soapdragon Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Here is Hilda the Stunt Hamster - our new Syrian. We collected her mid October and she is now calming down and will happily walk out of her cage into my hands......again and again and again! It's a great game! She launches herself from the highest ladder in the cage and clearly doesn't realise that hamsters can't fly! I am planning to introduce her to Hades at the end of January so we may hear the patter of tiny paws. Having kept 10 hamsters over the years we have never had pups. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Awww, what a beautiful little hamster. Can't wait to see any babies they might have. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Girly Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Sweet! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 She is very pretty! Yes hamsters don’t know what’s good for them... my syrian just dropped herself from all heights. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoo Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 So cute, but I have hamster-based PTSD! Every single hamster I have ever held (not even hyperbole) has bitten me! Every. Single. One. They're the devil's rodents! 🤣 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 11 minutes ago, AndyRoo said: So cute, but I have hamster-based PTSD! Every single hamster I have ever held (not even hyperbole) has bitten me! Every. Single. One. They're the devil's rodents! 🤣 I have this with long haired rabbits... absolutely evil! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 I've only been seriously bitten (blood everywhere etc) twice....one was when I got a new hamster out of the transporting carton; he was terrified and promptly sank his teeth into my thumb then wee'd all over me! Poor chap, but he soon settled. The second was Hilda as I 'scooped' her up when we'd not had her long. Again, she was obviously terrified.....and yes, she wee'd on me too! Now I just let her walk out on her own - she hates being picked up and I'm not risking it again! The other 8 never bit (or wee'd on me 🤣). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Got wee’d on by a long haired rabbit too... not one that bit me though... But seriously, in the bunny rescue I need to use the lid of the feeding bucker to protect myself from the long haired blighters! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoo Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 I'll stick with Guinea Pigs. Never once have I been bitten by one of those. I did have some dwarf mice... they used to take a nibble, but they were so small they couldn't have broken the skin if they tried. Hamsters, on the other hand: they made Jaws look like a fluffy little lamb! 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted December 21, 2020 Author Share Posted December 21, 2020 10 hours ago, Cat tails said: Got wee’d on by a long haired rabbit too... not one that bit me though... But seriously, in the bunny rescue I need to use the lid of the feeding bucker to protect myself from the long haired blighters! Sorry, I shouldn't laugh but it sounds like 'Revenge of the killer Rabbits' or some other really bad horror film! Out of interest is it just the long haired ones? Very odd, if so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted December 21, 2020 Author Share Posted December 21, 2020 9 hours ago, AndyRoo said: I'll stick with Guinea Pigs. Never once have I been bitten by one of those. I did have some dwarf mice... they used to take a nibble, but they were so small they couldn't have broken the skin if they tried. Hamsters, on the other hand: they made Jaws look like a fluffy little lamb! 🤣 About 25 years ago, when we did re enactment, we had friends in our group who brought their ferrets along to the camps (apparently popular in 17th C for rabbiting!) Phil (owner) was sitting with one of the jills on his lap when another re enactor came up to 'pet' the ferret (doh!) He bent down to her and she promptly launcher herself at him, presumably thinking she was being attacked as it had all happened very quickly and he was a very large chap with a big beard - scary! The bloke reeled back with a ferret hanging off his nose! She had sunk her teeth into the fleshy end of his shnozzle and wouldn't let go...........blood everywhere and a huge bearded bloke in 17th c costume flailing around screaming and batting at this furry bundle firmly attached to the end of his nose. It took three of us to grab the bloke and 'calm' him down enough for Phil to detatch the ferret....stitches were needed. They didn't bring the ferrets thereafter! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 So lovely, Soapdragon. I’ve bred Syrians twice. Not easy till you establish the females fertility pattern. When she’s not fertile, she will attack him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted December 21, 2020 Author Share Posted December 21, 2020 (edited) Every four days, so I understand......a steep learning curve but we only plan the one litter. Apparently they have the shortest gestation, from memory around 16 days! Edited December 21, 2020 by soapdragon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 DS once had a cute little hamster. She was grey with little white spectacles around her eyes but she used to growl at us whenever we went near her. She would also sit like a crazed animal with her paws ready for attack along with the growling. She was a scary little thing and used to dangle upside down and launch herself off the bars. Cleaning her out was hard, so we used to tip her into a tub trug so she couldn't escape. There was no way we could have put her into a hamster ball. She only lived for 6 months and I think she had something wrong with her from the start. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted December 25, 2020 Author Share Posted December 25, 2020 What a morning! We moved Hilda's cage in order to put the tree where she usually sits and so put her cage on the floor....she was so happy this morning as we sat round opening presents and was climbing in and out of her cage for cuddles (she is turning into a really sociable little sweetie). When I put her back for probably the 11th time I happend to mover her house and saw that she had nibbled a hole in the corner of the cage! Not yet big enough for the great escape but another night's tunnelling would have done it. Off to the shed to get the spare cage and set that up before looking up second hand cage on Gumtree etc....nothing. So it's on the 'phone to Pets at Home on Sunday to see if they have their biggest cage in stock and can deliver. The spare cage is way too small in the long term but better than trying to locate a missing small furry. And breeeeeeathe! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted December 27, 2020 Author Share Posted December 27, 2020 (edited) Off to Pets at Home this morning....1st in the queue at 11am and out by 11.04! Scary....social distancing wasn't a thing! I got the biggest cage in the Pets at Home range but it is still, only very slightly, under the RSPCA recommended size for a Syrian. I am truly shocked at the cage sizes......out 'temp' cage would only just be OK for a dwarf Russian (which it was!) yet Pets at Home are marketing it as suitable for a Syrian. Hilda is huge so no way is it acceptable - I think she has guniea pig in her ancestry! Should we be fortunate enough to have pups with Hilda and Hades then I will mention in the ad that the cage, on collection, needs to be a minimum size and that I will NOT allow pups to leave with a cage that does not meet the requirements. Sorry to rant but it makes me so angry......a hamster can, apparently, run over 2 miles each nigh! And the wheels provided are always too small and can affect the spine of the hamster, over time and result in back problems. A flying saucer wheel is far better. Sorry for the rant - after my visit to Pets at Home I feel very depressed about this. Poor hammys - they rely on us humans to provide them with the proper and safe environment and sometimes, due to poor advice, this isn't happening! Edited December 27, 2020 by soapdragon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 I know how you feel. I really think the Qute isn’t suitable for Syrians either, but is marketed for them too. I currently have no hammies or gerbils, but if I get anymore I’ll invest in a specialised terrarium. One that is at least 100x75 cm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted December 27, 2020 Author Share Posted December 27, 2020 Too right, CT. The Qute is nowhere near the RSPCA recommended size for a Syrian. Equally there is no room to add in any other toys for enrichment - at least the Pets at Home XL does give room for extra ladders, chews, tunnels etc. We have a number of 'toys' that we rotate into Hilda's cage to keep her busy and challenged. It does make my blood boil at the lack of space in most cages sold for these little critters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted January 5, 2021 Author Share Posted January 5, 2021 Update; she ate through that cage too 😡! In only 4 days! Back to Pets at Home and we now have a huge 100cm x 50cm by 50cm cage which, so far...fingers crossed...remains unchewed (no protruding plastic lugs!!) although the sitting room now looks like an outpost of London Zoo! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Naughty Hilda! Do have a look at glass hamster terrarium. No way to chew through that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 What a naughty little hamster. I hope she doesn't nibble her way out of the new cage you have just got her. Our hamsters always had Rotastak houses - I don't know if they still exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted January 5, 2021 Author Share Posted January 5, 2021 3 hours ago, Cat tails said: Naughty Hilda! Do have a look at glass hamster terrarium. No way to chew through that! We did look, CT, but couldn't find one quite big enough. Now she is in the Savic rat and hamster cage - it's massive. I can literally get my head through the door! Luvvie, it was the little sticky uppy plastic bits on each corner that the wire sits on that she gnawed on, and then on through! This cage doesn't have those. Rotastak are, indeed, still a thing.....just a bit of a pain to clean out if you have a hamster that doesn't have a preferred wee corner 😲. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 She must be a determined little creature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted January 6, 2021 Author Share Posted January 6, 2021 1 hour ago, Luvachicken said: She must be a determined little creature. Not exactly what we called her after forking out £75 for the new cage!!!! But she is lovely and hopefully with us for a good long time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 26 minutes ago, soapdragon said: Not exactly what we called her after forking out £75 for the new cage!!!! But she is lovely and hopefully with us for a good long time! Wow, but she will be worth it, especially when she has the babies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
