[Pebbles82]

Had to clean the house end of Newt’s cage tonight. With the heat it was starting to smell a bit foisty as he had pee’d in a few places. Gave me the opportunity to put the house back on legs. Which meant adjusting the height of everything else so it was a right fiddle! Anyway all sorted. Newt was roaming round the living room while I was doing this. He can’t get out as there’s a board from his playpen across the door now. There is however a small gap under the board which I stuffed a blanket against. So what did I find? Newt’s head peering up at me - he went under the blanket and tried to squeeze through the gap and got stuck-ish. Let him have a run round the kitchen then popped him back in the living room while I finished off with his cage. Made sure the gap was well and truly blocked. But not long after Newt’s face was peering up at me again on the wrong side of the door! This time he was half way under the gap - half in and half out of the living room. I swear the gap is only just over 1cm. So released him again, made it definitely hamsterproof and he went to sleep in his snooze cube. So just goes to show - hamsters can get under tiny gaps!

I think he was still in daredevil mode when he went back in his cage. There was a piece of cucumber on the dish on the shelf. So what did he do? Pull ups. Got his front paws on the shelf and tried to pull himself up his full height. Hung there for a few seconds and fell back on the substrate upside down. It took him a good 5 seconds to get the right way up again. He then decided to do the sensible thing and go up the ramp instead.

Honestly. He is 2 years and 3 months old and I thought he had slowed down a lot recently. And then he goes and surprises me with limbo dancing under a plank and pull ups.

Unfortunately I had to throw away his nest and hoard which were decidedly foisty. But he didn’t seem too bothered and seemed to enjoy exploring and checking out the minor changes. His house is much better now as has substrate under it and easier for his hoards. He had virtually blocked himself into his nesting compartment with his hoard before. I think he approves of the changes but is still a bit fazed by the hammock and seems to see it as something in the way, so took that out again and now that end of his cage is the same as before.

Fiddly getting things right for him now he’s older. I had lowered the house before but that wasn’t working out as he couldn’t bury things and it got smelly. It’s better now but means the roof is higher up and have not put any access up to it so he doesn’t go up there now. So his food bowl is at floor level now and he has no reason to go on the house roof. No space for another ramp but if he did manage to get onto it somehow he doesn’t have far to land and onto substrate.