Holiday dilemma

Charlie Dunn · 11-20-2019, 04:08 AM

We are due to go on a 2 week holiday - the first since we got Boo in March. We are very lucky in that we have a really nice neighbour who will come in and feed him, check he is ok etc and also a lovely friend who said they would be happy to have him go on holiday too and stay with them. The problem is we don't know which option would be the best for Boo. He is, on the one hand, quite a confident dwarf ham who likes to come out and play and have cuddles (when he wants them!!) but on the other hand can, at times, be skittish and can scare himself over nothing! He is also quite sensitive to some noises such as the rustling of plastic bags.
We don't know if it will be better for him to stay in his home environment with the sounds and smells he knows but with very little company or for him to go to our friends and have company but be in an unfamiliar environment. Any help and guidance would be appreciated as we want to make our holiday as stress free and enjoyable for Boo as we can and it is a real worry. Thank you! x

Ria P · 11-20-2019, 06:19 AM

I would be inclined to leave him in his familiar surroundings and get the neighbour to call in, feed and water him and talk to him so he knows he's not all alone. She could also put low volume music on for a while in case he's used to that when you're home.

I guess that it would take him a week to get used to new people and different smells and sounds so he'd be confused twice when he's back home again after another week.

My reasoning may be all wrong but that's the way i see it. I don't think hamsters get lonely because they are quite self contained little animals plus they sleep a lot.

Have a lovely holiday and it helps to stay in touch via WhatsApp photo now and again if at all possible. That's what i do when i'm away.

Vierville · 11-20-2019, 06:39 AM

Hi Charlie.

Firstly you sound like a very caring owner so good on you!

I would tend to agree that leaving him in his familiar home environment and asking the neighbour to stop in and visit him daily to check on him and top up his food and water is the better of the two options.

And asking the neighbour to send pics of him will reasure you that he is doing ok.

This is exactly what we did with our little dwarf hams when we went away. We asked a family friend to stop in after work each day and she cut up their fresh veggies and gave them their treats as well as checking up on them that they were ok and topping up their food and water.

Don't forget to leave a contact number for their vet in the event that they (God forbid) get ill or need medical care.

mikatelyn · 11-20-2019, 06:47 AM

I would be inclined to leave him where he is and have the neighbor check on him. I've noticed that my hamster gets really upset when things smell different, but not if he doesn't interact with people much!
Since my hamster pretty much only comes out at night and it's unreasonable to ask anyone to come feed the hamster in the middle of the night, I also set up a hamster cam (needs to be one with night vision aka IR) that connects to my phone or computer that i take with me on vacation. That way i can check that he's doing his normal behaviours at night, and send someone over urgently if it looks like theres something wrong. I set up a thermometer next to the cage too, so i can spot check that from my computer via the hammie cam (in the summer i get worried the AC will breakdown while I'm gone.)

Vierville · 11-20-2019, 07:05 AM

Our dwarves are mostly active at night but do come out in the day for a nose around. If we leave a bowl of their cut up veggies out in the evening, we find that most of them have been gobbled up by morning. That's what we asked our friend to do while we were away.

Charlie Dunn · 11-20-2019, 02:39 PM

Thank you everyone. Your comments are really helpful! We now have a plan �� We just want boo to be happy and feel safe. He is such a cutie x

Pebbles82 · 11-20-2019, 02:48 PM

Definitely leave him at home

. We found with our first Syrian that he was crazily stressed after our holiday when we took his cage to another house. He had just adjusted to the new environment when he cane home again and was quite manic. It was very upsetting and his bond was never quite the same again. Since then I’ve either had a pet sitter come to the house or on occasion taken one with us (depends on the holiday).

When our pet sitter comes she always talks to them (even if she can’t see them) as well as doing the food and water. It helps so it isn’t quiet all the time for them.

Charlie our first Syrian (the one that went manic and bar chewed for two weeks after we left him somewhere) didn’t even cope well with being left home alone for two nights so even though he was very old I took him on holiday with us one year with a travel cage and he was happy as Larry. But it was only a 2 hour car journe and we stayed in a house all week so like a home from home.

Charlie Dunn · 11-20-2019, 03:03 PM

Eek - that sounds quite traumatic! We have a friend who visits a lot and boo knows her voice and often comes out when she is here. I can also ask her to pop in every few days as well and chat to him for a while which I’m sure he will like. A quiet radio on a timer is also a great idea we will use. Thank you all again. I really appreciate it - as will Boo! X