Hamster running round the cage in circles

[thespiffingbrit]

I do have a video from the camera but unsure how to post it on here. There are no air fresheners besides a automatic one that's far from his cage. I tried him outside his cage in a play pen 5hw just stayed in a tube I got him

 

[Maz]

Typical hamster. Running around the cage, but then sitting still in a tube when out of the cage. Actually the automatic air fresheners can affect them if it's in the same room. Anything scented like that can really affect them - they have a much stronger sense of smell than we do.

To upload a video you just upload it to youtube and then paste the link on here If you set the video to "unlisted" it can only be viewed wherever you paste the link (ie on here) not on youtube itself. If you leave it set to "public" it will show on youtube as well. Don't set it to "private" though or the link won't work. After you paste the link in your post and hit "post reply" the video will show up embedded in your post and can be watched in the post.

 

[thespiffingbrit]

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. That's the link to the YouTube video

 

[Maz]

It does look like a stress behaviour. I'd take the plug in air freshener out of the room to start with.

 

[Zara]

Hi there, I’m thinking maybe some more overhead coverage for him? Perhaps when he comes out at night he feels a little exposed? Is he nesting in a hide? Do you think there could be room in your setup for an extra shoebox house or tissue box hide, somewhere else he can sit under?

 

[Jain]

After watching the video the way he is zooming around is totally different to the kind of circling when having fits sorry if I caused any concern previously. Could it just be he enjoys doing laps around his cage if he isn't showing any other stress kind of symptoms. I think it's called Zoomies in young dogs and they do it for fun and to burn off energy.

 

[thespiffingbrit]

I can't think of anything else that would be causing him to be stressed

 

[Maz]

Any strong scent like air freshener in the room could - it would make him go mad.

I like Zara’s thoughts too that maybe he needs a bit more overhead cover to feel secure. That is a very good point and is maybe why he is keeping close to the edges when he runs around. Except when he stops briefly and puts his head under the wheel. I can’t remember what you did regarding a house now - is it buried under the substrate? You could try putting a blanket over the top of the cage so he feels less exposed.

But.he does have a tunnel there and although he say in it the odd time, it didn’t stop him.

It isn’t normal behaviour for a hamster. I’ve only had it once and it was caused by stress as in a complete change of environment twice (when we went on holiday), another hamster dying in the same room as him while we were away and, as it turned out, the scent of a female hamster on his cage.

Obviously none of those apply here but I didn’t get it to stop until the other hamster scent was removed from his cage (when I realised it might be that) it was driving him crazy and it was quite upsetting to see.

I do think it might be the air freshener. Unless you’ve already removed it, bits best not to have anything that gives out scent in the air in the hamster’s room. And not use anything scented in the cage either (some bedding and bedding granules can be scented).

If it only started the day you added the fish stone and it was a noise, you would think it would have settled down by now. Unless he can hear something you can’t.

 

[thespiffingbrit]

Is it worth getting a tunnel for inside his cage or a visit to the vet?

 

[Maz]

I don't think this is something a vet can deal with as it seems like a stress behaviour. But it's not good if he carries on like this. As I mentioned, when I experienced this it was a "change" that stopped it. I did a full cage clean including the outside of the cage as that had picked up scents from another place with hamsters in. It just stopped. It sort of distracted him out of it and he was curious investigating things and sniffing the cage and settled down straight away. But that was a specific experience. However I'm inclined to think that a change or adjustment might distract him out of it.

Have you got a photo of the cage set up at the moment? Assume his wheel isn't too stiff?

 

[thespiffingbrit]

Current cage set up.

 

[Maz]

Ok - so that's his house underground on the left isn't it? He should like that. And he has a nice tunnel. Just wondering if you could put another hide in the middle of the cage.

What is the nice melon bowl on the house roof? Is that for his water? He might not be able to reach inside it easily - it might be a bit big for him. You could also try scatter feeding his food for a while - that will be a distraction - foraging for it,

But to stop this running round in circles behaviour maybe a bigger change is needed. When did you last do any clean outs?

Did you leave his hoard behind by the way? That really stresses them if you remove their hoard.

 

[Maz]

Something like the bottom part of a rat sputnik, upside down can work as a central hide. Light so doesn't need supporting. Or a carrot cottage - most hamsters like those. But that would need to go in the freezer for a week.

This is the rat sputnik. For the cage floor, the base of it upside down. The rat sized one works better as it's taller.

Rat sputnik

Carrot cottage

You could probably fit both in.

I think what is really missing though is a shelf or platform on the right hand side. The green shelf wasn't much good as it has holes in and takes up a lot of space.

A shelf or platform makes them feel more secure as they can sit under it and it provides overhead cover, plus it's also somewhere else to go and they like running up to it.

I find the easiest solution for that is one of these platforms - you can choose the length of legs you want for it so it sits just above the substrate. So maybe 20cm legs. You can get 15cm or 20cm (from the drop down menu). And use a bendy stick bridge as a ramp up to it. I like these because they work well with barred cages that have a sloping base because the platforms aren't square so they fit almost right up to the edges.

If you have the base full of substrate, that will be about 15cm deep so that's why I was thinking of the 20cm legs. But - the cage isn't that tall and I think you'd be ok with the 15cm legs as you don't have the base completely full of substrate. So you could have the substrate deeper at the other end. You don't want the platform too high above the substrate.

Hamster Cloud Platform 300mm x 200mm with Solid Birch Legs | Happy Henry’s Homes

Hamster Cloud Platform with Solid Birch Legs Description:Hamster Platform with 4 supporting legs. Legs come complete with brass threaded inserts for stainless steel screw fixings to fix the platform and legs to one another.

www.happyhenryshomes.co.uk

I'll suggest more when I hear about his clean outs/hoard etc

 

[thespiffingbrit]

The watermelon bowl is for his sand. I did a big clean out Sunday and took alot of the hoarded food. I will definitely try the shwl

 

[Socks' Mum]

He is doing endless laps full speed. If he had a brain injury or tumour, you would expect him to be struggling to coordinate movements. I don't know about epilepsy in hamsters, but this seems to happen when he is naturally active, so it doesn't seem to be a sort of epilepsy. He runs round or over the tunnels. Syrian hamsters would monkey bar or bar bite, but I wonder if this is an extreme dwarf hamster version of what can be very restless behaviour in Syrians? I was wondering about possible female scent. But if there is no other hamster and no one has been handling another hamster, this couldn't be the issue. I wonder if proximity to female (or male) mice might affect him. Also, if he can hear owls. We can hear foxes at night at times, but my pets tend to hide and sit still, rather than run about.

 

[Maz]

I think it's probably the clean out on Sunday and having most of his hoard removed It helps to re-use half the bedding so everything still smells familiar. And to do the wheel a different day to the other things. If everything is cleaned at once and all his hoard removed, he'll be frantic and it won't feel like home. He'll feel invaded and think a predator might have got in and be trying to escape maybe. They are such sensitive little things in that respect. With that type of cage, I used to do "half" clean outs. Eg I'd do the right hand side of the cage only - just the substrate. And still keep back a bit of clean to spread on top. Then I'd leave it a couple of weeks and then do the left hand side. Then do the wheel a different week again. Any other items you just clean as and when. That was most things still smell familiar and have his scent on at all times.

I would think about adding that platform though. A hide for the centre could just be made out of a square tissue box or similar rather than buy lots of things.

He won't feel safe if his hoard is removed and he's had a big clean out. I think adding a platform and another hide will be a distraction for him and you could also make him some boredom breakers and give him a whimzee chew maybe.

You can make little treat parcels for boredom breakers, out of rings of cut up toilet roll inner tubes, with sunflower seeds or something inside

Lots of ideas for home made boredom breakers on here

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