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Charlie was our first hamster. Well, first in a very long time for me. But he was our first family pet. He came from a small pet shop. We knew nothing much about pet shops or supplies then. He came home with me in a taxi in an awful rotastak base unit and ran in the wheel the whole way back! We had quite a learning curve, but he always seemed to forgive mistakes and was the most snuggly loving hamster. He really was my baby. He was quite feral and it took us two months to tame him in the bath and just when you think it isn't going to happen - it happened. Suddenly he was hand tame. Very very hand tame! I could put him in my dressing gown pocket and he'd be so laid back. He'd go to sleep on my knee under a blanket - and he adored having his ears stroked. Poor thing had two cage changes. The first one was totally unsuitable. The second one was fine but he soon wanted more space. He ended up living most of his life in the 100cm Barney cage - which was perfect - because it was large enough to make a nice big retirement bungalow when he got older and couldn't climb. He could still zip about on the flat fast so liked his single level home with lots of floor space.
Charlie was a grumpy old man sometimes when he was in his cage. Out of the cage he was starry eyed and cuddly. In the cage he didn't like anything being moved even a few millimetres - and he would let you know. He could give really black looks and if he was in a huff about something, he'd turn his back on you - and sometimes stick his bum out at you. He never escaped exactly but did get stuck behind the fridge the first time we let him free roam. Not stuck exactly, he just went behind it and wouldn't come out again. Which meant having to dismantle one end of the kitchen worktop to safely get him out from behind the fridge, rather than try and move the fridge and risk squashing him. Just as we'd got the worktop dismantled and a cupboard removed and I could reach my hand behind the fridge to get him, he decided to saunter out the other side and come out into the room again.
Charlie was huge! I wasn't even sure he was a hamster he was so big. At that time, not knowing that Syrian hamsters came in all different sizes. He was gorgeously huge - a great big cuddly furry bundle. His fur was incredibly soft. In fact I've never known a hamster with such soft fur. He also had quite big ears and looked quite quirky when they were up.
The first time we went on holiday we took him to a pet-sitter in his cage. When we went to leave the pet sitter I went to say goodbye to Charlie in his cage. He turned his back on me. I wondered if he thought we'd given him away. I worried about him the whole time and had regular text messages with the pet sitter who said he was doing fine - until the night before we came back when he apparently went a bit crazy and started bar chewing. 10 days is a long time for a hamster - it must have started to feel permanent. I still don't know what made him go like that the night before we got back. But another hamster had died in the same room that night and I wonder if it scared him and upset him.
When we got him home he was not quite the same hamster. He was a bit manic. Instead of being pleased to be home he was just manic - running round in circles in his cage, bar chewing and wanting to be out all the time. This was quite upsetting and it seemed the bond had been lost as well. We sat worrying about him every night. Eventually I set up a playpen round his cage and left the cage door open so he could come in and out when he wanted. That helped a bit but he was still doing manic circuits in his cage. After a week of this we found that if we left the room and turned the lights off, he stopped bar chewing. And only started again if you came in the room. So we started to go to bed very early and turn the lights off. He would still bar chew when we were in the room though. It got quite exhausting. And also upsetting seeing him like that.
Then one day I thought - the only thing that might stop this is a full cage clean. Something I wouldn't normally do but it might kind of distract him out of the manic circuits and bar chewing. Which is what I did. It occurred to me maybe he could still smell the scent of other hamsters on his cage. I cleaned everything in his cage, changed all the substrate and washed the base and bars in white vinegar. Rinsed it off well but it still had a very faint vinegary smell - not enough to bother him. It worked. He suddenly calmed down and looked more normal. A little bit surprised but also interested - sniffed the bars and looked curious. Enjoyed exploring his cleaned cage set up. And all was back to normal again. He became our cuddly little boy again. It took some time for the bond to come back. I later heard from the pet sitter that one of her female hamsters had been out free roaming and climbed up his cage and she thought maybe they had fallen in love. That might have explained it too. Whether it was love or being driven insane by the smell of a female hamster on heat I don't know.
We actually avoided having holidays after that! The next time we went away was just two nights. He was nearly two then and in fine form. As it was just two nights, he was fine being left in the house with extra food and water. But when we got back he looked absolutely terrible. Gaunt and frail. I think he pined. I thought - can't leave him again. He came round of course once we were back but he looked like death warmed up at first.
He carried on into old age still perky and hamstery. When he got to about 2 years and 2 months he suddenly found he couldn't get into his sputnik - his back legs just didn't have the oomph. Which is when I turned his Barney cage into a retirement bungalow and he loved that. He still zoomed around on the flat and on the floor and showed no real signs of ageing otherwise apart from hair thinning a bit behind the ears. Then he lost weight a bit. And I noticed he couldn't pick up a nut. Sure enough his teeth had got too long. So he had a trip to the vets and his teeth trimmed. He was not amused. He gave black looks for about two weeks and shunned me. He was also quite a sensitive hamster - perhaps that's why he was affectionate and cuddly as well. He was very very stressed after the vet visit and hid away for about a week or two and didn't trust me any more. Talk about guilt. And the black looks as well. But he came round again. And soon perked up when he started getting baby food as an extra as well. The vet thought he had tooth ache in his back teeth or an arthritic jaw. He loved his softened food and baby food.
We moved house when he was about that age. Not ideal with an older hamster but it had to happen. It all went smoothly. He was the last thing out of the house in his pet carrier and the first thing I did was set up his cage - once we arrived at the house. He adapted to the change of environment very quickly and enjoyed free roaming. He zoomed about on the carpet despite slightly waddling with his back legs by then. He definitely had stiff back legs. He just kept on going. And somehow I never imagined he wouldn't be around any more. None of us did. He was part of the family. You just keep giving them a healthy life and not thinking that it won't be enough to make them live forever.
Charlie was a grumpy old man sometimes when he was in his cage. Out of the cage he was starry eyed and cuddly. In the cage he didn't like anything being moved even a few millimetres - and he would let you know. He could give really black looks and if he was in a huff about something, he'd turn his back on you - and sometimes stick his bum out at you. He never escaped exactly but did get stuck behind the fridge the first time we let him free roam. Not stuck exactly, he just went behind it and wouldn't come out again. Which meant having to dismantle one end of the kitchen worktop to safely get him out from behind the fridge, rather than try and move the fridge and risk squashing him. Just as we'd got the worktop dismantled and a cupboard removed and I could reach my hand behind the fridge to get him, he decided to saunter out the other side and come out into the room again.
Charlie was huge! I wasn't even sure he was a hamster he was so big. At that time, not knowing that Syrian hamsters came in all different sizes. He was gorgeously huge - a great big cuddly furry bundle. His fur was incredibly soft. In fact I've never known a hamster with such soft fur. He also had quite big ears and looked quite quirky when they were up.
The first time we went on holiday we took him to a pet-sitter in his cage. When we went to leave the pet sitter I went to say goodbye to Charlie in his cage. He turned his back on me. I wondered if he thought we'd given him away. I worried about him the whole time and had regular text messages with the pet sitter who said he was doing fine - until the night before we came back when he apparently went a bit crazy and started bar chewing. 10 days is a long time for a hamster - it must have started to feel permanent. I still don't know what made him go like that the night before we got back. But another hamster had died in the same room that night and I wonder if it scared him and upset him.
When we got him home he was not quite the same hamster. He was a bit manic. Instead of being pleased to be home he was just manic - running round in circles in his cage, bar chewing and wanting to be out all the time. This was quite upsetting and it seemed the bond had been lost as well. We sat worrying about him every night. Eventually I set up a playpen round his cage and left the cage door open so he could come in and out when he wanted. That helped a bit but he was still doing manic circuits in his cage. After a week of this we found that if we left the room and turned the lights off, he stopped bar chewing. And only started again if you came in the room. So we started to go to bed very early and turn the lights off. He would still bar chew when we were in the room though. It got quite exhausting. And also upsetting seeing him like that.
Then one day I thought - the only thing that might stop this is a full cage clean. Something I wouldn't normally do but it might kind of distract him out of the manic circuits and bar chewing. Which is what I did. It occurred to me maybe he could still smell the scent of other hamsters on his cage. I cleaned everything in his cage, changed all the substrate and washed the base and bars in white vinegar. Rinsed it off well but it still had a very faint vinegary smell - not enough to bother him. It worked. He suddenly calmed down and looked more normal. A little bit surprised but also interested - sniffed the bars and looked curious. Enjoyed exploring his cleaned cage set up. And all was back to normal again. He became our cuddly little boy again. It took some time for the bond to come back. I later heard from the pet sitter that one of her female hamsters had been out free roaming and climbed up his cage and she thought maybe they had fallen in love. That might have explained it too. Whether it was love or being driven insane by the smell of a female hamster on heat I don't know.
We actually avoided having holidays after that! The next time we went away was just two nights. He was nearly two then and in fine form. As it was just two nights, he was fine being left in the house with extra food and water. But when we got back he looked absolutely terrible. Gaunt and frail. I think he pined. I thought - can't leave him again. He came round of course once we were back but he looked like death warmed up at first.
He carried on into old age still perky and hamstery. When he got to about 2 years and 2 months he suddenly found he couldn't get into his sputnik - his back legs just didn't have the oomph. Which is when I turned his Barney cage into a retirement bungalow and he loved that. He still zoomed around on the flat and on the floor and showed no real signs of ageing otherwise apart from hair thinning a bit behind the ears. Then he lost weight a bit. And I noticed he couldn't pick up a nut. Sure enough his teeth had got too long. So he had a trip to the vets and his teeth trimmed. He was not amused. He gave black looks for about two weeks and shunned me. He was also quite a sensitive hamster - perhaps that's why he was affectionate and cuddly as well. He was very very stressed after the vet visit and hid away for about a week or two and didn't trust me any more. Talk about guilt. And the black looks as well. But he came round again. And soon perked up when he started getting baby food as an extra as well. The vet thought he had tooth ache in his back teeth or an arthritic jaw. He loved his softened food and baby food.
We moved house when he was about that age. Not ideal with an older hamster but it had to happen. It all went smoothly. He was the last thing out of the house in his pet carrier and the first thing I did was set up his cage - once we arrived at the house. He adapted to the change of environment very quickly and enjoyed free roaming. He zoomed about on the carpet despite slightly waddling with his back legs by then. He definitely had stiff back legs. He just kept on going. And somehow I never imagined he wouldn't be around any more. None of us did. He was part of the family. You just keep giving them a healthy life and not thinking that it won't be enough to make them live forever.
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