Clover

[elusive]

They do go through phases & it might take him a while to readjust to you being away even if he seemed fine when you first got back.
If it’s just been the last few days I was wondering if it may have anything to do with the heat too.
Good to hear he came out in the end anyway & lovely to see him.

 

[Doro]

They do go through phases & it might take him a while to readjust to you being away even if he seemed fine when you first got back.
If it’s just been the last few days I was wondering if it may have anything to do with the heat too.
Good to hear he came out in the end anyway & lovely to see him.

Good point about the heat! Yes it is quite unbearable at the moment. Might explain the very late coming out as well (when it’s a bit cooler).

 

[Doro]

Clover hasn’t had any out of cage time for 4 days now… I haven’t seen him at all. I know he is active at night, he’s eating his food, but he’s just waking up too late for me to take him out. Tonight I waited until midnight but still no sign. I have to get up at 6.30 every morning so I just cannot stay up any later - normally I cannot even stay up until after 10.30, but I have been trying for a few days. But today it’s been midnight and still no sign of him. What do you guys suggest - do I have to start waking him? I know this is super stressful and not recommended but not getting any out of cage time isn’t good either right? I have tried putting his food out around 8 every night, talking to him and rustling the bedding a bit but it hasn’t made any difference

 

[Member ID2]

Out of cage time depends so much on the individual hamster.

My first Syrian only wanted to come out once a week or fortnight while i was awake. He'd sit by his door at 04.00/05.00 though.

You could try going to bed earlier and then get up half hour earlier to see if he's an early morning hamster.

 

[Doro]

Out of cage time depends so much on the individual hamster.

My first Syrian only wanted to come out once a week or fortnight while i was awake. He'd sit by his door at 04.00/05.00 though.

You could try going to bed earlier and then get up half hour earlier to see if he's an early morning hamster.

With two kids and a husband I unfortunately cannot do this… it would severely disrupt family life. It would take too much of a toll.

 

[Doro]

But obviously yet again Clover woke up 2 minutes after I had written this post - so just after midnight . He was very shy first but then happy to come out and be his usual self. I will try and do this every few days if I can manage (stay up late) but cannot do this every night. Hopefully he will change his waking up times again - it was 10pm until only a week ago!

 

[Jain]

Have you tried calling his name and wafting a smelly treat mealworm cheese or something close to where he sleeps if he's not fast asleep he may come out a little bit earlier and eventually that will be he norm.

 

[Maz]

They sometimes wait till the lights go out Our first Syrian was very shy and I sometimes used to trick him out by turning the lights out and leaving the room then coming back about 10 minutes later. You could try that and still get to bed on time!

Alternatively - what time do you feed him? If you make feeding time about 6 to 7pm and do a bit of cage noise while you're putting food and veg out, he is likely to get into the habit of waking at that time for feeding and you can get him out when he comes out for food. Again with our shy Syrian I used to put his veg on a separate dish on the far side of the cage to his house, so he had to actually go across the cage to get it (he was quite lazy as well!) Which then gives the opportunity to put a tube down with another smelly treat at the far end, when they're walking back again. And hopefully he'd walk into the tube.

It's lovely he interacted with you when he did get up. Maybe he picked up your mood and read your mind!

 

[ilguy]

Maz's idea is a good one, softly announcing yourself helps too I've found. He might already be awake before midnight, but waiting for you to go to bed to come out. Sometimes they just like their alone time or get into moods.

 

[ilguy]

Any luck with Clover this week?

 

[Doro]

Hi Unf Clover now appears later and later. I last saw him last on Thursday where he got up around 12.15am. On Saturday I stayed up until 12.55am but he didn’t come out. Interestingly he took his food when I pretended to go to sleep (following Maz’s suggestion) but he had immediately disappeared with his food into his nest again and did not come out or make any sound. I wonder whether this is because on Thursday I tidied up his nest when he was out and got rid of quite a bit of the soiled bedding in it. Maybe he freaked out and now doesn’t trust me anymore, so is keen to protect his nest? I don’t quite know what to do anymore - staying up even until midnight takes quite a toll on me at least during the week and now it seems there is not even a chance of success… I wonder whether the other explanation for his changed behaviour could be that we had to move his cage into a different room as we had a rat in the house and I was worried about his safety. Maybe the move to a different room plus maybe having noticed the rat before had freaked him out as well? That said the move into a different room already happened more than a week ago and although his waking up time got later (maybe as a consequence) it doesn’t quite explain his silence on Saturday. The rat is gone so we could now move him back to his old place - should I do this or leave him in the current room for now until he has settled again? The current room is a bit noisier as it is where we watch TV at night - but is quieter during the day.

 

[elusive]

Moving his cage might have unsettled him, they sense a lot of things we don’t so being in a different room will be quite noticeable for him & it may take time for him to adjust to that. It isn’t really all that long since he had to adjust to the change with having a house sitter around then you coming back after being away so there has been quite a lot of change going on.
If he seemed to be doing better where his cage was before in a quieter room then it’s worth considering putting him back although that will be another change for him & it’s not always easy to judge what’s best to do.
Cleaning the nest has to be done but it can upset them a bit, they do usually get over it fairly quickly though.
He might just need more time to readjust to everything & completely settle down again.
Maybe try leaving him for a few nights, or turn the lights down & leave the room & then pop back later before you go to bed just to see if that encourages him to come out.

 

[Maz]

Yes all these things can unsettle them - hamsters don't do well with change. Change of environment, changes in cage etc. However, I think now he has moved rooms ............................. You say the original room was quieter and the current one is noisier with TV etc. Is the current room the main living room? Despite it being noisier, I prefer to have the hamsters in the living room and I find I do get to see them more that way. They might not want to get up till the TV is off but may still sneak out for a drink or to get food quietly and you get to see them a bit more and have more interaction even if to just say hello and they get used to you. So personally I think they do better in the main living area. When I had one in a separate room before, where it was quieter, I missed out on a lot and to be honest didn't go in there enough to see him or talk to him if I was watching TV eg. This was a vicious circle. I stopped bothering to go in every 15 minutes to see if he was up because he was never up. He got used to hiding away if anyone came in the room. And sometimes if he did get up and want to come out and noone was there, that got missed.

So if the original room was quieter and the current room has more life and activity in it, I would try leaving him where he is now and let him adjust to the change. You're more likely to see him. Although he still might not come out until the TV is off and it's a bit less hectic. But he might just get used to all that and come out to get a drink or some food if you feed him around 7pm to 8pm each night.

I think if they are left alone and it's quiet they can go a bit feral basically. And not get used to humans. Depending on the personality.

It also takes them about two weeks to adjust to any big change usually. So it would be another week for him to adjust to the room change if you decide to keep him there. He may adjust quicker to going back to the old room as it will already be familiar. But I would try leaving him where he is, if that is your main living area.

I also think you need to start from scratch with the taming and familiarising after being away. I was once away for 10 days and left the hamster somewhere else, with our first hamster and he was not quite the same with us for a long time. He had adjusted to the change and maybe thought it was permanent and we were never coming back.

So I'd suggest you get him out of the cage, every two or three days, into a playpen area (maybe you could have the playpen area in the quieter room) for some taming sessions. You could try tempting him into a tube with a bit of smelly food (cucumber or cheese) at the far end and put the other end over his house door. The smell should wake him up and him come into the tube. Then you need to get your hands over the ends of the tube straight away to lift him out, before he backs out again. Get him used to having out of cage time basically.

But give him some time first to settle down again in the new room and he may start coming out more gradually as he settles in.

 

[Maz]

The taming article might help for starting from scratch again, after some time for the hamster to settle down in the changed environment.

How to tame a hamster

Hand taming a hamster can make life with your hamster very rewarding. Suddenly they will sit on you to be stroked or even go to sleep on you, and will be very easy to handle. It can take a bit of time and patience initially.

www.thehamsterforum.com

 

[Maz]

And how scary having a rat

 

[Doro]

Hello thanks for all the tips! Unfortunately Clover is not coming out anymore at all so I really don’t know what to do. I tried everything - changing his food every night at the same time and speaking to him, trying to tease him out with a smelly bit of food, leaving the room for 10 minutes pretending I’m going to sleep and then coming back - but there’s nothing. No noise, no appearance, nothing at all. Yesterday I waited until 12.30am including 10 min pretending to go away, but it had no effect. He’s eating all his food and there are clear signs of activity at night but he’s just not coming out when we’re around. I moved his cage back into the old room 3 nights ago so maybe I just need to be more patient? The room he was previously in is our living room which is too small to keep the hamster there permanently - the cage is kind of sitting in the middle of the room. The other room is not tucked away and quiet though - it is the middle room between our kitchen and living room. Our downstairs area is more or less open plan so Clover is taking part into whatever is going on - his cage is in the middle room but right next to the kitchen, and there is no door in between. And there is only a glass door between living room and middle room which is mostly not closed. But once the kids are in bed and I am in the living room it is a bit quieter in the corner where his cage now is (and used to be). I think Maz suggested as a final solution to lift his entire house out of the cage. But the house is a shoe box were I have cut out the bottom - so if I lift it up Clover would just stay at the bottom. But maybe this is what I have to do - basically wake him up? I know this is not recommended but the alternative at the moment seems for him to not come out and have no contact with us at all… I also need to do a cage clean at some point and definitely clean his litter tray which is in the house (the last proper clean of the bedding was in July). I would really appreciate any thoughts and tips!! Thanks so much!!

 

[RainbowBrite]

Do you have a camera for Clover? Sorry, I cannot remember.

 

[elusive]

If it’s only 3 days since he moved again he might still need more time to settle down after all the changes.

You probably don’t need to do a full cage clean, I never do everything at once, apart from cleaning the pee area as & when needed I only do small areas at any one time.

You will need to clean the litter tray & check on that so you may as well just go ahead & do that, if you have to remove any of his hoard then put back some fresh food, maybe leave him a treat in there when you’re done too.
After that I would give him a few more days & see how he goes.

 

[Maz]

As Elusive says, if he’s only been back in his old room 3 days it is a change again and personally I would give him a couple of weeks of being left alone until he’s adjusted to the environment the cage is in again. After that he should start coming out more of his own accord. So just keep talking to him meanwhile. Then see how things are in a couple of weeks. Talking to him is the start of taming again and if you see him out, maybe offer him a treat through the bars.

It’s usually time and patience. Until he gets his confidence back and gets used to your presence and voice again fully.

It’s surprising how much a room change can affect them. Even with a very tame hamster I’ve had for a while they can take a couple of weeks to adjust and start coming out normally again. He may adjust quicker if his cage is where it was before.

He’s also having to adjust to people changing as well since you got back from holiday.

If he burrows down under his house then it’s more a case of waiting to see if he starts to come out more naturally over the next couple of weeks.

Then see how things are then

When I mentioned taking his house out - that was me racing ahead and assuming everything else had been done first so I wasn’t quite clear there.

First thing is give him a couple of weeks settling in time and not disturbing anything during that time. I’d also hold off on any cleaning for a while as well. Does he use a litter tray for peeing (if so you can just empty that every few days - if not you can just spot clean the pre area occasionally).

Have you seen the cage cleaning guide on the home page?

 

[Doro]

Hello, a little update on Clover. Unfortunately nothing has changed in the past fortnight - he has not come out or make himself seen in any way. Two weeks ago I lifted the lift of the shoebox a bit to take out his litter tray. As he poked his head up I offered him a treat and he took it, but very reluctantly and being very shy. I realised when taking out the tray that he had converted it into this hoard and it seemed clean (previously he used to put food in there AND pee on it) - I now have no idea where he pees, I cannot find any traces in the cage and obviously cannot look more in his nest. I have not dared opening his 'home' again since as I don't want to intimidate further. But I again have absolutely no idea what to do next. He just would not come out and it has been almost three weeks now. He is active at night, going into his sand bath, going in the wheel, and eating and taking all his food. But he doesn't come out. Even when I came home after midnight the cage would be quiet, and when I get up at 6.30 the cage is quiet again. So either he sleeps really long and is only up for a few hours or (which I suspect is the case) he disappears the second someone opens the door. Any suggestions...? I can of course continue to wait and be patient, but I get a bit worried about his welfare, given that he seems to be scared of any contact whatsoever... I tried everything suggested - putting his food out at the same time in the evening, trying to tempt him with smelly treats, and talking to him gently when I put the food out and when I go to bed or come home.