Or you might not know what to do next once you bring them home.

So that's what we're gonna talk about in today's video.

So when you're bringing your hamster home for the very first time, one of the things I actually would recommend is bringing a plastic carrier instead of just using the cardboard box that they give you when you bring your hamster home.

A lot of hamsters are known to actually end up chewing out of these and that's not good because your hamster can end up in a small space in your car under the seat and it's just going to be a very stressful situation.

So using a plastic carrier can definitely save you some stress.

Another thing is make getting the hamster your last stop.

Don't go to a bunch of stores after you pick up your hamster, because you want to get them at home as soon as possible.

You don't want to have them sitting in a carrier for hours and hours while you're doing shopping or anything like that.

So when you arrive home, the very first thing you're gonna want to do is put your hamster in their new enclosure.

So you need to make sure before you get your hamster their enclosure is all set up.

This just makes the time shorter for them to have to wait just like you shouldn't stop at a bunch of stores after you pick up your hamster.

You basically just want to get them into the enclosure as fast as possible from when you pick them up to when you get them home.

And if you have to set up their

cage they might have to sit in the travel carrier for a longer amount of

time which it can be stressful for them because it's a completely new

environment for them when you're putting your hamster into their new enclosure

I would suggest letting them crawl out on their own or if you need to take

something and scoop them out and kind of let them crawl out into their cage

instead of trying to stick your hand in there and get them out and stressing

them out more now the next thing is going to be one of the hardest things

for a new hamster owner to do and that is leave your hamster alone without any

human interaction for two to three days this just minimizes any extra

stress your hamster is going to be feeling keep in mind they just came all

the way from a place that was familiar to them to a brand new

home where they have to get used to the sounds the smells and everything else

that goes around in your house so it can be very stressful they don't understand

what's going on so if someone is coming in as soon as they get to their new

enclosure and they're trying to pick them up and like tame them and things it

can be terrifying and stressful and stress leads to a lowered immune system

which then makes sicknesses and illnesses very very easy to infect your

hamster now during the 2 to 3 day period of no human interaction yes you

can still change out their food and water if absolutely necessary just

trying to do it when they are sleeping rather than when they're awake that way

they're not going to get scared when your hand goes in to change anything it

also is okay to sit by the enclosure and watch them or quietly talk to them or

even just do some work near their enclosure so that they kind of get a

little bit used to the movement around the cage as well as your voice once that

2 to 3 days is up you can then choose to start the taming process which I have

done a couple of videos on if you would like you actually can leave your hamster

go a little bit longer if necessary some hamsters may need more time to adjust to

your home because sometimes two to three days just isn't long enough so if they

need a little bit more time of getting adjusted to your environment then that

is okay please keep in mind that some hamsters are absolutely petrified of

humans due to the fact that a lot of hamsters are born in rodent mills which

is basically a large factory that breeds hamsters with no care of their health or

their temperament so if you get a hamster and anytime you enter the room

or you try to go into their cage they hiss they bare their teeth or they even

scream at you this doesn't mean they hate you it just means they're terrified

and understand that they're just a small little prey animal and you're this giant

thing to them it's like if an alien came down who was ten times bigger than us

we don't speak the same language so if an alien starts to try and pet me I'm outta

there I'm probably gonna bite them like I I don't want you touching me I don't

know who you are so it just takes some time for them to adjust and kind of

figure out hey this thing isn't going to hurt me another thing is a hamster

acting frantic in a new enclosure is a common behavior keep in mind they just

went from a familiar place to a place they've never been so if they are kind

of acting a little bit crazy and seem a little bit stressed they probably are

also keep in mind that monkey barring and bar chewing are also signs of stress

from a too-small of a cage so if those symptoms last more than two to three

days it is recommended that you upgrade your cage a tip I have for new hamster

owners is to just simply not worry there are a lot of hamster owners who you get

your new hamster and you've never had one before and I definitely know how it

feels to feel like something is going wrong and you don't know like is this

behavior normal they could just be like grooming themselves and you're like

are they okay are they dying so try not to worry too much about your new

hamster as long as they're eating drinking or active they are going to be

fine you also most likely will not be able to

see your hamster drinking any water within the first couple of days

that's because hamsters once again are prey animals and they might just not

feel comfortable around you to come out and drink in front of you so if you

don't see your hamster drinking it doesn't necessarily mean they're not

drinking at all hamsters also are desert animals so they don't need to drink too

much water but they of course still need water they're mammals but they're

probably coming out when you're sleeping or you're just not around to see them

drink as long as your hamster has access to a working water bottle or a water

dish they will find water when they are thirsty

another thing is pouching bedding the amount of people who have said oh my

gosh my hamster is eating its bedding what do I do

Keep Calm your hamsters not eating its bedding your hamster has two cheek

pouches on each side of its cheek these are great for storing things like

nesting and food so that they can bring back to

their nest so when your hamster starts sticking bedding in its mouth doesn't

mean it's eating it it means they're taking it back to their nest so they can

make a nice big comfy bed you might also not see your hamster as

often because as you may already know hamsters are nocturnal / crepuscular so

this means they're most active during the night so when you're sleeping

they're most likely going to be coming out some hamsters will wait until you've

turned off the light and have gone to bed to literally come out some are just

too scared to come out when that light is on because they just don't feel safe

enough yet so if you're not seeing your hamster it's probably because they're

coming out when you're sleeping so I really hope this video is able to help

anybody who is going to be bringing home a new hamster don't forget the most

important thing is just give your hamster time to adjust and settle in and

it is okay to make a bit of noise in your home your home doesn't have to be

dead silent they will eventually adjust to what your household sounds like if

there's a radio constantly playing it's not going to stress them out too much

they will eventually get used to things like that so don't worry too much about

your new hamster they most likely will be okay

so ya guys thank you so much for watching bye