Re: Chinese Hamster

by Peachy Wed 23 Nov 2016, 2:45 pm

Oh my gosh, she's adorable!! Fun name, too. Smile

by CanadianExport Wed 23 Nov 2016, 2:58 pm

I love the name!

by CallaLily Wed 23 Nov 2016, 3:01 pm

Thank you. My youngest named her. Smile

by MesaMouse Wed 23 Nov 2016, 6:52 pm

I love their coloring! How old is she, do you know?

by CallaLily Wed 23 Nov 2016, 7:28 pm

No, I don't know how old she is. I'm guessing young though, by the look of her.

by scaredymouse Wed 23 Nov 2016, 10:19 pm

Beautiful!!!!

by CallaLily Tue 29 Nov 2016, 1:32 pm

The package I ordered for Hamtaro arrived earlier today. I promised my son I wouldn't open it without him but it's driving me crazy. I WANT TO OPEN IT! Silly2

Funny how that works. I mean, I already know what's in it but it's just so exciting anyway. Giddy

It's only another hour and a half. I'll be good. girl_sigh

by Peachy Tue 29 Nov 2016, 3:41 pm

I should order more stuff. Opening packages is so exciting!! lol

by CallaLily Tue 29 Nov 2016, 4:27 pm

It is!

Here's what I ordered:

Kaytee Clean & Cozy white
Higgins Sunburst
Ware Chew Kabob
Higgins Wild Flower Meadow Treat
Lee's Kritter Krawler

I have 2 other larger balls but she's so tiny she can hardly move them. Gonna see if this one works. I need to remember to take pics next time we have her out. We're still sticking with short sessions because she seems to get stressed easily.

by CallaLily Wed 30 Nov 2016, 8:11 am

I moved Hamtaro over to the bin cage yesterday. I was afraid I was doing things too soon but she's really come around since the switch. She's out and about more, playing and exploring even with the lights on, and crawled into my hand on her own this morning. I'm surprised mainly because I had read that they're more like mice, in that they're nervous and often do better starting out in a smaller space and slowly working them up. But she seems to be less nervous with more space (still packed with hides/toys). I've been watching her dig and move bedding around all morning. Heart

by CallaLily Wed 30 Nov 2016, 1:49 pm

Here's Hamtaro's bin.

Chinese Hamster - Page 2 20161143

The purple platform is the bottom of an old critter trail cage, upside down. There's a smaller hide underneath of it and it's full of bedding. There's a few cardboard tubes buried here and there. The next popsicle stick thing I build will be a little taller - I just wasn't sure how clumsy she would be but she's not at all really. Gets around almost as well as the mice. Marble tile under the little red hut for a cooler hide, she's in a small room that can get a little warm. The tubes lead up and out to a little look out.

This bin is a little smaller than I remembered so I do hope to move her up to the exo terra soon. After Christmas at the latest. I could have swore it was a little under the recommended 650 sq in. I must have (wrongly) went by the dimensions on the label when we made this a few years ago (33x19). What the floor space actually measures is 28x16. Doh

by Peachy Wed 30 Nov 2016, 7:10 pm

She sounds so sweet! Maybe the more opaque walls made her feel more comfortable exploring? Pardon

I like the CritterTrail cage idea. I've got a few of those around.

by CallaLily Wed 30 Nov 2016, 7:16 pm

Could be. They are see through but not as clear as glass.

by CallaLily Fri 09 Dec 2016, 12:51 pm

Ok, I made a couple changes. More bedding because boy does she like to dig. Removed the tubes - I'll try those again later when she's more used to us. She's super sweet but so so shy. Also, I've never had a ham that made noises before. At first I worried she had a URI but it's only when I'm bothering her. The rest of the time, no noise. As she plays, sleeps, eats - not a peep. But when I start talking to her or moving things around, it's almost like she's yelling at me. Giggling

So, can/do hams make normal "talking" noises? If yes, is it just this species? Or should I be worried?

The new setup. Looks messy but she seems to like it. Oh and the little red hide with the tile underneath...thought it'd make a nice cooler hide. It's her wee spot. Laugh

*This was only a partial clean. Took out all the icky bedding and mixed in fresh, cleaned her wee spot, moved things around a little. Every thing I'm reading says not to do full cleans too often.

by MesaMouse Fri 09 Dec 2016, 1:32 pm

CallaLily wrote:Ok, I made a couple changes. More bedding because boy does she like to dig. Removed the tubes - I'll try those again later when she's more used to us. She's super sweet but so so shy. Also, I've never had a ham that made noises before. At first I worried she had a URI but it's only when I'm bothering her. The rest of the time, no noise. As she plays, sleeps, eats - not a peep. But when I start talking to her or moving things around, it's almost like she's yelling at me. So, can/do hams make normal "talking" noises? If yes, is it just this species? Or should I be worried?

*This was only a partial clean. Took out all the icky bedding and mixed in fresh, cleaned her wee spot, moved things around a little. Every thing I'm reading says not to do full cleans too often.

Hamtaro's "talking" may be just the species, I don't know; however, Imogene has "spoken" a few times since I've had her and those times did occur when she seemed to be agitated.

Re cleaning: yep, hams seem to be as territorial about their bedding as male mice so I only do a deep clean every two weeks. Even when I spot clean, Imogene follows my hand around to make sure I'm not removing too much of her "stuff." Hams (I assume all species) will ingest their own poop, sort of like a cow re-chewing its cud to ensure that all possible nutrients have been absorbed, so I leave the fresher poop and only remove the very dried up pieces as well as the peed-on bedding. I have a mix of Clean and Cozy and aspen: it tends to compact fairly quickly so I "fluff" it up every night while Imo is having her snack (nothing distracts her from mealworms, cucumbers or bananas Giggle

). She also moves her comfort wheel around so I reposition it, refill her forage tube (TP tube with 99% bedding and two Cheerios hidden inside), food dish, etc, and just leave everything else alone lest she give me the ruby stink-eye.

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