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11-29-2018, 04:40 AM
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#1
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Hamster Pup
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 115
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Down grading a cage
Hello all!
My little boris is getting a bit skinny! I think it maybe because not matter how much I feed him (he is a huge eater) he ignores his wheel but loves to do laps around his cage edge which is a detolf I have a zoo zone 2 which is thinking of putting him in as I think the reason he is walking is that there lots of open space (not a bad thing) but he slinks around like a flat pancake I was going to move him to zoo zone and really fill it up as he is getting on now and I feel his giant cage may be a bit too much for him. Health wise no issues so he’s not losing weight for anyother reason just that he loves to be a ham Olympic runner!!
Thoughts?
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11-29-2018, 05:07 AM
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#2
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Little Miss Tinytoes>
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 7,036
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Re: Down grading a cage
You should only downgrade as a last resort - so in old hamsters cases when they’re really struggling or can’t make use of the entire cage. But before that alterations to the cage should be made, like making everything easily accessible for them. Generally I’ve found that sorts the issue and unless the ham becomes unwell/unable to move properly then there shouldn’t really be a need to downgrade. You also want to be careful with cage changes for older hams, it is stressful for them.
It’s normal for hams to exercise a lot, in the wild they’ll run for miles every night so that shouldn’t be the reason he’s losing weight. Do you mean there is a lot of open space in the detolf? You should easily be able to fill a detolf up and provide more cover if needed, it isn’t actually that much larger than a zoozone. I don’t really understand how putting him in a zoozone will stop his running to be honest since he’s already used to the bigger space. Sometimes older hams do get quite active and there is no reason to stop them from exercising.
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11-29-2018, 08:27 AM
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#3
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Dwarf whisperer
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Wales UK
Posts: 24,789
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Re: Down grading a cage
If Boris is pancaking then it does sound as though he's not comfortable in the space, I wouldn't downgrade though, first try making better use of the space to suit him, more hides, tubes, tunnels etc, if you have a photo of your set up it might help with making suggestions.
Do you have a lid on your Deetolf? If not then it may just be that he feels too exposed from above.
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11-29-2018, 09:11 AM
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#4
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Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Bath, UK
Posts: 3,640
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Re: Down grading a cage
I downgrade my hamsters cages when needed and in most cases this has usually been because they have had issues with too much space that have not been rectified by making other changes to the cage layout.
I've found that sometimes adding more hides and tubes is a good and cheap place to start and some of my Chinese have so many things like cardboard tubes and boxes in their cages.
You say that Boris is getting on a bit and his weight loss may just be the natural weight loss that comes with age. What species is he? Some species seem to age more gracefully than others.
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11-29-2018, 10:17 AM
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#5
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PM Fluffy for custom title
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Cornwall, UK
Posts: 1,109
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Re: Down grading a cage
Excessively running laps around the cage does sound like stress behaviour, especially combined with the pancaking. Some older hamsters do feel safer in smaller cages and the ZZ2 is still a good size so if adding more hides and tunnels doesnt work. You could also try covering part of the detolf with a blanket so he feels less exposed
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11-29-2018, 01:27 PM
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#6
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Hamster Pup
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 115
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Re: Down grading a cage
He’s a Syrian and quite a small boy! He really not happy I say he’s old I think he’s around 18months. Got the zoo zone out today and will see how we go thanks for all your advice
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12-01-2018, 02:59 AM
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#7
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Fluffy Hamsters
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 4,231
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Re: Down grading a cage
Hope he settles in the zoozone. Would be interested to hear how he gets on and to see pics of his set up. I love hamster set ups!
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Tags
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cage, loves, zoo, zone, reason, bit, pancake, flat, move, fill, thoughts, olympic, issues, he’s, losing, weight, ham, runner, anyother, giant, slinks, wise, health, feel, putting |
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