggle free.

It's quite normal for them to chew at the corners or carpet in a playpen - however big a space they have they always want to go further! If you give her the whole room she might be trying to get past the door next!

The idea of the playpen really is to get her familiar with her humans. You can sit in it with her if it's big enough but don't try and handle her just now - she might just walk over you and then she's getting familiar with your or your son's smell and presence and that's the start of building familiarity and trust. It'll only be hands she will try and bite - I doubt she would nip for the sake of it as they don't normally bite unless they're scared or feel threatened.

Anyway you can leave poops for quite a long time without issue - if they start taking over a bit, spot clean some out, but maybe leave a few

The other thing that can make them very anxious is if their hoard is removed so it's best not to remove that.

I hope she settles down in the next few days