Moving with the hammie!

tigafer · 10-23-2014, 12:04 PM

Hi all

This coming Monday I'm temporarily moving to my Grandparents house to look after their cats and house while they go to Australia, they come back on the 5th December so I will be there for a little over a month. (Obviously she will be in a secure room away from the moggies!)
I'd really like to bring my little lady Syrian Marge with me and I'm looking for any tips you might have to make it the least stressful for her! We live with my boyfriend and our 3 gerbils, he is going to stay and look after the gerbils but he works nights so wouldn't get to see her much and she's very needy!
We aren't sure how old she is as we adopted her, we think she must be at least 1 and a half maybe 2 years old? But she seems as spritely as ever and she's always been very curious of EVERYTHING! Part of the reason I want to bring her is if she takes a turn for the worst I would hate not being there with her, it seems like hamsters get so old so suddenly.
I was also wondering if it would be better to take her in the car in a travel carrier or just keep her in her Alaska cage in the back of the car? It's about a 30 minute car trip.
Thanks for any advice or tips!

Skeever · 10-23-2014, 12:32 PM

Sounds like a good idea. A month is a long time to a hamster, and if she's needy for affection, she should be fine. I'd have the cage in the car, since a half hour ride isn't all that bad. She may love a new environment to explore, but she may also react a bit to the change....you won't know till you get her there.

It may depend on whether she thinks she can whup cat butts if she needs to

. She'll probably pick up there are felines around. Some hams don't seem all that concerned, so do.....Keep us posted!

SquishyHelium · 10-23-2014, 12:47 PM

I would be tempted to put her in the travel box for the journey - it's not long and I would consider it safer than leaving her in the cage, where maybe things could fall over when going round corners etc. To reduce stress I would probably try to distract her with a few new toys/things to investigate so her mind is taken off the move.

I hope you can successfully keep the cats away as that might be a source of stress and danger for her.

tigafer · 10-23-2014, 04:16 PM

Thanks! We have a cat at home and always keep the door shut when we aren't in the room. Marge wants to be best friends with said cat and always goes to the side of the cage to greet her, clearly unaware of the situation :') so I think she should be fine with that aspect.

polishrose · 10-24-2014, 02:18 AM

Definitely take her with you-a month is a long time for a hammie

I would also put her in a carrier for the journey-much much safer than leaving her in the cage.Having said that I left my animals in cages when I transported them as it would have taken too long (Only have one carrier) but it was only a 10 minute drive.

RedSky · 10-24-2014, 02:25 AM

I also think it is much safer to use a carrier rather than leave her in her cage. If you do leave her in her cage everything heavy or tall needs to be taken out, could take a lot more time than putting her into a little box or something. I personally use Habitrail Ovos main pod for my gerbil or if I needed to with my Syrian, she has never needed to go in it though. They have their pod out during playtime with substrate and treats in so they already know it, it smells of them and they have a dig and a munch if they are in the mood for extra treats...