11yo daughter is concerned her beloved new hamster Sadie (F) is stressed and unhappy. She has a big habitat designed w/love but she tries to find ways to get to the top and gnaw her way out (on the upper plastic edges of the habitat) or scales the walls. We have had her about 2 weeks now. Thoughts?

Yes those are stress behaviors.

What size aquarium is this? 75 gallon aquariums are the ethical minimum in aquarium sizes for Syrian hamsters. That would be the first thing I changed. You need to have at least 775 sq inches of unbroken floor space.

You don’t seem to have enough hides. Hamsters are prey animals and therefore they LOVE to hide. Multichamber houses are a must in my opinion but you can also add cork log hides, or ceramic hides.

I’m not seeing very many sprays either. You can give way more than you think you can. They definitely help stress behaviors a lot.

There’s not very many textures in here. I see a (?) sand bath but you could also add coconut fiber, cork granules, beech chips, and orchard grass.

Also add some grapevine wood. Overall this is a decent start but unfortunately not a proper enclosure and that’s probably why you’re seeing the stress signs you mentioned here. I have an Amazon favorites list full of my favorite hamster products linked in my bio if you need some inspiration! Happy to answer any questions or give you specific product recommendations just let me know

/r/hamsters Thread Link - reddit.com