Hamsters (merged)

minimoneysaver

How about letting hammie have a run in the bath? That way if it has an "accident" it is easily washed away.

heretolearn_2

I don't think our hamster was panicking in his ball. It was a good way of letting him have a good run around without having to try and dismantle the sofa to get him out again afterwards. He didn't run all the time, he'd stop and start, sit and have a little wash, take off again, stop to eat something hidden in his cheek, run off again....so not the actions of something scared.

Sometimes we'd shut ourselves in the bathroom with him so he could have a good run around there out of the ball without getting in to trouble.

If we got him out loose otherwise, he was pretty tame and wouldn't deliberately try to escape, but you had to watch him every second or he'd dive down the back of something.

At one point he escaped from his cage and we couldn't find him for a few days (we left his cage open so he could go back for food and water). This was at Christmas. Eventually found him curled up behind the cooker, in a nest made of tinsel he'd somehow dragged there off the tree. Guess it was a nice warm cosy winter spot!

daisy65

Hi,
It says on the back of my hammys new ball not leave the hamster in it for no longer than 30 minutes, i bought one of those giant plastic containers its huge, its got toys and things in it and i put rosie in it while im cleaning out her cage. xxxx

Fiver29

One of my daughters hamsters has this cage

It's a completely different personality to the other, it's quite skittish, doesn't really like being handled, unlike the other with is soft as a brush and will sit in your hand all day.

Tonight the skittish hamster has been climbing up to the bars at the top of the cage and climbing across and back, which is fine. But then half way he'll drop to the base, then run up and start the process over again. The drop is quite high, about 30cm and I'm worried about him hurting himself.

He's also been squeaking a lot over the last two nights, talking away to himself for about half an hour at a time, whereas the other hamster doesn't make a sound.

Any ideas whether this is normal?

Lady_Fluff

sounds normal hamster behaviour to me - loads of hams love to do the 'monkey bars'. Obviously, the drop can be a bit of a concern - make sure that there's nothing in the way that he could hurt himself on if he falls down, and if he does persist in doing it, make sure you keep your eye out for any potential injuries just to make sure. Really though there shouldn't be anything to worry about. My most recent hams haven't bothered trying the bars (possibly due to the sheer size of their cages!) but my old one got to be quite an expert in the end - she could go up the bars on one side, across the top and down the bars on the other side again!
Regarding the squeaking, some hams are definitely more vocal than others. Also, you don't say how old your guys are, but I've fond mine get more talkative as they get older. I've heard some say that their hammies get more chatty if they're close to another hamster too, so if your two are close to each other then he could be calling to the other one. If he is, and not getting an answer, then maybe he's being persistent!

missmontana

Our Dave would do similar things, he was quite a chatty fellow, but then thats cos we used to talk to him all the time too!
Have you got him one of those seedy stick bar things that hang from the top? Dave used to love them.

Fiver29

Yes we've got one of those, he's been hanging on it tonight, he seems to like to use it as a swing, and again he swings over to the edge and then drops off. Maybe he thinks he's a lemming

Yes they are close together Lady Fluff, so he might be calling out I guess, he's about 9 weeks old and the other is about 13/14 weeks, so maybe the quiet one has decided he's too old for all that chattering malarkey :rotfl:

I guess he must be normal then, it' just with the other hamster being so quiet and not being able to remember what the hamsters I had as a child were like, I was worried he was stressed.

samboette

Hi there

I'm guessing you have 2 Syrian Hamsters??

The cage you have shown is a Ferplast Duna methinks and in all honestly, it's going to be far to small to house a Syrian!! We used to have this cage for a single Roborovski Dwarf and it seemed (to us) too small for him!!

It's quite possible your hamster maybe stressed, in our cases, the only time we've had hamsters that have squeaked were when they were stressed or ill but it could be something that your particular hamster does. Not sure if it has anything to do with your other hamster being so close, in all the years we kept hamsters, they have always been next to each other and not made a sound!!

Hamsters are very active creatures and love to run and explore, ours used to do the monkey bars in the larger version of the cage you've shown. In order for them to be active and happy, they need a fair amount of time out of their cage but also importantly a good wheel for when they are in they are in their little homes. Do you still have the wheel in the cage (the one that comes with the cage), if so this will also need to be changed for a larger one, one that's at least 8" in diameter. Hamsters will run in any sized wheel but they usually arch their backs to do so in smaller wheels, this is damaging to them.

Anyway it's far to early/late in the morning to think of any more tips and advice, i'm about to leave work and go home to check on our little furries.

Fiver29

Gosh I thought this was a decent sized cage, it was the second largest in Pets at Home. Although you're right I have noticed the older (so larger) hamster arching its back

chocdonuty

you can get bigger wheels for hammies as most of them are not suitable for a nice sized syrian. I've used a rolly wheel in the past but you will probably need a stand for it and apparantly wodent wheels are good but hard to come by I've found.
I've also gone through loads of different tanks in the past and basically the bigger the better, normal shop bought ones are generally quite small but have a search on google and you will find loads, there are even guides to make your own!