4 replies to this topic

[Hamsterwaddle90]

We got our syrian hamster about 6 weeks ago, we have done spot cleaning every few days but not a full cage clean, and we haven't cleaned his sleeping area and food pile (multi chamber hide) as he seems to just wee and poop in one corner of his cage, and we wanted to disturb him as little as possible as he's so scared.

I think we need to do a whole cage clean now, but he is still incredibly skittish, he doesn't like to come out of his hide when we are there so I have no idea how to transport him or get him out to clean the hide he is in!

We can give him treats by hand so we have made some progress, but if we get too close to him or move faster than super slow he will run back to his hide.

Any tips on how to do the cage clean? I know people say get them to climb into a pitcher or mug, but he will not even come out of his hide 90% of the time if we are there. My other hamsters have never been this scared or skittish.

Would it scare him too much if we picked up his entire hide with him inside to transfer and kind of forced him out? The problem is we don't know where he is nesting, it has different rooms, 2 have flooring but 2 rooms don't so he would fall through the bottom if we picked it up! We haven't looked inside as we wanted him to feel safe in there, would really appreciate advice

[Hamsterwaddle90]

Sorry just to add he has an alaska cage and I've put in multiple hides etc and a big tunnel so he has cover but he's still terrified!

[nicolenamy]

Hi there!

I would reccomend trying to lure your hamster out with a treat during the nightime when he is already awake. If he is not tame yet, you can also put a treat in a mug and try to get him to climb in.  I also wouldn't try to pick up any hamster hides. They stay in there to feel protected, and with that protection gone, your hamster could get realy stressed and bite. I also understand that you don't want to disturb him, but I think that getting the soiled bedding out from his nest is a better idea than cleaning the entire cage, even if it means that some of his things get rummaged around. You can also try replacing a fraction of the bedding rather than all of it, because if he is super scared, then he will probably be even more nervous if all of his familiar smells are gone. Plus, you can keep him in the cage if you only remove part of the bedding.

I hope this helps!

- Nicole

[Hamsterwaddle90]

Thank you for the advice we left him alone and came into the room when he was already out and he got into mug with a treat in it!
We put him in a playpen and he let us stroke him and give him treats, and he seems generally very accepting and not at all scared of human hands, I think we just needed to get him out of his cage! Thank you:)

[nicolenamy]

Thank you for the advice we left him alone and came into the room when he was already out and he got into mug with a treat in it!
We put him in a playpen and he let us stroke him and give him treats, and he seems generally very accepting and not at all scared of human hands, I think we just needed to get him out of his cage! Thank you:)

I'm glad that worked! You're welcome!