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So I got a little hamster yesterday, and I'm a bit worried about how he's acclimating to my house.
He's been a very calm guy, would crawl around on my hands from the minute I took him out of the box. Gave him a little time to run around on the floor, he wasn't fast at all so catching him was no problem.
He ate okay the first day, sitting in his bowl every half hour to an hour or so, rolling in it and kicking it all over his cage.
Nearing the end of the first day, around 6pm to ~3am he was just sitting in his little plastic castle, napping.
I didn't really think it was abnormal, given the sudden change in habitat, but thought it was strange he was asleep that late into the night.
Next day, I come back out and he's still in his bed. And has been in his bed 99% of the day, from about 12-8pm (now).
He's come out to take a few nibbles of food, run on his wheel for a few seconds, went up to the second floor of his cage to carry toilet paper down into his plastic castle on the first floor, and go back to sleep.
He doesn't seem to have any trust issues with me, as he'll crawl most of the way into my hand when he is rarely awake, and crawl around on my hands/arms. I feel like he's not getting the exorcise he needs, and he hasn't shown any interest in drinking from his water bottle.
I'm probably concerned over nothing, but this being my first hamster, I would rather not have him die from dehydration/illness.
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>>2410101
I don't know enough about hamsters to know if this is abnormal or not. Maybe he doesn't know how to drink from the bottle? Try showing him.
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>>2410168
Update since I've posted this.
He came out, went and got some water for about 20 seconds ish? Don't know if he actually got any, but he tried for sure. He seemed satisfied, so I assume he did.
Went on a little run, and ran around on my hands for a few minutes. Put him back in his cage and back to the hidey-hole.
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>>2410202
Make sure to save toilet roll tubes for the little fella, hamsters love those things.
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>>2410250
Kind of hard to see, but on the bottom right of the picture with him drinking, you can see the hollow part of the toiler paper roll.
Ran through it like 6 times as soon as he woke up.
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>>2410255
Ah shit yeah, didn't notice it. You seem like a good hamster owner who actually cares about their hamster. A lot of people just get hamsters cause they're cute then basically ignore them. Have you thought of any names yet?
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>>2410264
Stupid of a name as it is, I was thinking "wilbur", because he's more of a pig than a hamster when it comes to his food.
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Cute. I hope he does well. Never had a hamster.
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>>2410271
Appreciate it anon. He might've just been making up for lost sleep yesterday, he's up now, and for longer than he's been up since we got him. Spent the last 10 minutes eating, chewing wood chips, and playing in his toilet paper roll.
Guess I really was worrying about nothing.
Even if you don't know much about hamsters, you've been helpful, and it's nice to vent. Thanks.
I can't say how much work he'll be in the long run, but he's been a good little buddy. Good to gawk at for more time than I'm willing to admit, and good if you need something to take care of, but aren't up to the task of a dog or cat. I think we're going to get along.
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>>2410279
Sounds good thus far. only one question: Do they prefer another hamster to socialize with?
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>>2410319
Sorry, was away from my computer.
I can't speak for all breeds, but your most common robo hamsters work best alone. They'll fight with one another if they're outside from their immediate family. If you want more than one, make sure you get them all from day 1, and from the same litter.
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>>2410101
get some new bedding, those pine shavings can give them breathing difficulties. Go for paper bedding.
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>>2410334
I looked into that and specifically avoided pine, and opted for aspen instead.
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>>2410341
bigger cage maybe?
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>>2410353
Yeah, I imagine that will cause an issue at some point.
It's one of those "okay sized but not really big enough" $30 cages with all the tubes.
Have a small expansion coming tomorrow for him to explore tomorrow, but it's not going to make up for complete square footage. That'll be a thing later on down the line, for now he'll have to deal with freedom with surveillance.
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>>2410268
Wilbur is as good a name as any. Have you got him a hamster ball?
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>>2410360
Coming in the mail wednesday.
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>>2410369
A hamster ball should help if you're worried about him not getting enough exercise.
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>>2410354
Yeah, I have one of those cheap metal cages, but to supplement size I added a play pen and a ramp. He's been much more active and less aggressive since.
If you like the style of the critter keeper, jut buy another and attach them, they're pretty good for that and it can lead to lots of activities for your hamster
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