Whitney wants to say hello

[Wes]

Good morning everyone,

I’m new to the forum and happy to be here! We adopted Whitney, our 4-month-old Syrian hamster yesterday. She had a busy first night and already seems to be settling in well.

I have a quick question about her sand bath setup. Whitney has chosen to nest in one of the corners of her enclosure rather than using the hides provided. In doing so, she’s pushed quite a bit of her bedding into the sand bath (photo bottom right).

Would it be best to:

• Leave it as it is and let her do her thing?
• Spot-clean and remove the bedding as needed?
• Or rearrange the sand bath to help reduce the amount of bedding being kicked in?

I’d really appreciate any advice — still learning and want to make sure she’s comfortable and happy!

Thanks in advance

 

[Socks' Mum]

Congratulations on becoming mom to beautiful Whitney, she is a gorgeous girl If that is her bed spot, I would move the sand bath to another corner and give her bedding. You could leave things for a while to see if she is serious about nesting there. They like using the quietest, darkest corner. Multi chamber houses are great as they usually have a corner room at the back which is very dark and is often the preferred nest site

 

[Maz]

Or hamster Dad? . I’d also suggest leaving it as it is for now. It takes then a good couple of weeks to fully settle into a cage and decide what they want where, scent mark everything and generally feel settled. Changing anything in that first couple of weeks can stress them. I’d suggest waiting at least a week before attempting to spot clean any pee even. If you know where it is - if you don’t - then leave it a bit longer! Let your nose guide you is what we usually say

Whitney is absolutely adorable - that first photo of her is great! And she’s a sable (has the eye rings). I’ve always wanted one!

 

[Wes]

Congratulations on becoming mom to beautiful Whitney, she is a gorgeous girl If that is her bed spot, I would move the sand bath to another corner and give her bedding. You could leave things for a while to see if she is serious about nesting there. They like using the quietest, darkest corner. Multi chamber houses are great as they usually have a corner room at the back which is very dark and is often the preferred nest site

Thanks @Socks' Mum, I’m a hamster dad , Whitney really is a sweetheart. I appreciate your advice to test the waters for a while, makes sense.

There are two multi chamber hides elsewhere in the enclosure and one cooling hide and coco shell hut also. This is why I was surprised she chose to nest under the platform with the water bottle. The honeypot was in the sand bath as a little cover for her. I’ll see how the next week goes. Will update once she has settled.

Thanks again.

 

[Wes]

Or hamster Dad? . I’d also suggest leaving it as it is for now. It takes then a good couple of weeks to fully settle into a cage and decide what they want where, scent mark everything and generally feel settled. Changing anything in that first couple of weeks can stress them. I’d suggest waiting at least a week before attempting to spot clean any pee even. If you know where it is - if you don’t - then leave it a bit longer! Let your nose guide you is what we usually say

Whitney is absolutely adorable - that first photo of her is great! And she’s a sable (has the eye rings). I’ve always wanted one!

Thank you Maz, I’ll monitor for sure. Definitely don’t want to add to the stress of rehoming. Really helps to have those with experience help out and share pointers.

That’s what stood out her “glasses” are so cute. I didn’t realise there were so many genotypes, it was initially confusing, trying to work out.

Thanks again.

 

[Maz]

It is confusing and I'm no expert on the genetics really - but sables are easy to spot with the eye rings

 

[Socks' Mum]

Ooh, yes, sorry Whitney has a lovely cage with lots of great things in it I wonder if she lived in a cage with little bedding originally and has to get used to being able to dig.