Reddit reviews B.C Pet Small Animals Hamster Hideout Drinking Waterer 2-in-1 Water Bottle with Base Hut for Small Animals PBA Free ¡­

Awww. He's a cutie! And that playpen is AWESOME.

Usually I see advice to give them about a week to settle in. For an older hamster, it might take a bit longer.

I also got my dwarf as an older guy - and he did the same frantic running around thing! At first I thought he was excited, but like you I soon realized he was actually terrified.

I ended up doing something similar to what you have, where he could go in and out of his cage on his own terms. It still took about a week for him to feel confident doing that. And another week or two before he felt confident enough to roam around the room (once it was hamster proofed, of course).

What I found to be absolutely key was lighting -- he simply refused to emerge if the lights were on (which made monitoring him tricky). He'd tolerate very dim light, like the light from my laptop screen, but that's about it. It was about a month before he'd come out and play around his cage when the lights were on.

However to this day he refuses to get on his wheel if any lights are on. So if I accidentally fall asleep with a lamp on, he will go all night without running on his wheel.

(If this turns out to be the case with yours, I read somewhere that red light doesn't bother them. I now have some red LED Christmas lights hanging above his play area, and he seems to tolerate those just fine.)

Also keep in mind that hamsters are essentially blind - they navigate by smell, sound, and touch. Mine is totally comfortable with me now (although he'll probably never be hand-tamed), but he still doesn't respond to my voice. He knows me by my smell -- so if he's in his nest and I'm trying to get him to come out, I'll gently blow in the entrance. So maybe try doing something like that to help him get used to your scent.

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Regarding his cage/play pen --

Hamsters are like any other pet in that they each have their own distinct little personalities and quirks. For example, mine hates those igloo things and hates wicker (but other dwarves seem totally content with theirs!) So he might not like the hideout you've given him, and is finding it difficult to relax.

I'd try placing more hideouts in his play pen to see what he likes. You don't have to go out and spend a bunch of money. For example, we finally figured out that mine loves his hideouts to be dark and low -- so like one of those smaller kleenex boxes cut down with a little hole for an entrance. One of his favorite nests was when we cut a hole in a clean cardboard sandwich box from Arby's! Then he likes to stuff the entrance with bedding, to the point where you wonder how he manages to get in or out. He likes this one a lot, but won't really go in the top half.

You'll also eventually want to replace that wheel. This one is pretty popular - I have it and mine loves it. I've seen others on here recommend it as well. This one is also popular. Giving him a good wheel is pretty essential. It's how they exercise and run off all their excess energy, which is key to managing stress. (To check if he's using his wheel, place a seed or something on top of it. If it's still there in the morning, you'll know he's not using it.)

You can also give him stuff to make his play area more interesting, which might entice him out a bit more. Again, it doesn't mean you have to go spend a bunch of money. The tubes from empty paper towel or toilet rolls make perfectly fine tunnels. Things for him to climb over or through or under. If you have some extra boxes lying around, you can make him a cardboard maze. More/deeper bedding to dig through. Things like that. Lots of it he'll probably ignore, but eventually you'll start to get a sense of what he likes and doesn't like.

"Hide" seeds or treats around for him to find. Hide seeds in his bedding, or maybe put bit of broccoli or apple in one of the tubes. Mine likes when I put seeds in the back of an empty cereal box. Find out what treats he likes. Mine is a pretty picky eater as it turns out, but lately he's been crazy about snow peas and likes to pull them out of their shell. So at night I'll open them half way up and place them around so he can hunt them down and tug them out.

Another piece of advice I don't see given very often is to try to have two water bottles. I know someone who's hamster's water bottle broke or got jammed or something and they didn't realize it. The hamster ended up being ok, but they had no idea he had been unable to drink and felt pretty terrible about it. I use ones like this since I don't have cage bars to hang one on.