Hello, I am now making a thread for Clover here rather than in the “newbie” forum. So Clover, who is now 6.5 weeks old, was super keen to come out again today! So much that when we put him back into the cage he seemed quite keen to come out again! I was wondering - should I just give him all the time he want outside, or keep it a bit more limited for now? I also now finally managed to peek inside his house and empty his very smelly little toilet bowl. But now I’ve started to worry - there was quite a lot of food in there together with lots of peed-over bedding. It was so wet that the food was all clumping together. I thoughts it’s clear that this is his toilet. But now I think - maybe it was his hoard and I have now massively stressed him out by throwing it out?? Maybe he had just scent marked it? But as said it was so wet and smelly that it was all clumping together… his whole house was scent marked very strongly but I have left it to not stress him out. What do you guys think? I’ve now filled it his food bowl up quite a bit to make up for it… also how can I get him to understand how the wheel works? Because I think he really likes the saucer in the play pen and the wheel in the cage was quite buried and stuck so I don’t think he has used it yet. I have freed it up and then put a treat into it and he went in to get it, but didn’t move it.
Clover
- Thread starter Doro
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M
Member ID2
Great that you started a personal thread for Clover.
One of my Syrians likes to come out more than once so i let him.
Don't worry about chucking out the food in the toilet. It needs to get chucked out when its wet with pee. Some hamsters use their toilet as a bin. He'll have another hoard somewhere and you're feeding him enough to eat and build another hoard.
Is the wheel moving freely and what kind of wheel is it? If he jams it up i'd do something about it like attach it to the bars, put it in sand or aspen or on a platform. Maybe he's using it when you are asleep. You could put some substrate on top of it to find out. See if its gone in the morning.
My Syrians spend more time running on the wheels in the playground than the one in their cage but i have no idea why.
Clover seems to be very comfortable with you now and growing into a confident hamster.
One of my Syrians likes to come out more than once so i let him.
Don't worry about chucking out the food in the toilet. It needs to get chucked out when its wet with pee. Some hamsters use their toilet as a bin. He'll have another hoard somewhere and you're feeding him enough to eat and build another hoard.
Is the wheel moving freely and what kind of wheel is it? If he jams it up i'd do something about it like attach it to the bars, put it in sand or aspen or on a platform. Maybe he's using it when you are asleep. You could put some substrate on top of it to find out. See if its gone in the morning.
My Syrians spend more time running on the wheels in the playground than the one in their cage but i have no idea why.
Clover seems to be very comfortable with you now and growing into a confident hamster.
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It sounds like it's going really well. If he's pee'd in his nest and hoard you'll need to remove it but try and leave a little bit of nest behind that's dry, even if whiffy. It helps to put some new food back if you have to remove the hoard, so if his hoard was in his toilet I put a bit of new food back next to the toilet - sometimes that trains them into hoarding next to the toilet instead of in it and he'll be less freaked if there is some food there to replace the hoard. Then put a big pile of torn up strips of toilet paper out in the cage so he can rebuild the nest again.
Didn't you say he was nesting in a cardboard box on the shelf? If so that could be awkward as he might keep peeing in his house. Because it's a lazy thing to do rather than walk down a ladder to have a pee area in the corner of the cage. You could move the box under the shelf or near the shelf on top of the substrate and he might start to have better toiletting habits then and choose a corner of the cage as a toilet. Very young hamsters do pee in the nest sometimes at first but they usually grow out of that fairly quickly - especially when they realise it means their nest gets removed!
As for him coming out again - maybe he just wanted to be out a bit longer the first time. But it could be good to let him out again if he's wanting to at the moment. Then each day you can be guided by if he's showing interest in coming out or not.
Didn't you say he was nesting in a cardboard box on the shelf? If so that could be awkward as he might keep peeing in his house. Because it's a lazy thing to do rather than walk down a ladder to have a pee area in the corner of the cage. You could move the box under the shelf or near the shelf on top of the substrate and he might start to have better toiletting habits then and choose a corner of the cage as a toilet. Very young hamsters do pee in the nest sometimes at first but they usually grow out of that fairly quickly - especially when they realise it means their nest gets removed!
As for him coming out again - maybe he just wanted to be out a bit longer the first time. But it could be good to let him out again if he's wanting to at the moment. Then each day you can be guided by if he's showing interest in coming out or not.
F
Frida
I'm looking forward to following Clover's personal thread 
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0bfNs97SqywjvOxDixzHybsMATrying to share a link to a video - not sure it will work.
The chatting, that’s my (very excited) son
R
RainbowBrite
Aw, so lovely to see a video of Clover. You may like to get a camera so you can find out what Clover gets up to at night. He may be using his wheel and you just have not realised. 
M
Member ID2
Aww, Clover is gorgeous. No wonder your son is excited.
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Aw Clover looks quite large! And he probably still has some growing to do The easiest way for video links is to upload the video to youtube and set it as "unlisted" at the end. That way it's private (as in not public) but can be viewed when you post a link to it - eg on here. Also the youtube links embed on here so it's more visual as well.
I missed the bit about the wheel not being used. Which wheel is it?
The easiest way for video links is to upload the video to youtube and set it as "unlisted" at the end. That way it's private (as in not public) but can be viewed when you post a link to it - eg on here. Also the youtube links embed on here so it's more visual as well.I missed the bit about the wheel not being used. Which wheel is it?
Hi all I have another issue I need some advice on: we’re going on holiday for a week this Friday. Now I read the thread on the homepage and it says that one should not really worry about the hamster needing outside time if it’s just a week: I will have a neighbour coming in to look after Clover but don’t think it’s reasonable to ask her to give Clover outside time (and he might not like it anyway given she is not known to him!). It is not totally predictable when he’s coming out and it’s always really late (between 9.30 and 10.30pm) so I cannot really ask the neighbour to make time that late (plus not knowing when he’ll come out). So I thought I’d just give her feeding and water instructions and ask her to talk a little to him when doing that. Does that sound ok? Any other additional advice on what to do so that Clover is comfortable when we’re away?
I was wondering whether to put additional new things into his cage so he’s got sth new to do (like putting up his Sputnik which I still haven’t done) and put some new chewy things and toys inside the cage. But maybe that’s the opposite of what I should do as it might unsettle him as well to have his cage changed?)
He might use the wheel now - it was noticeable this morning that the bedding I had put on top was gone and the bedding and peanut inside that was still there yesterday is gone too, the wheel is now empty. I might get a camera but won’t get that sorted before the holiday…
M
Member ID2
I think that he'll be fine without out of cage time for a week and it will be safer not to ask the neighbour to let him out.
I wouldn't change his set up but adding some chews and safe toys will be fine.
I always like to observe the hamster with a new hanging item like a sputnik in case it needs adjusting. Can he get in and out safely, that kind of thing.
All my hamsters have two water sources in case one fails which is something i'd recommend.
I wouldn't change his set up but adding some chews and safe toys will be fine.
I always like to observe the hamster with a new hanging item like a sputnik in case it needs adjusting. Can he get in and out safely, that kind of thing.
All my hamsters have two water sources in case one fails which is something i'd recommend.
F
Frida
The last time I went away my son looked after Albert. I didn't change anything in his cage apart from sieving the sand in his sand bath. I gave Albert extra chews and treats. My son gave clean water and food everyday and talked to Albert. I left Albert's carrier set up in case of a emergency along with the vet's telephone number.
He seems so excited about it he shows no interest of coming out tonight. That’s great timing, just before we go away…
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I think it's better not to change anything - familiarity is better - but maybe have the neighbour meet Clover before you go - even if he doesn't come out of his house when your neighbour is there. It's a kind of transition if they hear your voice with the neighbour's voice and presence so they know the neighbour is acceptable. Although not essential if it's not possible. I've always found they don't want to come out when you're not there, and hide away a bit with a strange person. Best the neighbour comes in to feed around 5pm to 6pm though when Clover is least likely to want to come out. Clover will want to come out when you're back and he sees and hears you again
Hi all we’re back from our holidays and it all went well! Clover indeed did not come out when the neighbour came to feed him but he seemed eager to come out and greet us once we were back. He’s still jerking when we try to touch him in the playpen (stroking his neck - following taming advice from the homepage on the forum) so that will still take time. But everything else is good so far.
F
Frida
Sounds like Clover missed you all. Hope you all had a great holiday.