Raffy (Syrian Hamster)

[Maz]

I screenshotted the start where he's sitting in the bookcase as the video is so fast it's hard to see him doing that

 

[RainbowBrite]

Aww he had so much fun. Free roaming is perfect for Raffy as he is so energetic.

 

[elusive]

Has he got any favourite books?! sounds like he had a great time & it was well worth the effort of hamsterproofing the room.

 

[Maz]

I don’t think he was reading them lol! The downside is I’ve sort of lost the playpen as needed to use it to block a corner of the room. With Pip’s cage stand partly in it. I don’t suppose he’ll want to now he has a whole room though.

 

[Maz]

I really love that picture of him sitting in there. It’s a typical Raffy pose and expression.

 

[elusive]

It is a lovely picture I’m sure he won’t mind about the playpen if he can free roam now.

 

[Maz]

Very blurry!

 

[RainbowBrite]

I really love that picture of him sitting in there. It’s a typical Raffy pose and expression.

That would be a good picture for the caption competition.

 

[Maz]

I can think of a lot of good photos on here for the caption competition! The winner of the current competition will choose one though.

 

[Member ID2]

That's the life he was after i can imagine. He'll probably get up earlier now.

 

[Maz]

I'm not sure about that - we'll see. It's only since the colder darker nights he gets up later and sleeps late. You might be right though!

 

[Zara]

He looks super excited to be out for a roam, have fun Raffy .

I need to sort our room so it’s easier. The nights I hamster proof it he decides to sleep on and doesn’t come out and when I don’t prep in advance, he’s ready to come out so I pop him in the playpen for ease.

 

[Maz]

It took me a while to sort that . I wanted to make sure he was properly tame before I let him free roam as it can set taming back if done before they're hand tame.

 

[Maz]

Maybe Raffy had a bit too much excitement last night but he didn't seem interested in coming out tonight. He was happily sat in his special corner behind his cork log doing his own thing until gone midnight. He did come when I called him over (usually he's pestering to come out) and came out. Still getting his head round how big his playpen has suddenly become I think. So he had a bit of porridge first on the sofa then popped him down on the floor. He did lots of exploring and running around again but kept coming back to me and his old playpen area under the coffee table, as if for reassurance. So that was quite nice. I didn't need to worry about trying to find him as he seemed to like coming back to my feet regularly and his playpen area and eventually gave up on free roaming and just ran on his saucer and in his wheel like he did when he was in the playpen. So a bit of adjustment to the freedom maybe and liking a bit of familiarity as well.

Which is quite nice and a lot easier than with previous hamsters. So the taming and familiarising for a few months has been worth it. Pickle used to just disappear (usually under something and not come out) and it took ages to find him again. Newt used to do a houdini on me - nip under the door if I didn't keep my eye on him. Raffy likes to come back to me He's very sweet.

Kept me up late though

Here he is having his porridge ..



Sniffing a tube



Sniffing his wheel



And some very short clips of him running around

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And then finally stayed in his old playpen area and ran in his wheel for ages.

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[elusive]

Great photos & clips, I love that photo of him eating his porridge
He really is so sweet & it’s lovely to see how all that taming & familiarising has paid off, his bond with you is so lovely & that must be really satisfying.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Such lovely pictures and videos! Your bond is so beautiful. The way he goes back to you for comfort is adorable.

 

[Member ID2]

Lovely to see how close he has become to you. He's such a handsome boy and looks so well.

 

[Maz]

Thank you all. It made me realise last night that it’s a major change for both of us! So I’m not surprised he went back to the familiarity of his playpen area. Because he has literally been out every night since he came here, bar a handful, and mostly in that playpen. So it wouldn’t surprise me if he decides not to come out one night and adjust.

Yes it’s lovely he comes back to me and trusts me now. He is easily alarmed however and scent marks a lot and looks stressed and upset when that happens. I was using my dressing gown as a “slope” he could climb down from the sofa and lost my grip and he dropped the last 2” and looked all frazzled so picked him up again which was when he was suddenly scared of hands again and scent marking a lot. But after another run around and some time in his wheel and was happy to have a short stroke again afterwards. He is happy to sit in the crook of my arm for a stroke but only for about 10 seconds . Then he likes to be off. Newt was like that too.

Thinking about it, it was a really regular routine for him hopping into the tube and the tube being put down in the playpen. He was so confident about the routine he used to hop out before the tube was fully on the floor sometimes.

So even a positive change can be a bit stressful. But at least I can get my feet under the coffee table again now

 

[elusive]

I think it’s just natural for most hams to be quite easily alarmed, how quickly he gets over it shows how secure he really is though. I agree that even positive change can be stressful, they can be good at keeping us guessing if we’ve done the righ thing for them!
He does sound like one very happy little man.

 

[Maz]

Thank you!