Henry and Gordon

[Ria P]

Not sure what's going on with Gordon.

I had him for almost a year and during this time he's been a ghost hamster. I knew he was there but hardly ever saw him unless i stayed up till waay after midnight. He's always lived underground during the day and evening.

I noticed recently that he hadn't used his wheel much which doubles as his toilet, so i removed the middle section of his tank and fished him out for a health check.

I put everything back exactly the way it was but appreciate that i must have ruined a tunnel or two. Normally he would dive into the substrate and get to work, i guess.
Not this time though. He stayed on the surface and was still hamstering about mid morning next day. He doesn't appear to be stressed and even looks at me when i talk to him! Its just not like him to take any notice of me.

I was at work overnight and my OH always whatsapps me a report of who has been doing what and he mentioned that he had seen Gordon twice which is unheard of and that he was busy building a nest in his sand pit.

I came home to find this in broad daylight. It's lovely to see Gordon of course but this behaviour is way out of character.

Can hamsters go senile in old age and display bizarre behaviours? Does anyone know?

[Vierville]

Firstly, Gordon is lovely and that is a really sweet photo of him.

I've found that my little ones also have erratic shifts in their behaviour, very similar to what you've just seen with Gordon. I'm not sure why but it is often after a disturbance like me fishing them out of their substrate.

It doesnt seem that they are stressed by any of it, but they'll spend a few days being more active in the days, exploring what they think may have changed perhaps?

[Ria P]

That's interesting to hear Vierville.

It's new for Gordon though and not something he's ever done before. Maybe that's the new, sociable Gordon which would be lovely or maybe my phantom hamster will return soon, rarely to be seen again. If he does go underground again then he's got an awful lot of work to do clearing out his sand pit with all that substrate he's put in it.
Oh well, i'm fine with whatever he's happy with.

They seem to synchronise sometimes. Gordon rearranged his habitat and so did Henry overnight who lives in the lounge opposite Gordon. Henry's big corner toilet filled with sand was full of substrate this morning and he had thrown a cob of corn off a shelf and dragged it about his cage leaving a deep ditch. I sometimes wonder if they listen out to each other or what the other is doing.

[Ria P]

Wee Gordon has always been a very shy hamster who seemed to live underground and surfaced later and later, usually way after midnight.
It took him over three months to come to my hand to eat seeds and that didn't happen that often because i didn't see him much.
In August he had his Gotcha day and had been with us for a year, he was around seven months old when i adopted him.

Shortly after his Gotcha day his behaviour changed.
He started to come out during the day and we suddenly had a hamster we were able to watch. Ok, i had upset him by catching him for a health check so i put it down to that. I rarely clean his cage and have done a full clean once but found that it hadn't been necessary because he doesn't smell and his pee seems to evaporate so i only spot clean now every three months or so.

A month later and he still comes out during the day and what's more, i am now able to stroke him without him darting away!
He must be around 20 months so slowly heading towards old age but still has a good coat of fur. Not sure about his teeth though because i haven't managed to check them properly. I am wondering if i should start to supplement with some soft foods. He had some scrambled egg this morning and loved it. Maybe i should try porridge again and hopefully this time he won't jump into it and then roll in the sand to get it off.
Do Robos eat babyfood? If yes, which one?

What i'm really wondering is:

Would it be possible for a hamster to need a whole year to learn to trust and feel secure?

That's him this afternoon running around on his roof.

[cypher]

Aww! lovely photo, he is a gorgeous little man.
It’s entirely possible that he could only have felt confident enough after a year but sometimes it’s just really hard to know why their behaviour changes, great that you’re getting to interact with him now whatever the reason.
If he eats his normal food & doesn’t appear to be losing weight or condition he probably doesn’t need baby food or porridge but it wouldn’t do any harm to give him a little once or twice a week.
The favourite with all mine has always been baby cauliflower cheese, either cow & gate or Ella’s kitchen, they like some of the veggie ones too but never seem keen on the meat ones, I’ve never had a robo but see no reason why they would be different in that respect.

[Ria P]

I'll get some of the cauliflower cheese, thanks.

Bad news about Henry.
I have just noticed a little blood in his toilet which i had kept a very close eye on. Looks like the UTI has flared up again. He was symptom free for over a month. I have a little Baytril left and started him off on the previous dose until i can make a vet appointment tomorrow to get some more.
Henry got himself into a right strop over it.....

Cypher, what's the name again of the probiotic you use? Dr something? Is that the one that goes on the food as a drop and can be taken anytime once a day?

I was hoping the UTI was a one off but doesn't look that way unfortunately so i have to put him on a probiotic.

[cypher]

Sorry to hear Henry’s UTI is back again, hope it clears up again soon with the antibiotics.
The probiotic I use is Dr Squiggles potent brew it is just a drop on food but if he’s on antibiotics ideally you want it to be a few hours apart, once he’s off them then any time is fine. I usually put it on there veg or other fresh food.

[Ria P]

Thanks. Which quantity do you buy? I was thinking of the 100ml but don't know how far it goes or how long it keeps.

[cypher]

I get the 50ml as that lasts me ages even giving it to four hams, the shelf life is quite good but not long enough for a 100ml bottle to keep.

[Ria P]

Thank you cypher. I have just ordered a 50ml bottle.