Interaction/enjoyment vs cage size/animal welfare?

[Nibbles]

My daughter really wanted a Russian Dwarf hamster so we got her a one just under a year ago.
At the time, the local pet store (UK - Pets at Home) said one of their smaller cages was fine.
On a regular basis, the hamster would come out early evening and we'd give it a treat or two, stroke and sometimes hold it a bit, but not for long as it's a bit shy. It wasn't showing any apparent signs of stress that we can recall (bar biting etc).
But, after watching lots of hamster influencers and reading online articles, my daughter insisted we get a bigger cage. In truth, I was beginning to think the cage was a bit small as the hamster was growing.
So about 6 months ago we bought a decent sized PawHut (100x50x50) with a deep burrowing section and large play area with room for some huts, sand bath etc etc.
The problem is ... we now rarely see the hamster if at all. My daughter loves animals, but is increasingly disengaging from the experience.
What's the solution here? How do we balance getting some interaction/enjoyment out of our ownership vs animal welfare etc ... without resorting to buying a smaller cage again which we are very reluctant to do!

 

[Maz]

Hi . This does happen sometimes - it’s a shame when the hamster was already tame. Did the old cage have front access or top access? Ie was the hamster used to coming out at the front rather than the top! With the pawhut I think there is only top access. Do you have a photo of your set up in there and maybe we can suggest some tweaks so the hamster is more interactive again.

 

[Socks' Mum]

Hamsters age quite quickly, so some of her change in activity could be outgrowing the first phase of her youth. Also, there could be some seasonal change in activity. What do you feed hammy? Perhaps more protein and mealworms might make her more energetic. A change in temperature and light might have affected her. It's a pity she has become so reclusive after what sounds like rather a nice friendship had developed. Her cage does sound ideal with all the things a little dwarfie needs for a good life. I can understand that looking at an inactive cage is not very interesting. Hammy might take an interest in out of cage time, if you can tempt her into a hamster "taxi". Would she come out for some flax seed sprays? Some dwarfies really go for them.

 

[Tulsi]

This happened with one of my past roborovskis, Flower. I put her back into a slightly smaller cage in the end (80 x 40) and that seemed to resolve the issue. Flower was never hand tame but at least she would sit on her wheel and stare at me whilst I chatted to her, rather than being invisible in her bigger (100x50x35) set up.

 

[Maz]

I’ll wait to see what the current set up looks like . But one idea sometimes is to put the old cage inside the new one - depending how big it is and how much bedding you have. That’s usually for a transition when upgrading though.

So has it been 6 months of hardly seeing the hamster now? Not just a few weeks while she settles in?

 

[Socks' Mum]

Yes, often tweaking the habitat can encourage them to come out a bit more.