Raffy (Syrian Hamster)

[Maz]

I am wondering how old he is now after Beryl mentioned it. He always has a young sparky look about his face and expression - I think that’s just his personality. But he must be at least a year old now. When he came to me last March he was very small and only weighed 97g and I thought he was still a baby and maybe only about 8 weeks old. The rescue said he definitely wasn’t a baby and was just a very small hamster. He’d had one owner and then gone to the rescue. But then he started to grow and is now a normal sized hamster weighing about 170g. So I guessed he was maybe about 3 months when he came to me. But he could have been older I guess and just not thriving. It was something about the way he runs that made me wonder if he might be a bit older than a year but who knows! Will have to just wait and see. He is certainly active and healthy anyway.

 

[RainbowBrite]

It is hard to know the age. He looked like a baby when he first arrived. He was tiny but now he looks in perfect health.

 

[elusive]

A bit of a guessing game then! He does still look young though & full of life.

 

[Zara]

Fantastic photos and clips of Raffy, love the one of him eating porridge, he’s so handsome.

When I see photos of the hamsters I kinda wish they could live together. I think they would make a fabulous group of friends, can you imagine the mischief! I’m sure the robos would likely be more mischievous than the syrians or maybe not?

 

[Maz]

Lol! I know what you mean But then they wouldn't be interested in us!

 

[Maz]

Raffy seemed fascinated with the metal filing cabinet tonight and kept sniffing it and trying to climb the front of it. It's flat and slippery so he didn't get far!

He wasn't out quite as long tonight - about half an hour. He went and sat in his transport tube and looked at me as if to say "come on, pick it up then". So that's clearly his sign he wants to go back to his cage. I suspect he will soon get bored with free roaming so will need to find some other things to occupy him while he's out.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Raffy really keeps you on your toes! Funny he even considered climbing a slippery filing cabinet.

 

[Maz]

Raffy tried to climb out of the cage while I was putting his food out tonight. I had the food box in one hand and tried to stop him climbing over the top of the door with the other hand. I lifted the door up a bit and he just tried climbing over the top of it. He nearly landed in the food box but I managed to grab his tube from the top of his cage for him to walk into!

 

[elusive]

Feeling adventurous Raffy!

 

[RainbowBrite]

Raffy really is full of beans. You did well to quickly grab the tube.

 

[Maz]

Honestly he would have just gone straight onto the floor from a height! If I hadn’t had the food box there! But I thought the tube would be less messy than if he ended up in a big tub of hamster mix. As I had been trying to put his food out I dropped the spoon and it ended up on none of his hides instead of in the food bowl. Never mind. Normally food coming out is enough to distract him into choosing food over out.

 

[RainbowBrite]

I hope that did not scare you. He really does love his play pen time.

 

[Maz]

No not at all but he was determined to be out!

 

[elusive]

I’m sure he would have been happy to land in a tub of hamster food!
Reminds me of Meri, I had to set up somewhere for to safely go when she flew out the door of the cage every evening, it’s really tricky with the Kevin door opening upwards to catch a speedy Chinesey before she plummets to the floor!

 

[Maz]

It was bound to happen, but Raffy has decided the room isn't big enough and he wants to go further afield ............. All this time he seemed happy going places in the living room and still spent quite a bit of time on his saucer. But he's been there, done that quite a lot now.

So the only way out is the door to the kitchen. It has a big gap under it, and as it's a sliding door doesn't stay fully closed at one end. I have a blanket stuffed under it and up one side so he can't get through. The odd time he's investigated but hasn't tried very hard to see if it goes anywhere - just messed about in the blanket.

Last night he was doing a Newt. Determined to get out of that door, climbing up the 1 foot of blanket at the side of the door because he could sniff the air through the gap at the top! I told him no a couple of times and he looked at me and came down again. Third time he ignored me and was frantically trying to get through the gap at the top of the piled up blanket. I had to go over and put my hand there. Had to keep an eye on him after that! He wandered off and then sneaked back probably hoping I wouldn't notice. So had to go over and stop him again.

I seem to remember I ended up having to have a wood barrier in front of that door with Newt!

He then heard a noise and went and sat in the book case for ages - he has a little hidey corner in there.

Didn't get a photo I'm afraid - it was quite dark.

The only other place I don't want him going is the hearth in front of the fireplace. Mainly because it gets mucky! It's safe otherwise as there is a fire guard.

The first time he was out he was about to climb onto it and I said NO! He stopped and looked at me and clearly got that this was not a safe thing to do and has never tried it again. Nice that they actually listen sometimes! He sensed danger I think in my voice.

The door is another matter - he knows there is some freedom beyond it!

 

[RainbowBrite]

Raffy really wants to explore the kitchen! Maybe he has spoken to Clive and knows kitchens often have cereal.

 

[Maz]

Posted at the same time I just added a bit!

 

[elusive]

They don’t cal it free roaming just so you can be stopped by a mere blanket!
I was just thinking you might need a wooden barrier before I read on, sounds like he’s quite determined, it is nice that he listened to you & sensed the danger though.

 

[Maz]

Trouble is the wood board was the playpen and that's being used to block off another corner of the room. I'm sure I can find something else though. It would be difficult to hamsterproof the kitchen!

 

[Zara]

Raffy‘s clearly loving the extra space so much he just wants more or maybe he can smell cereals in the room next door