Buttercup's Depressed
My 7-month old Buttercup (Syrian) seems to be depressed.
After doing some research I found out the cage she's currently in it doesn't have good floor space for a Syrian.
See why we hate it? I've been looking in ebay, Petco, Petsmart and every UK website that ships to the US for a good cage. I think I am going to get an imac fantasy with an expansion kit.
I've been feeding her a mixture of hamster food (the one that comes with assorted goodies like peanuts, corn and god knows) and some fruit or veggies. Nothing in excessive quantity.
I bought her a hamster ball and I let her play in it for no more than 20 minutes. She didn't seem satisfied with this. She would get into her cage and bite the bars and practically beg to be let out. I took her out and played with her and caressed her then I let her back in her cage. Yesterday I let her play in her ball for 20 minutes, gave her a 5 minute break then gave her 20 more minutes of ball time. I then took her to the bathtub so she could scurry and climb on me and get to know me better. Did the same in my bed. She seemed happy and curious and fine. All was good in Buttercup's world.
She went back into her cage and into her little house which I know means "I want privacy". Thing is, she went into her house really early in the night and that's not normal for her. Then she spent all night in there, only coming out to grab some treats from her dish. I thought she was exhausted or maybe overworked. She went back up to her house and stayed there. Around 5 pm today, she came out and plopped down on her cage, looking outside. She wasn't moving much. I began to worry. I gave her a few extra minutes then walked to her cage and talked gently to her, slowly inserting my hand in a way she could see. She went back to her little house and remained there.
I called the vet after she didn't come out to play later at night, no matter how many times I called her or tapped her house. She just seemed so out of it. I took her and he told me her vital signs were fine. He also said she had a small amount of dandruff then told me she just seemed depressed and that I should take her out of her cage more. I came back home, prepared a playpen for her but she scurried back into her house. I called her, tapped her cage and nothing.
I called the vet again and he said not to force her out. That she'd go out if she wanted to and that if she wasn't any better I should call again in the morning.
I don't know if I've done things to stress her and/or depress her. I don't know what to do. It breaks my heart that she's cooped up and lethargic and that I can't play with her.
Is there anyway to help her get out of her depression or should I just let her get out of it alone? What can be done about the dandruff?
A peak at Buttercup in her house/nest.
After doing some research I found out the cage she's currently in it doesn't have good floor space for a Syrian.
See why we hate it? I've been looking in ebay, Petco, Petsmart and every UK website that ships to the US for a good cage. I think I am going to get an imac fantasy with an expansion kit.
I've been feeding her a mixture of hamster food (the one that comes with assorted goodies like peanuts, corn and god knows) and some fruit or veggies. Nothing in excessive quantity.
I bought her a hamster ball and I let her play in it for no more than 20 minutes. She didn't seem satisfied with this. She would get into her cage and bite the bars and practically beg to be let out. I took her out and played with her and caressed her then I let her back in her cage. Yesterday I let her play in her ball for 20 minutes, gave her a 5 minute break then gave her 20 more minutes of ball time. I then took her to the bathtub so she could scurry and climb on me and get to know me better. Did the same in my bed. She seemed happy and curious and fine. All was good in Buttercup's world.
She went back into her cage and into her little house which I know means "I want privacy". Thing is, she went into her house really early in the night and that's not normal for her. Then she spent all night in there, only coming out to grab some treats from her dish. I thought she was exhausted or maybe overworked. She went back up to her house and stayed there. Around 5 pm today, she came out and plopped down on her cage, looking outside. She wasn't moving much. I began to worry. I gave her a few extra minutes then walked to her cage and talked gently to her, slowly inserting my hand in a way she could see. She went back to her little house and remained there.
I called the vet after she didn't come out to play later at night, no matter how many times I called her or tapped her house. She just seemed so out of it. I took her and he told me her vital signs were fine. He also said she had a small amount of dandruff then told me she just seemed depressed and that I should take her out of her cage more. I came back home, prepared a playpen for her but she scurried back into her house. I called her, tapped her cage and nothing.
I called the vet again and he said not to force her out. That she'd go out if she wanted to and that if she wasn't any better I should call again in the morning.
I don't know if I've done things to stress her and/or depress her. I don't know what to do. It breaks my heart that she's cooped up and lethargic and that I can't play with her.
Is there anyway to help her get out of her depression or should I just let her get out of it alone? What can be done about the dandruff?
A peak at Buttercup in her house/nest.