Muffin

[Muffin Family]

Hi, we have had Muffin for about 10 days now and she is our first hamster. She seems very adventurous, climbing her cage bars, even upside down on the celing but often then drops off the climb - sometimes the height of the cage, does this sound normal or is there anything we need to do to minimise it? She also bites the cage bars for short periods, is this just part of settling in or is something wrong do you think? We haven't started handling her much yet but found an article on here about doing that systematically so that will be really helpful. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Socks' Mum]

Hello and welcome to the forum Hamsters aren't great climbers, as you have noticed It is better if they don't fall so far. Also the bar biting, which is very common, has the potential to damage their teeth. Both issues are very common problems when getting a new hamster, and both can be solved with tweaks to their cage set up. Ideally, once Muffin is an adult hamster, she should have at least 100cm by 50cm floor space to run over. The depth and kind of bedding is also important. Alot of pet shops sell new owners wood shavings as bedding, but paper bedding is much healthier and easier to maintain. It is designed for burrowing animals and ideal for hamsters. Muffin should have a depth of bedding at least ten inches and as much as twelve inches is perfect. Of course it might need to be lower in places to accommodate her wheel, which should be 12" in circumference for an adult Syrian hamster.
The deeper bedding will also reduce the height of the roof and help to prevent her from falling so far.
Putting cardboard against the bars will give her something to chew that won't damage her teeth and should also help to prevent her from climbing
A nice multi chamber house on stilts is the ideal bed chamber for hamsters. Or a shoe box with the base cut out and the lid used as a roof. This sort of house allows you to lift the lid

 

[Socks' Mum]

Sorry, to lift the lid to peep at hammy. Happy Henry Homes make lovely, safe furniture for hamsters. Maz will be along soon to tell you more about settling in your new hammy. I hope all goes well

 

[Socks' Mum]

Hello and welcome to the forum Hamsters aren't great climbers, as you have noticed It is better if they don't fall so far. Also the bar biting, which is very common, has the potential to damage their teeth. Both issues are very common problems when getting a new hamster, and both can be solved with tweaks to their cage set up. Ideally, once Muffin is an adult hamster, she should have at least 200cm by 50cm floor space to run over. The depth and kind of bedding is also important. Alot of pet shops sell new owners wood shavings as bedding, but paper bedding is much healthier and easier to maintain. It is designed for burrowing animals and ideal for hamsters. Muffin should have a depth of bedding at least ten inches and as much as twelve inches is perfect. Of course it might need to be lower in places to accommodate her wheel, which should be 12" in circumference for an adult Syrian hamster.
The deeper bedding will also reduce the height of the roof and help to prevent her from falling so far.
Putting cardboard against the bars will give her something to chew that won't damage her teeth and should also help to prevent her from climbing
A nice multi chamber house on stilts is the ideal bed chamber for hamsters. Or a shoe box with the base cut out and the lid used as a roof. This sort of house allows you to lift the lid

Sorry, not 200cm x 50cm, that should be 100cm x 50cm

 

[Socks' Mum]

Muffin's restlessness is completely normal

 

[Muffin Family]

Thank you for all the advice! Think we might struggle with some of it as the solid part of the cage is only about 6 inches deep so that won't allow 10 inches of bedding! I like the cardboard idea and would love to see a picture if anyone else has already done this? She has a 12 inch wheel and loves her blue topped ceramic toadstool house so think she is comfortable with those. Definitely switching her bedding to paper too but started with wood shavings, so I guess that will need to be gradual now to keep her scent? She likes to push it through the bars and I've found that it also affects my breathing. She is such a character already but just wondering at what age she is considered an adult hamster and whether the restlessness subsides as she gets used to things more? Thanks again for your reply.

 

[Maz]

Thank you for all the advice! Think we might struggle with some of it as the solid part of the cage is only about 6 inches deep so that won't allow 10 inches of bedding! I like the cardboard idea and would love to see a picture if anyone else has already done this? She has a 12 inch wheel and loves her blue topped ceramic toadstool house so think she is comfortable with those. Definitely switching her bedding to paper too but started with wood shavings, so I guess that will need to be gradual now to keep her scent? She likes to push it through the bars and I've found that it also affects my breathing. She is such a character already but just wondering at what age she is considered an adult hamster and whether the restlessness subsides as she gets used to things more? Thanks again for your reply.

Hi and welcome Is Muffin a Syrian or a Dwarf hamster, and which cage is she in? It's common for Syrians to climb and monkey bar on the first night as they look to see if there is an escape route or way out and check every inch! Once they realise there isn', they generally don't bother after that! Providing the cage is big enough they don't really bar chew unless they are stressed. Or some might occasionally to get your attention if you're in the same room and there's a problem, or they're telling you it's time to come out!

Some female Syrians will need more space and it can take some adjustments for them to settle even in a 100cm cage.

If she's a dwarf hamster then yes they can have a tendency to climb bars. On here we say a minimum of 6" of bedding, providing there is a multiroom house, but charity guidelines recommend 8" or 10". Again 6" of bedding for a dwarf will be different than for a Syrian, but a multiroom house mimics a burrow.

It's also possible to just have a deep bedding end which is easier to adjust for with cardboard (or even tailor made perspex panels which are available but that costs money). They at least stop the bedding falling out But it depends on the cage, as there are some that have narrow 6 or 7mm bar spacing and the bedding doesn't fall out then (depending on the type of bedding).

 

[Maz]

Sorry, not 200cm x 50cm, that should be 100cm x 50cm

Edited it for you

 

[Hammy Chum]

We use cardboard on ours to increase the sides a bit for bedding - our Chumley isnt a huge burrower anyway but just increases height a bit (we have a Savic barred bage)

Also I used to have a rabbit named Muffin years ago and she was a character too!

 

[Maz]

Thank you for all the advice! Think we might struggle with some of it as the solid part of the cage is only about 6 inches deep so that won't allow 10 inches of bedding! I like the cardboard idea and would love to see a picture if anyone else has already done this? She has a 12 inch wheel and loves her blue topped ceramic toadstool house so think she is comfortable with those. Definitely switching her bedding to paper too but started with wood shavings, so I guess that will need to be gradual now to keep her scent? She likes to push it through the bars and I've found that it also affects my breathing. She is such a character already but just wondering at what age she is considered an adult hamster and whether the restlessness subsides as she gets used to things more? Thanks again for your reply.

Some pictures here