Dwarf hamster overactive

Question
Hi! I am the proud "mother" of a 10-week old male dwarf
hamster named Peanut.  I  bought him a new cage (CritterTrail
One) a week ago and he loves it, except that for the past two
days he hasn't been his old self.  He is a very calm dwarf, who
usually runs in his wheel and sleeps in one of his various nests
and eats.  That's about it.  He's very friendly unless your hand
smells like peanut butter and then he'll bite it to get a taste.  
But, as of three nights ago, he's been very active.  He runs in his
wheel for about two hours straight every night (I don't know how
much more he is running while I'm not there), and he's been
climbing the cage bars (not chewing, just climbing and falling
off).  He has plenty of toys but he doesn't have any interest in
them anymore!  Also, he's been digging ferociously at one
corner of the cage (enough to where I think he's hurting himself
and I make his stop).  He can't get make a hole in it, of course,
but he keeps trying.  Is there something I'm doing wrong?  How
can behaviour change this much?  Please help!  

Answer
Dear Allie,
thank you for your question.
All hamsters have tremendous energy, so Peanut's behaviour is normal. They don't play much with toys, but they love to run, gnaw and dig. The best thing you can do now is to get a bigger cage, a CritterTrail or other cages sold for hamsters in pet shops are way too small even for a dwarf. Tanks make excellent enclosures for hamsters as long as they are not higher than wide to ensure proper ventilation. You can often get one cheap at garage sales, at pet shops (ask for leaking tanks) or in the ads of your local paper. For a dwarf hamster, the minimum size is 35x20x20", that's a 40 gallon breeder tank. Fill the tank with plenty of substrate and give Peanut branches to gnaw and climb on, for example apple, pear, hazel, oak, beech, birch or willow.
Hamsters can get addicted to running in their wheel and digging in corners when their cage is too small, many of them start chewing their cage bars for hours on end, too. In a bigger cage those stereotyical behaviour dissappears - although some still love their wheel. Speaking of wheels: if you don't have one, I recommend getting a Wodent Wheel. Those are the best wheels currently sold, they are  big enough, made from hamster-safe plastic and there's no risk of the hamster hurting himself like with most other wheels. Wodent Wheels are sold by http://www.transoniq.com/
Here you can find some pictures of good dwarf hamster homes (the dimensions are given in centimeter)
http://www.diebrain.de/zw-gehege.html
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer