Change in my hamsters behaviour!!

[InspectorMunch]

Hi,

My hamster has all of a sudden had a change in behaviour and has started pacing and climbing his cage. We have a lot of enrichment, bedding and suitable wheel in his cage so that shouldn’t be the issue.

He has also started doing it when we put him in his playpen despite him usually loving his playpen.

Any help?? I’m quite concerned he’s stressed and I don’t know why the sudden change.

 

[Maz]

Has he just had a clean out? That can set them off sometimes.

 

[InspectorMunch]

Has he just had a clean out? That can set them off sometimes.

Maybe about a week but that’s never bothered him before. We’re getting him a bigger cage tomorrow so I can only expect it will get worse! Please tell me he will be back to normal soon!

 

[InspectorMunch]

Maybe about a week but that’s never bothered him before. We’re getting him a bigger cage tomorrow so I can only expect it will get worse! Please tell me he will be back to normal soon!

Actually thinking about it that was about 2 weeks ago, we’ve just been doing little spot checks since, but this only started a few days ago

 

[Maz]

He's maybe just ready for that bigger cage

 

[InspectorMunch]

He's maybe just ready for that bigger cage

I’m hoping so!

 

[Maz]

When you do move him to the bigger cage, you can make a smooth transition by doing things a certain way , because a cage move can also be quite stressful for them and also cause this sort of stress behaviour . But there are ways of making it much less stressful so that they can settle in two or three days and only feel maybe slightly odd or skitty . So the thing to do is not clean anything when you move everything over , if the new cage is bigger you can put new bedding in but then move all the old bedding across on top of the new bedding so it all still smells familiar. It'll be fine for a couple of weeks even if it's a bit whiffy . Also avoid the temptation to clean everything else when you move things over and it can also really help if you keep the layout very similar , so for example if the wheel is currently at the back left have that in the same position and the house currently front right have that in the same position and then his familiar route between them is there . After the move it's basically like when they first come home , in that they need two or three days more or less left alone, to adjust and settle in . And it can take up to two weeks before they're fully settled in But if you move everything over without cleaning then hopefully it will just be a few days and he'll be back to normal again .