Probably-Ralph getting more and more shy?

[Ralph the hamster]

Hello! We've had our fuzzy handsome guy for a little over two weeks and he seems to be going backward in wanting to see us. In the first week or so, he'd sniff my hand and take treats from me. Now he doesn't come out until I've gone away. He's eating and drinking fine. We thought he wasn't playing or using his wheel, but then we learned he's actually just a future criminal and had found a path that avoided our camera. Probably-Ralph 1; Wyze Cam 0.
He's not super into any of the fresh foods we've offered, except sweet potato, and he kinda picks through his pellet/seeds/etc mix for his favorites. I watch the little videos from the camera to see if he's looking healthy and haven't seen any injury or anything like that. He's just... shy? I saw a video about taking them to a playpen/safe room to try bonding so that they don't get territorial - does that work?
We are very patient people by nature, but we unexpectedly need to have some work done in PR's room, which will include a fair amount of sanding and then stain and varnish, so we're going to have to move his setup to as far away in the house as we can get him from the fumes/dust. I was hoping he'd be a little more bonded before we did that because I don't want to stress him out too much.
All those factors lead to this, I guess: do I:
a: lure him to the playpen and move his cage while he's out of it
b: move the whole cage during the day while he's in his burrow and hope he didn't notice
c: take him to the playpen, and use that opportunity to clean out his burrow/adjust some things to make it more comfortable, because he's going to be mad anyway? we haven't had a chance to get to any soiled bedding because he doesn't use the sandbox so it must be in his burrows.
What say you, Hamster Heroes?

 

[Maz]

Hi. Two weeks still isn't very long really but you'd expect him to start being a bit more confident in the cage from about now. It might mean some strategies like feeding early evening and making a big of cage noise while doing it and then tempting him into a tube with a smelly treat at one end (eg cucumber) for some out of cage time.

If you need to move the cage somewhere while DIY is going on, I would just do it while he's asleep in his nest. He is going to notice the changed environment around the cage whatever you do but hopefully it won't bother him too much. Chat to him a bit the first night or two and explain what's happening. I know that sounds bonkers, but I think they pick up the vibe!

 

[RainbowBrite]

I notice hamsters do seem to be about a bit before they settle then they revert back to more typical behaviour.

Which fresh foods have you tried? Cucumber, bell pepper and broccoli are ideas as they are quite popular with hamsters.

Hamsters do pick through their seed mix and take away their favourites.

Two weeks is still very early so please do not worry about not seeing much of Ralph.

I personally would not try him in a playpen until he is more comfortable. It sounds to me like he is still settling in. I would pop him in his carrier and move his cage and then you can spot clean. This is just my opinion and other members will have their own ideas.

 

[Ralph the hamster]

Hi. Two weeks still isn't very long really but you'd expect him to start being a bit more confident in the cage from about now. It might mean some strategies like feeding early evening and making a big of cage noise while doing it and then tempting him into a tube with a smelly treat at one end (eg cucumber) for some out of cage time.

If you need to move the cage somewhere while DIY is going on, I would just do it while he's asleep in his nest. He is going to notice the changed environment around the cage whatever you do but hopefully it won't bother him too much. Chat to him a bit the first night or two and explain what's happening. I know that sounds bonkers, but I think they pick up the vibe!

This is a little like what I've been doing, so that's reassuring. I look at the time he came out the night before and go down like 45 minutes before that and chat while I clean the water, change food, etc. Usually I can hear him rustling around. Sometimes he makes chirping noises. When he clacks his teeth (that's what it sounds like anyway) I say "ok, I hear you, I will leave, enjoy your food" and make some noise as I leave the room/turn off hall light. Should I go back down when he comes out later? Or wait for him to be out?

 

[Maz]

My view on playpen time is - it's not too soon and can help them become tamer so they get braver in the cage as well. However, if you're needing to move the cage elsewhere then I wouldn't try playpen time till after the move. How long is the cage going to be in the new location?

 

[Ralph the hamster]

I notice hamsters do seem to be about a bit before they settle then they revert back to more typical behaviour.

Which fresh foods have you tried? Cucumber, bell pepper and broccoli are ideas as they are quite popular with hamsters.

Hamsters do pick through their seed mix and take away their favourites.

Two weeks is still very early so please do not worry about not seeing much of Ralph.

I personally would not try him in a playpen until he is more comfortable. It sounds to me like he is still settling in. I would pop him in his carrier and move his cage and then you can spot clean. This is just my opinion and other members will have their own ideas.

He's tried strawberry, blueberry, kale, celery, cabbage, cucumber, and sweet potato. I think I'm missing one... not a massive fan of anything except he pouched the sweet potato and took off after one bite

 

[Maz]

This is a little like what I've been doing, so that's reassuring. I look at the time he came out the night before and go down like 45 minutes before that and chat while I clean the water, change food, etc. Usually I can hear him rustling around. Sometimes he makes chirping noises. When he clacks his teeth (that's what it sounds like anyway) I say "ok, I hear you, I will leave, enjoy your food" and make some noise as I leave the room/turn off hall light. Should I go back down when he comes out later? Or wait for him to be out?

Quite a few hamsters want to just be left alone! But once they are out they behave differently. If you see him out and about I would offer him a tube with a bit of cucumber at the far end and if he walks into it, try him in a playpen area.

 

[Ralph the hamster]

My view on playpen time is - it's not too soon and can help them become tamer so they get braver in the cage as well. However, if you're needing to move the cage elsewhere then I wouldn't try playpen time till after the move. How long is the cage going to be in the new location?

Hopefully less than two weeks. The man doing the work has been fully briefed by PR's resident hamster advocate and knows how disruptive this is. Watching my 9 year old tell a grown man to respect a hamster's space was amazing.

 

[RainbowBrite]

He's tried strawberry, blueberry, kale, celery, cabbage, cucumber, and sweet potato. I think I'm missing one... not a massive fan of anything except he pouched the sweet potato and took off after one bite

Aw, maybe he just needs to learn what he likes. It took my hamster a while too. Green beans and baby corn could be an idea too.

 

[Maz]

If it's about two weeks then he could have some playpen time in his new location If there's space to set up a playpen there.

 

[Jain]

I'm finding a similar situation with Pete from around day 6 of him arriving I was estatic because he was coming to the front of his cage taking food from me and putting in a couple of daytime excursions around his domain then day 7 a brief appearance now day 9 and I haven't seen him at all yesterday not a peek out of him and yet nothing around him has been changed no different sounds or movements I know he's OK because his toilet has been used his food has disappeared and I've heard his wheel at 4 a.m this morning.

 

[Maz]

Hi Jain - I moved most of your post to Pete's thread as it can get complicated to try and reply to two different people on someone else's thread and each circumstance varies

There is no hard and fast way and each hamster is individual They have their quirks. Even tame hamsters can have a day or two where they want to stay in and wash their hair! It can take 10 days to two weeks for a hamster to settle into a completely new cage and feel confident (It's the new cage environment and change that can set the taming back). It's a really frustrating time needing a bit of patience. But I would always give it at least 10 days before attempting to get them out of the cage - unless the hamster will happily walk into a tube or is showing signs of wanting to come out, because trying to get them out too soon can set them back as well and scare them a bit.

 

[Maz]

With Ralph it could be an idea to offer him a taxi for some playpen time after a day or so of him being in the new room - he's had time to settle into his cage . A tube with a smelly treat, like cucumber, at one end can tempt them out. If feeding time is early evening each day, that often tempts them out too.

 

[Maz]

Also, I hate to say this, because he has a lovely cage set up and a lot of bedding - but he may be a bit too comfortable hiding away. If he is a shy kind of hamster. The smell of cucumber often tempts them out so maybe cucumber in a tube might tempt him out and into a tube. I did have one very nervy shy Syrian boy who seemed to permanently hide away and in the end I had to literally find him and lift him out of the cage for taming. He didn't like it at first but he got used to it.

 

[Ralph the hamster]

Also, I hate to say this, because he has a lovely cage set up and a lot of bedding - but he may be a bit too comfortable hiding away. If he is a shy kind of hamster. The smell of cucumber often tempts them out so maybe cucumber in a tube might tempt him out and into a tube. I did have one very nervy shy Syrian boy who seemed to permanently hide away and in the end I had to literally find him and lift him out of the cage for taming. He didn't like it at first but he got used to it.

this sounds like our guy my husband likes to point out that we basically took him off the streets and put him up at the Four Seasons, and now we expect him to socialize with the staff lol

 

[Maz]

I am wondering if adjusting his set up would help actually. I seem to remember one end is very deep bedding and the other end fairly low and level. Maybe having it the same level in the whole cage will encourage him to be out and about more in the whole cage. He would need to be out of the cage somewhere secure while you change the set up. He might actually prefer it - some changes they accept if it works for them.

They should normally want to come out at feeding time and then have some habits in the cage. He might be treating the deep end as a small separate cage and the rest like open space kind of.

 

[Ralph the hamster]

I am wondering if adjusting his set up would help actually. I seem to remember one end is very deep bedding and the other end fairly low and level. Maybe having it the same level in the whole cage will encourage him to be out and about more in the whole cage. He would need to be out of the cage somewhere secure while you change the set up. He might actually prefer it - some changes they accept if it works for them.

This has been on my mind to do for a while. Your memory is correct - there's like a deep half, and then a low level section and a mid level section - he basically uses the mid level as a hallway to go to one of the other two. I was thinking about switching it to half deep half mid, and putting his multichamber on stilts, provided the wheel still fits. Looking at it, I think the low level where his water/treats/wheel/etc. are is pretty small and I wouldn't choose it as a hangout spot either. We'll be temporarily moving him to the other corner of the house soon and I was thinking of doing it then - so he can be mad at me all at once I guess lol.

 

[Maz]

How deep is the mid level section?

 

[Ralph the hamster]

How deep is the mid level section?

Like 8" compacted? The deep is 10 to 12 depending on the areas he's been exploring.

 

[Maz]

Ok. So maybe 8" to 10" throughout the whole cage might be better and see how that goes. Would the nice apartment house still work then? The main idea of deep bedding is so they can dig tunnels but that's only really possible if the substrate is deep in the entire cage kind of. And he may not be doing it anyway if he likes his subterranean hide. The main thing about having it all the same level (still with his nice items you have) is it could be easier to get him into a routine for getting him out and taming. You may be right that he feels a bit exposed in the lower/more open area.

When I get a minute, I'll go back and look at the cage set up and see if I can make some suggestions While still using the same nice items. It would be nice if he would come out early evening for food and at that time you can tempt him into a tube and have him out for some taming in a playpen.