A week in the life of Jas

[Hank]

Day 1
This week I will share Jas’ week with you and probably other random things. I’ve found it a little difficult to find out anything specific on Female Syrian Hamsters, so I thought I would share my experiences and add a ‘mood diary’ which might be interesting or helpful for others.
I don’t see Jas in the morning, she usually comes out for a drink and a wander around 6am, before I’m up and even if I get up earlier, she seems to know and will have her last outing even earlier. So, our usual morning is that I say ‘Hi’, check her water and then take a quick look at the night video.

‘Mood Diary’ H-1
I think Jas is due to be on heat tomorrow, (I do keep a diary, but it’s still not certain), this usually means she is very sociable, happy to be stroked and interactive and comfortable around us. She tends to have ‘bursts’ of energy, so frantic running on the wheel or saucer, then needs a power nap. Experience has told me that she would like to come out twice, but for shorter periods i.e. 20-30 mins
Today, Jas has had her first outing and a free roam. I let her out and she didn’t stay on my lap for long, but she was very good, just wandered around, nothing too fast and didn’t chew anything she wasn’t supposed to. Yesterday, my OH let her out and gave her some free roam, she climbed all over my OH, she was so brave, up round the shoulders, (I was frantically running round and round the bed) and she stopped to let us stroke her. I forget how much she has grown, so I've added and earlier photo and a couple newer ones.

 

[RainbowBrite]

What a lovely start to your week. I love the beautiful pictures of Jas. I am going to find this really interesting as I do not know much about Syrian hamsters.

 

[elusive]

Lovely to hear more about Jas & I’m going to find it interesting to read your diary of her moods & behaviour too.
She’s come on so well now & it is easy to forget just how small they were, she looks adorable in all the photos but I especially love her ears in the first photo.
Looking forward to what’s to come now!

 

[Member ID2]

Oh yes, i'm very much looking forward to a whole week of the lovely Jas.

Had to laugh at the vision of you running round and round the bed.

 

[Hank]

Oh yes, i'm very much looking forward to a whole week of the lovely Jas.

Had to laugh at the vision of you running round and round the bed.

They both seemed very calm, but she had never done it before and I just had visions of her jumping, so I wanted to be on the right side. She didn't, she was so good just checking it all out. It probably would have been quite entertaining thinking about it.

 

[Member ID2]

I would have been the same. Hamsters are so quick and reckless when they get something into their heads.

 

[Maz]

Jas really has grown! She definitely looks like a baby in the first photo, and more mature in the last one. She looks adorable. Lovely that she is affectionate during the certain moods A mood diary sounds really interesting.

 

[Frida]

I love the photos of Jas. She is beautiful I'm also looking forward to your "A week in the life of Jas".

 

[Hank]

Day 2
Jas’s treat today was coconut, she likes it, only has a small amount, but something she eats straight away mainly. The other thing she cannot leave is cucumber. If I need to check something and she is not in the mood to be stroked, I will give her a bit of cucumber and then she will happily sit and eat
it, so you can check her. It is a bit sneaky, but I’ve found it really useful. When Jas came out to her playpen, she got scared of something, she had only been out 5 mins. I don’t know what it was, I just looked away for a moment, to grab some kitchen roll, as her water had leaked a bit, turned back and saw her jump and run. She hid under her ramp for a bit and I managed to coax her out, then she went straight to a hide. So I offered her the taxi and she went in. I took her back to her cage, so she could be more comfortable. She is okay, not hurt and wanted back out again within a couple of mins. Happily running about in the playpen again.

‘Mood Diary’ H
This is usually the time of the week, that is quite demanding, Jas doesn’t settle and doesn’t have any patience. If you are not quick enough, she will chew to tell you she is ready to come out. Our routine is that I tap the middle of the door and once she is sat at the bottom, I will open the door, but apparently today I was too slow, and she climbed up the door to jump into the taxi (this was the first outting, before the scare). She tends to have an hour for the first outing, this will be a lot of running around the playpen and stopping to check things out and for a quick meerkat, then between the wheel and saucer. She does really want out on these days, she climbed the back of her sand bath, so I gave her my hand for a taxi and she climbed by arm to escape, I managed to get her into the safety of the play pen.
She will come out again later, but it will be a shorter time, she will use up a lot of energy. One funny thing, is that she will use her wheel and saucer in the playpen in front of us, but doesn’t use her wheel in her cage until we are not there.

 

[Frida]

Lovely photos of Jas

 

[Member ID2]

Jas looks so happy!

 

[RainbowBrite]

I really love the way you know Jas so well and cater to her needs. Using cucumber as a temptation is a great idea.

I am really enjoying your thread and seeing pictures of beautiful Jas.

 

[elusive]

Lovely photos, Jas really is a beautiful girl & she does look very happy.
I’m enjoying reading your insights into her character & moods too.

 

[Maz]

Jas is adorable. She's a lovely girl. So is she on heat at the moment then? Raffy also tries to climb out of the door as soon as I open it! I wonder what startled her. Maybe a noise somewhere. They can hear things we can't hear. I think it's a general thing that they will use a wheel and saucer out of the cage but only do it in the cage when we're gone. Maybe they just behave differently in their own territory and wheels are seen as night time exercise mainly I think.

It's lovely seeing her progress.

 

[Hank]

Judging by the fact that she was up most of the night, I would guess that she was in heat yesterday. Its hard to know for sure, but highly likely. She did pop out a few times just to have a look out, which is usually a sign as well. I'm still not sure what startled her, but she didn't take long to recover, I thought taking her back to her cage, just to be safe, would be the best idea.

 

[Maz]

It does sound like it. Yes that is a good idea if something startles them - to distract them out of it and help them feel secure. I remember our first Syrian suddenly froze in the playpen one night. I waited for him to come out of it and he didn't! It went on for a good 5 to 10 minutes and he looked like a statue of a hamster mid-run. If I talked to him it made no difference. Eventually I picked him up and cuddled him and he gradually started to come round and go back to normal. It's probably a prey instinct.

 

[Hank]

Day 3
It was suggested on this forum to keep a diary for Jas, this was a great idea and has been useful. Jas seems to have a routine, she wakes up around 6-6:30pm, and has a wander and forage, has a quick drink, and just checks everything out. Then she is ready to come out for a play. After playtime, I
scatter some food, she usually gets a treat or some fresh food. If she wants to come out again, she will start to come to the front of the cage, if she really wants out and I haven’t spoken to her, she will chew the front of the cage, to get my attention. At the end of the night, I will say ‘goodnight’ when we are heading to bed, if she is already out, she comes to the front, then goes to her wheel, waiting for us to leave. If she is in her burrow, she will come out to the front of the cage, and then collect some food or bedding and head straight back to the burrow. She will be out in 10-15 mins, when she is sure we are not there, so her playtime in the cage can begin.

‘Mood diary’ H+1
The unknown, while the previous two days, can be fairly well predicted, the next two days can be anything. Most of the time today she will have lower energy, I think she wears herself out, so she will come out for maybe 20-30 minutes, then she will want to go back. She won’t usually stay out for long
on this day, she will go into her burrow, she isn’t always sleeping as you can hear her, but she isn’t out in the open for long. However some days, there seems to be a remainder of energy, so she will want to come out more, today is a quieter day and she got up a bit later, I think because she was up so much and so late. I think it might have something to do with the timings, female Syrians are in Heat for a few hours, so if she is active later at night, then she is usually quieter the next day, that’s what the video showed today.

 

[elusive]

It really was a great idea to keep a diary it’s such a good way to really see how she’s developed & changed with time.
I love the way she has such a routine & she clearly likes you to stick to it too!
She’s really bonded with you so well now, it’s lovely to read about & lovely to see more of her too, I especially like that second photo, beautiful girl looking very content there.

 

[RainbowBrite]

It made me smile to hear how Jas will wait for you to leave the room before she uses her wheel. How cute and funny.

Reading how her mood changes is very interesting and from what you have said, does sound hormonal. You have clearly spent so much time working out how Jas is feeling and how to make her happy. It is so beautiful.

 

[Hank]

It is definitely on Jas routine, but I'm lucky when she gets up really. I think she was hiding a little in the last photo