Rory

[Member ID2]

Rory's history:

Rory came to me at only two months old and for the first two days he squeaked and squealed loudly. Then he suddenly stopped. He must have realized that nobody was going to eat him and i haven't heard a peep from him since. He'll be 2.5yrs old next month.

I put him up for adoption and had a couple of truly awful enquiries so i deleted his ad and decided to keep him. My OH wanted to keep him anyway but then again, he wants to keep every foster hamster.

Here's a photo of baby Rory.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Oh how cute! He looks so baby like even for a baby.

 

[Member ID2]

.....continued
Rory became tame quite quickly and he developed this habit of 'posing'. He would just stand somewhere like a statue and look good. He didn't freeze or anything like that, he just liked to pose for photos so we nicknamed him 'glamour boy'.

Rory was always a sedate kind of hamster who didn't do a lot but he went through a manic phase when foster hamster Frieda moved in. Frieda drove him crazy but she was beautiful. It took him weeks to calm down after Frieda moved out and i stopped taking in female Syrians because of Rory.
He was never quite the same again and became quite lively. He started to get up earlier and wanted out more. The scent of a woman had woken something in him.

 

[Member ID2]

....continued
Rory kept climbing on the shoe rack and then leapt like a frog trying to jump over the barrier. Of course he slid down but he tried every evening for about a week.

 

[Member ID2]

Then he gave up and tried to dig under the barrier and when that didn't work he started to follow me around. Every time i got near the stair barrier he would start meerkating and jumping about.
One evening i lifted him over the barrier to see what he wanted. He jumped down a step! And another until he ended up at the bottom of the stairs. I had gone down with him. I picked him up and put him back at the top of the stairs and he did it again but faster. In the end he picked up so much speed that i had to rush down the stairs to get there before him.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Wow, I am amazed he could go down stairs! Those pictures are adorable.

 

[Member ID2]

This became an evening ritual he was looking forward to until he became to old for it. He started to sleep a lot more as he got old but one evening he was determined to go down the stairs and wouldn't stop asking.
So i put him on the stairs, he went down and took a tumble. I was right next to him though and caught him. Rory wasn't hurt or upset but accepted that his stair jumping days were over and didn't ask again.

He sleeps most of the time now in his cozy nest in his house. He's a very old man and i feel lucky that he's still here with us and enjoying life at a slower pace.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Beautiful Rory. It is lovely to read his whole story

 

[Maz]

It really is lovely to read his whole story. He's adorable.

 

[Member ID2]

Rory hasn't asked to come out for the last couple of evenings. When i check on him he's either asleep or gives me a very tired look. He's still coming out of his nest to drink, use the toilet and gather food. He's been on metacam for arthritis for a while and takes it but i think that he is starting to fade away which makes me very sad.

 

[Zara]

Such a beautiful story, he’s a real life stunt hamster, great photos too. So sad our hamster friends grow old so quickly, but you can remain well assured he’s had the best life in your care.

 

[RainbowBrite]

That is sad. I hope you still have plenty of time together.

 

[Member ID2]

Rory asked to come out tonight to go to sleep behind the bathroom bin.

I picked him up and put him on my lap but he didn't like that and kept sniffing towards his house!

So i put him back and he went straight to his nest.

 

[Maz]

Aw I'm glad he decided to come out again. Even if it was to go behind the bathroom bin! He is looking in very good condition and his fur is lovely. It's so hard when they get to this age isn't it? But I think it's perfectly normal for them to want to rest for a few days and then come out for a bit. Especially when it gets to dark evenings and colder nights and they huddle in more.

That is one thing I have never quite understood. Why do hamsters start staying in more when it starts to get dark earlier - when they like the dark?! Maybe because the lights come on earlier?

 

[Member ID2]

I don't understand it either but i think that it has more to do with temperature than light.

They just want to eat and sleep at the moment.

 

[Maz]

Doesn't stop Raffy coming out lol! Although admittedly he is out later at the moment. Off to give him some extra nesting material - I have no idea where he puts it all but he doesn't have a very big nest!

 

[RainbowBrite]

How funny to want to come out just to sleep. What a cute little boy he is.

 

[Tulsi]

He is lovely. Looks so like my first ever hamster, Horace that I got when I was 10. He came from Parslows hamster farm and there were soooo many to choose from, literally 100s of cages with lovely hamsters in them.

 

[Member ID2]

Hmm. Rory looked very frail when i saw him earlier and appeared disorientated and a bit unsteady.
He came to his door for a stroke which was unusual. I hope he didn't say good bye.

Saying that, i've sat up with him for ages before thinking he was going to die that very night and then watched him running around on the floor the next evening.

I cleaned his toilet area in his house and checked that his nest was dry and cozy. He ate some porridge, took his metacam, foraged and had a drink. I just put a treat by his door and that's all i can do really.

 

[RainbowBrite]

I hope he was just going to bed. I remember that night you were up all night with him. It is a good sign he is still eating.