Charlie's thread

[Pebbles82]

He had come out for his veg yesterday evening at some point which is encouraging as that is his normal routine to take the veg shortly after it appears. Later that night I saw him come out and have some of his baby food, pouch a couple of bits from the substrate and went back to bed. The floor of his cage in that area is a bit cluttered and uneven around the ceramic pot (his veg goes on top of that), so I decided to take the two little steps out near the front right door (he can't used them any more and they get in the way, plus now I'm getting him in and out in a tube they're not really necessary). Flattened down the substrate between the house and all the food areas so it was more level, and moved his food bowl and water bottle along a bit where the steps used to be. It also made a bit more space for the little baby food lids of extras as I'd noticed he was avoiding the Science Selective one as it must have been difficult to get at, and that one's quite important.

I put the wood step/shelf up near the top so it was over the food bowl, so it didn't feel too exposed at the front.

This morning he'd cleaned out the little lid with boiled rice in and taken a little bit of the Science selective. I put the rodipet herbs mixed in water (as per the instructions) in a little lid but they seem to have been left.

Now he has his little cardboard roof and has rejigged his nest so the door to the nest room is blocked off, I can't get at him easily, but surprisingly he poked his head out when I called his name this morning (maybe he thought it was porridge time). And had the syringe with rodipet herbs there (which contains oats). Bit of a fiddle! He did lick at the end of the syringe but it's quite stiff so couldn't push more out without it squirting at him - so I decided to squirt it in the other side of the little lid and put that in front of him. He got hold of it in his teeth and pushed it away lol.

So I don't think I'm going to get those herbs in him 3 times a day without administering them like medicine (ie squirting it in the side of his mouth) and I don't think he'd like that at all, so need a rethink on that one. I might wait till he's out in the cage again and offer it in the syringe again, or use a different syringe so it comes out easier.

I then put some porridge on a spoon near his nest door but he wasn't coming out again - so have left it there for now. He'll probably eat some when he's ready and I'll take the spoon away soon if he hasn't.

His little head looks just the same as ever when he pokes it out - same little personality.

The front of the cage now looks like a very similar set up to the one he had in his holiday cage. A bit more floorspace to move around in easily, but it's not too exposed as he has the dark coloured hammock attached to the roof above.





There are two more little baby food lids just the other side of the water bottle.

[Hamsterita]

The changes that you made sound like the right thing to do.

If he doesn't like to eat the herbs by themselves maybe you can try to mix them with his babyfood or other wet foods. But yes, feeding him them 3 times a day sounds like a hard thing to do.

[Pebbles82]

That's an idea Hamsterita, I could try mixing a bit in the manuka honey instead of water - although wouldn't want to put him off the honey!

[cypher]

If he licked the syringe maybe he did quite like the rodipet mix so it might be worth trying a bigger syringe, you could try mixing it in with some porridge & a little honey, three times a day is a bit much to get anything into them without forcing it on them but even a little once a day should have some benefit, if he likes it maybe increase to twice a day.

[Pebbles82]

Thanks Cypher - yes I was thinking managing twice a day (late at night and early in the morning). Don't want to force anything on him.

[SKB_Hamsters]

The adaptation to Charlie's cage look good and looks like it will help him get around a little easier.
You could mix some of the rodipet Herbs in his porridge and see whether he likes it like that. Or another idea is dilute some honey in warm water and add that to the Herbs - I used to diguse one of Sherbet least favourite medicine with some diluted honey.

[Pebbles82]

Thanks SKB I'm sure the minor cage change will make things easier although I still feel bad about changing anything in his cage and not wanting to stress him. But I think he needs it to move around ok and get at things. He's adjusted to the minor house change well and seems to prefer it so hopefully the minor cage change will be approved of too.

[Coco61]

He was obviously out and about in the night to enjoy the extras. Pressing down the fitch was good idea. Must be easier to walk on. Herby porridge might go down well or herby honey but not daily for that one. When the herbs were mixed with water, how liquid was it? Maybe he found that odd and not easy to eat. The minor cage changes should be fine as he had that set up before. Fingers crossed.

[Pebbles82]

Thank you Coco. Yes the herby mix can either be thicker or runnier. I might try doing it thicker and putting it out in a baby food lid tonight. But I get the feeling he just doesn't fancy it!

[Pebbles82]

I'm finding it a bit nerve-wracking at times at the moment. Charlie hadn't been out for his veg tonight so I decided to tempt him out with his bit of manuka honey on a teaspoon (to make up for the not so tasty herbs this morning). No sign of him at his house door when I wafted the teaspoon there, so I lifted the cardboard to have a little peek and see how he was. He didn't seem to be in his nest. So I had a scary moment looking all over the cage for him and couldn't find him. Eventually after gently moving away a few layers of nest I could see he was burrowed down quite deep again. You keep getting those moments when you don't know if he's ok or not. He lifted his head a bit when I touched him after a while so I held out the teaspoon with the honey on and he is quite strong still. He took it in his teeth and pushed it away. Ok I get the message - I'll stop trying to put teaspoons and syringes in front of you Charlie! I think he is still quite upset at expecting porridge this morning and getting green gunge instead.

I then put the tube over the house door with piece of cheese in the end and he stuck his head under the tube and lifted it up. I'm thinking of leaving him to himself more now and only taking him out of he's out and about in the cage. I did lift him out tonight though for a little bit and his tummy seems a lot less swollen than last night. His walking is still bad though. He had a little snooze in his snooze cube and then I put him back in the cage again. I'm now putting him back on top of the hammock at the top, which he seems to like and then holding one end of it level with his house roof so he can walk down, then I lift him off the house roof onto the floor. I tried him with some of the herb thicker mixed with a bit of honey when he was awake in the snooze cube but he wasn't having it. So that's that. He's not having it.

After this evening I think I'll just keep putting food and nice treats out and things in baby food lids and let him do his own thing as much as possible - I don't want to upset him trying to give him things he doesn't like. He just seems like a very tired, doddery old man now, but he still has surprising strength, other than his back legs.

So he decided he didn't want a level nest with a cardboard roof. He wanted a deep burrow with a cardboard roof, and it gives me a bit of a message that he wants to be left alone more. And he does look very cosy in his deep burrow.