I brought her home yesterday afternoon and since then she’s been undisturbed. About an hour ago the fire alarm in the room went off; I was worried it was real so put her with her bedding into her carry-on, with a jumper over the top to keep it dark, and took her downstairs and across the street to wait it out. As soon as it was finished I brought her back in and she’s been in her cage since. She spent the first few minutes scrambling around in her box and then went to sleep, and I had to wake her up to put her back in her cage. She went back to sleep in her little hut almost immediately.

I couldn’t carry the cage since it’s a metre long and I was by myself. I kept it as quiet as I could and she slept through most of it.

I’m really worried about messing up the first 48 hours that are meant to spent alone decompressing. Should I wait for an additional day to let her get back to normal?

Ham picture for tax. Her name is Shirley.

I just got news that there is a freeze watch from now until Saturday morning, and I live in a state that gets SUPER cold during the winter time, so I want to know some ways to keep my hammy warm

Hey so I have 2 hamsters and their sand bath is smelly it's not like it's not cleaned I did clean it removed poop and all that but it's still smelly and I'm a first time owner so I don't know how to properly clean it . So if anyone can suggest me something it would be a great help !

i know this might be a very common question, but it seems very excessive to me so am a little worried. this is my first hamster, and my first pet, so i understand i might be overthinking.

context:
- long haired syrian hamster
- petco employee (no breeders near me unfortunately) said he's a male and 2-4 month old
- today is day 4 since i brought him home
- enclosure is, i think, big enough: bucatstate 2.0 (40x20x20in)
- 8-9in bedding (8in around the house and 9in rest of the area) sloping down to 3-4in (wheel is on the floor and the bedding slopes down again)

whenever i see him, if he's not chewing on something or eating, he's trying to escape - sniffing and chewing on the ventilation gaps, climbing on the house and wheel to sniff/chew/hang from the ventilation gap at the top. he also just stands and looks up for some time then starts running (pacing?) around the enclosure trying to reach the top/side ventilation gaps; and while pacing he'll stop and lean against the front panel/door sometimes.

he did start digging tunnels to/from the hide at the bottom and a couple other tunnels, but i'm scared he's too stressed. the wheel isn't functional right now and acts as a hide because amazon didn't ship a part and it doesn't spin smoothly. i have the replacement coming in a few days so i'm hoping that will help with the activeness and boredom if that's the cause.

he doesn't do this ALL THE TIME, but it's enough times that it's starting to worry me. i also read that this is a normal behavior in females during heat (trying to escape to find a mate?), but i was assured this is a male, so unless the petco employee was wrong, that's probably not the reason.

I have a 75 gallon for my Syrian and I make sure to do some cleaning/refreshing throughout the week. When I had him in a 40 I would do a complete change every other weekend. But tossing away all the bedding in the 75 is painful 😂💸

Basically how often do you guys do a full overhaul for bedding, and does anyone have suggestions on how to make what isn't trashed more reusable or something?

Is the Bucastate 2.0 worth it for $115?

If anyone has experience with it, Id appreciate all the details, because Im having a tought time deciding whether or not to get it as I've heard there's issues with the bottom giving out. I could probably reinforce the bottom with a wood panel or aquarium glue, but if there's issues with the other panels popping out, I'm afraid of her escaping and geting lost.

Having financial hardships so im not able to afford the 3.0 rn, so thts why i want to know if the 2.0 is suitable.