# My hamster keeps twitching and making herself jump then just looking utterly helpless. Help?



## Sachi-Rae White (Jun 28, 2019)

My female Syrian is pretty new to us but I keep noticing her doing odd things. Is it normal for Syrian hamsters to just freeze and do what seems like a disassociation. (I can poke her and mess with her legs and everything while she’s like this and usually she’s terrified to even be touched) and she keeps twitching and scaring herself and I assume she doesn’t know what’s happening because she freaks out. Her cage is full to the brim with toys, chew toys, climbing toys, dangly toys, you name it she’s got it but she still chews the bars that are uncovered by toys for hours until she is exhausted. I just don’t know what to do.


----------



## Amberhammy (Aug 6, 2019)

Omg we have the same exact problem


----------



## Engel98 (Oct 7, 2018)

The freezing is probably fear based, kinda like if I keep still they won't attack me. 

I recently got a hamster and I've just moved him to a wire cage and he's started gnawing on the bars so I understand how annoying it can be.

Gnawing on the bars can happen for many reasons here's a few common reasons:
-cage is too small and they want more space. What sizes are your cages?
-they are bored. They may have their wheel and some tubes but anything mentally stimulating? I cut a toilet roll tube in half, fold the ends in trapping food inside, they have to open it or chew it to get to it. Cheap and quick and you can put it in their cage before you go to bed. Another thing, are they having enough time out of the cage? Taming sessions are a good start, maybe put them in their ball for a bit. Make sure it's not too small though. Many argue it's far from ideal but if your ham is relatively new, at least you know they're safe while they explore.
-theres nothing they like chewing in their cage. Just like people, rodenta can also have preferences. Some may prefer wood chews other may like cardboard or loofah. Some even like metal, even though this isn't good for them. 
-they are trying to get attention. Like a dog whining until you come to them, hamsters can do the same by chewing on the bars. My roborovski Niko chews on the bars closest to my bed as he knows that's where I'll be. I've decided to ignore it and he's stopped for the time being.

Hopefully this has helped. Sorry for such a long post but I don't think there's a short way of answering this.


----------

