Lazy Borris

MummaBorris · 07-21-2015, 01:15 PM

Borris is so lazy! I thought she spent all day long asleep but after very close monitoring (joys of school holidays) she does sneakout her house every 3-4 hours for a bit of food. But she doesn't do anything else. She drinks very little. I hear her running in her wheel at night but she only ever does it for 5-10 minutes. Then returns to her bed. I am now dropping food near her bed in the evenings and when she comes out, I put her in her play pen. She walks round if I hide food for her and will run in her ball for about 10minutes but then she just sits still.

I don't know if I am being too harsh - is she lazy? Or is this just her way? I can only compare her to her daughter who was very lively all day long and would run in a ball for 40 minutes then I'd give her a drink and she would climb straight back in the ball. Very different to Borris.
Any thoughts?

cypher · 07-22-2015, 12:08 AM

The simple answer is probably yes, she is a bit lazy!
Some hams seem to be, we give them all the home comforts they need & lots of nice food & they don't seem too bothered about anything else!
I would still try to encourage her in the play pen, give her as much to explore as possible in there & put a wheel in too maybe but she may still not be too interested!

vallsfantova · 07-22-2015, 01:31 AM

Hi there.

In your question there are two or three bits of info missing.

The hamsters I have often runs for hours overnight, not in the morning, the early morning for them are like the late evening for us.

But I remember one of my hamsters going tonthe wheel for small bits, 5-10 mins, later on I realized the wheel was small and make her back struggle.

I would suggest to try to get a bigger housing to your hamster, so Borris will enjoy better the exercise.

An alternative is clear and to seal a corner of your bedroom and allow Borris to explore there, always supervised, during the evenings, for one hour.

Hope that helps

MummaBorris · 07-22-2015, 02:23 PM

Thanks guys for your thoughts

I'm confident she has a big enough cage. She is a Russian dwarf and it is a large cage with three floors which she has all to herself. I know she goes on all the floors because I leave food all over for her to search for, which she does. The wheel is a large wheel and she also has a flying saucer which she seems to prefer, but like I say only for short bursts. I think I'm probably being a bit too harsh because of how active Viktoria the dwarf hamster was. She was always running and running - I think she was an ADHD hamster! But her mum, not so much.
But I will definitely try letting her roam free for a bit in my room, however as a Russian dwarf she is VERY fast when she wants to be!

MummaBorris · 07-26-2015, 01:56 PM

So I have made a bigger play pen for Borris. I couldn't find a safe enough area for her to roam free but I have included some of her bedding and the flying saucer from her cage along with some other toys. I hid mealworms (her fave food) all around the play pen too. She climbed into her ball happily, which is how i get her out the cage, and she ran round the floor for 10mins. Then I put her in the play pen and she sniffed around for 5mins, found and ate a couple of worms and then climbed into her wooden tree house and went to sleep. Should I face facts that this is just what she is like? Should I not give her a hiding place in the play pen? She is very friendly and is happy for me to hold her and she runs about a bit from hand to hand but she is happier just sitting.

cypher · 07-27-2015, 12:14 AM

Boris sounds a bit like Mickle lol! She loves to sleep in her playpen so I tried removing the house, substrate & tissue that was scattered around & she wouldn't even go in the play pen for a little run around then just wanted to come straight out so I put the house back & she'll run around a little, maybe go on her flying saucer or wheel then sleep then come out for a little while then sleep some more!
I think in the end you just have to go with what makes them happy, you can't really make them more (or less!) active, just give them the opportunity & leave it to them.
If she's happy to just run around on you do a bit of that then let her do her own thing either in the cage or in the playpen.

MummaBorris · 07-27-2015, 12:23 AM

Yeah good idea

she seems very happy so i'll just keep doing what I'm doing.
Thanks!

Thin Lizzy · 07-28-2015, 06:29 PM

Borris sounds like a very happy ham, I do agree that some hams can be very lazy, but this can also mean that they're happy and content and love all the home comforts you've provided.

MummaBorris · 07-28-2015, 11:31 PM

Thanks

I hope that is the case. I am a teacher and am now on summer holidays. I have discovered Borris is most active around 4pm - this is fine in the holidays because I can get her out to play and she does run around a lot about this time, its just I'm normally at work. Im thinking, over the next 5 weeks I night try to change this to 5-6pm which is when I am home.