Switching from paper to hemp bedding

[ChritinaK.]

I have a russian dwarf hamster that used to love to burow in it's paper bedding. In my region paper bedding is not easy to find so I decided to switch to hemp after some reasearch. He has been on the new setup for three days now and it's not only that he is not intersted to burrow but it looks like he doesn't even want to step on it. I also added a few more stuff in the set up [multichamber hideout and a watchbox] Do I give it some more time for him to get used to the new set up before changing anything again? Do I go back to paper bedding ? I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on what I should do.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Hello and welcome. Did you keep sone of the paper bedding and add a bit of the hemp? Not changing all the bedding at once is so important because it contains their scent.

If you changed all the bedding then it will take your hamster some time to get used to it. The changes you made are all lovely and it will mean your hamster has to become familiar with the changes.

 

[elusive]

Hi & welcome to the forum.
As Rainbow said changing all the bedding at once could really have upset him but I’m also wondering which brand of hemp you’re using, I used to use hemp at one time & it does vary a lot in quality, smell, how well it holds burrows etc so it may be that possibly.
Three days isn’t all that long to adjust to a big change but if you still have some paper bedding put some of that back in at least part of the cage & give him time to see if he’ll get used to the hemp or not.

 

[Maz]

Agree with the others. If you changed it all over at once it won't have his scent and he may feel quite lost and confused. Generally it's better to mix half new and old bedding at first so it still smells familiar. Although obviously if you want to change over completely to hemp it would take a long time to finally get fully switched over doing it that way. Some people actually do mix two different substrates so tunnels hold better.

So it sounds like he is nervous of the change, but he will get used to it. One way to distract him out of the change and nervousness may be to scatter a few treats around on the substrate to tempt him to forage for them and forget his fears. In doing so he will be re scent marking the substrate

Which brand of hemp is it?

 

[ChritinaK.]

Thank you so much for the fast reply.
Yes, I did keep some of the bedding with his scent, I scattered it inside the the multichamber house and that's where he spends most time of the day. Also, the hemp bedding I am using the one by hemparade ( https://www.zooplus.gr/shop/mikra_zoa/stromni_sanou/stromni_kannavis/547554 )

This is Stuart Little and his enclosure by the wayy

 

[elusive]

Like his name & he does look very sweet
I found Hemparade to be quite course & had sharp bits in it, if you can get Hugro hemp that is a much better quality & I think both more pleasant & safer for hams.
Maybe try adding more enrichment to his enclosure too, things like flax & millet sprays, maybe a tube (cardboard is fine) or small cardboard boxes as extra little hides.
You could have a look at the cages thread if you want more ideas too.

Show us your cages 2022

Hamster Heaven without external tubes and shelves set up for a Roborovski hamster.

www.thehamsterforum.com

 

[Maz]

He is absolutely adorable! He is probably just adjusting to the change then. One observation is his wheel. I don't know that wheel that well - I believe it has a solid running track (as it should have) but may not be that safe with the bar across it. There are better wheels available.

He may appreciate more space in a cage as well, although it's difficult to tell how big his cage is from the photos but it looks a reasonable size. His hide looks very cosy and I like the decoration! Adding a few extra hidey places in the substrate could give him more to do as well - cardboard is your friend there - square tissue boxes or cardboard egg boxes with a hole cut in can make extra hides to push into the substrate maybe or a cardboard tube or two.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Stuart Little is sooo cute! I also love the way you painted his house. You have had some great advice from elusive and Maz.

We have threads on here were we keep diaries for our hamsters. It would be lovely if you wanted to start a thread for Stuart Little under the dwarf hamster section. You can post pictures of him and tell us all about him.

 

[ChritinaK.]

Thank you all so much for the great advice, I will take everything into consideration and try to make the best changes I can!!