Hammy

[Maz]

I'm sure he'll be fine downstairs. No deodorants doesn't sound good. I wonder what he'd make of snoring lol! With lots of bedding and something like a snugglesafe he should be fine. Our main room has very draughty windows and without heating on it can get freezing. New windows needed! But I quite like them being a bit draughty in summer

 

[RainbowBrite]

Orko has no issues with snoring. Hehe

 

[Member ID2]

I think Hams should be ok in his HH sitting inside a box insulated with blankets. You still have the option to put a snugglesafe between cage and box, they keep warm for hours.
We've got the heating on twice a day at the moment but i'm not sure what's more cost effective. To leave it on a timer and let the house go cold and then warm up again or have it on continuously with the thermostat set at a certain tempetature.

 

[Maz]

I'm not sure about that either. Trouble is no central heating in our main room so normally use an electric oil filled radiator and that is expensive to run. I've had that on a timer (and a fire at night) but it takes so long to heat up from cold. Currently I have it coming on 4am to 6am so the room is warm in the morning (and part of the night for the hamsters) and a couple of hours late afternoon. Then the fire at night and the clothes drier on overnight (which gives out very little heat but is cheap to run).

 

[Zara]

The time has arrived when the foraging tray has seen better days. I did read a couple of reviews where hamster owners said they were dangerous but it’s something our Hams would dearly miss if I just removed it, so I’ve brought another plant drip tray only much smaller than the one we use for our sand bath and I’ve squeezed half the wooden logs in and it’s working great Hams has much more space to move around it but still enough to play with.

 

[Zara]

Just hamstering about……




Left overs from the hidden peanut



Any more peanuts mum?…

 

[RainbowBrite]

Aww, hello little Hams! He actually looks sad there are no peanuts left. Lol. He is beautiful!

 

[Maz]

Aw he looks so with it and enjoying himself. I like the foraging tray - it's interesting. I don't know much about them. Assume they have to get treats out from between the logs. Good that he enjoys it.

He is looking very handsome in his middle age!

 

[Zara]

Aww, hello little Hams! He actually looks sad there are no peanuts left. Lol. He is beautiful!

Thank you. Yes, I think he is a little. Last night I hid the peanut really well and he kept coming back to look at me as if to say I can smell it but I can’t find it, come on give me a hint. Funny thing is, when he’s found it and cracked the nut open he then comes to wherever I’m sitting and looks up til I put him back in his enclosure, he then runs off to store them.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Thank you. Yes, I think he is a little. Last night I hid the peanut really well and he kept coming back to look at me as if to say I can smell it but I can’t find it, come on give me a hint. Funny thing is, when he’s found it and cracked the nut open he then comes to wherever I’m sitting and looks up til I put him back in his enclosure, he then runs off to store them.

Aww that is so cute! It shows how much Hams trusts and has bonded with you.

 

[Member ID2]

Aww, lovely to see Hams. He's so cute.

 

[Zara]

Aw he looks so with it and enjoying himself. I like the foraging tray - it's interesting. I don't know much about them. Assume they have to get treats out from between the logs. Good that he enjoys it.

He is looking very handsome in his middle age!

Thanks Maz, looking back at photos he does looks more mature now. We were so new to the hamster world I didn’t even realise he’d get so big .

I knew nothing of forage trays either, just picked it up thinking it looked cute, but as he’s now had it in his enclosure since day 1 he’s just completely used to it being the first place he goes to look for fresh food rather than his bowl and I do love to watch him pull out the logs, moving them around to find what’s beneath. The original one was really big and took up lots of his floor space. The plant drip tray size is so much better.

 

[Maz]

I am more and more curious about the foraging tray! So you put things between the logs and he has to move them around to get food between them? Or underneath them? I can't see why something like that isn't safe at all. Yes I think when they get to 1 year it is like they are in their prime - grown up, healthy, full size, still with some cheekiness and very active but just - well kind of great! And a bit easier than when they're whizzy babies.

 

[Zara]

Hi all, I’m feeling a bit puzzled; Hams has moved out of his shoe box nest and into his large bendy tube which sits in the bottom of his enclosure curved round a corner. He’s completely blocked one end with Kaytee, moved some food in and has been sleeping in it???

When we first brought Hams home he lived in the green hamster heaven box at the very top of the cage. We removed it after around 3 months following extra research on hamster care and since then he’s always slept in his shoe box nest which looks so cosy and this seems out of character? I can only think of a couple of things…

1) I did remove some of his old food store recently (maybe this upset him? but it’s been months and was filling up?) I did pop some fresh in so I didn’t leave it empty and there was still old stuff there too.

2) Where I’d weather proved his cage area for the super cold period, maybe it’s too hot now?

3) He just fancied a change?

Only prob I have is he does use the other end of the red tube to pee. It’s never been a prob as every other day I remove the wet and replace with fresh I’ve been doing this for around 8 months, it’s just not ideal that he’s now sleeping at the other end to this

Maybe I pop something yummy into the nest and try to coax him back or do I just keep a watch. It’s only been 3 days. Sorry for the long message.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Please do not apologise for a long post. You are free to write as much as you wish too. I know hamsters can sometimes just change routine for no apparent reason as Orko does this. Your idea of putting a treat in his nest sounds good. I can see why you do not want him sleeping in the tube.

 

[Zara]

Please do not apologise for a long post. You are free to write as much as you wish too. I know hamsters can sometimes just change routine for no apparent reason as Orko does this. Your idea of putting a treat in his nest sounds good. I can see why you do not want him sleeping in the tube.

Thank you, I just don’t really want him using it as a bed at all. It’s normally just the first place he goes when he comes out of his nest for a wee. He hasn’t shown any signs of being moody with me. He’s still coming out at night for his usual free roam or playpen leg stretch and he looks ok. I’ll try popping something tasty in there tonight.

 

[Maz]

I suspect it may have been removing some of the hoard/disturbing his nest. However carefully you do it, some hamsters just feel invaded. I know dwarf hamsters will up and nest somewhere else, but Syrians don't usually.

I think that sounds like the best solution to put a nice treat and a smelly treat in the house, and maybe a trail of treats leading up to the house! also maybe a new pile of nesting material right next to the house door.

It sounds like he's gone to a bunker to keep his food safe lol! I can't see he'd get too hot.

 

[Zara]

I suspect it may have been removing some of the hoard/disturbing his nest. However carefully you do it, some hamsters just feel invaded. I know dwarf hamsters will up and nest somewhere else, but Syrians don't usually.

I think that sounds like the best solution to put a nice treat and a smelly treat in the house, and maybe a trail of treats leading up to the house! also maybe a new pile of nesting material right next to the house door.

It sounds like he's gone to a bunker to keep his food safe lol! I can't see he'd get too hot.

Thanks Maz, I’m going to give this a try tonight. He keeps a smaller hoard near his coconut hide and I noticed last night he’s moved this to a new spot near the red tube. So maybe it was my disturbing the hoard As he’s now moved his second hoard himself if that makes sense?

 

[RainbowBrite]

That makes perfect sense. You were only trying to make everything nice and clean for him. Do not feel bad.

 

[Member ID2]

Jack does that. When i part clean his cage he will move and sleep elsewhere. He rotates from his house to the corner under a shelf next to his wheel.
Maybe if you'd take the tube out and clean it, he may move back in his house.