Meet Matilda

[emojimom]

Yesterday I brought home a new-to-me Syrian hamster I have rechristened Matilda. She was available for adoption because her previous owner was going off to school and didn't feel she could care for her anymore. She is about a year old. I happened to visit the shelter the same day she was brought in, and so I brought her home to the cage I had prepared, and she seems to be settling in well.

Last April, I first joined the forum and started posting a lot about my new hamsters, and then abruptly stopped. The short story is that I had a medical emergency and spent about a month in the hospital. I was in a medically-induced coma for a few weeks, and the person my parents hired to care for my pets did not do a good job. As I was recovering, I was dismayed to learn that my hamsters had died because of her neglect, and two of my cats were very ill. I have been back home for a good long while now, doing much better, and felt ready to get another hamster. I didn't want to come back in and not mention why I had suddenly stopped posting, but hopefully this thread can be positive from here on out.

I'm looking forward to getting to know Matilda, who, though not eager to be held or touched by me, is not at all shy about accepting treats, using her wheel, or arranging her cage to fit her specifications. I love her already, and am so pleased I found her.

[cypher]

Congrats on Matilda, she looks lovely & sounds like she's making herself right at home already
I'm really sorry to hear about your medical problems & the impact that had on your pets, that must have been really hard for you.

[Hammy992]

So sorry to hear about your pets, that must have been really difficult to process when you were trying to recover yourself. But it's good to hear that you're doing much better now.

Matilda looks very sweet, I love the markings on her back. She looks like she'll be a very inquisitive girl getting up to mischief in no time

[emojimom]

I just moved into a new house, and now I have an entire room I can devote to my pets. I have guinea pigs that are actually a friend's but she is on a 2-year fellowship in Europe, so I'm their caretaker while she is away doing research for her dissertation. (I've also found a pet sitter I truly trust now who has a copy of my key and knows how to take care of small pets so the situation that happened before won't happen again).

Anyway, the room is a room in the finished basement, and it has plenty of room for roomy cages for everyone. Anyway, every time I go in there, day or night, Matilda is running on her wheel. There aren't windows in this room, but I go in there first thing in the AM to turn on the lights and check on the pets and last thing before bed to turn the lights off, so even though there isn't natural light, there are normal day/night hours, and the guinea pigs seem fine with it. I know Matilda is still adjusting and I am patient and leaving her be except to check on her.

She has made her bed behind her wheel, though, and there's not a lot of room. The cage is 48" long and 24" wide and there are plenty of things to do and see and play and about 5" of bedding, except for the corner with the wheel, where I've held the bedding back with a bendy bridge to keep the wheel from being blocked by bedding. It works great, but I feel bad that she is making her bed in the most exposed place and does't seem to be exploring the cage much. When I first put her in the cage, she burrowed under the substrate in the other corner, but she obviously loves her wheel, so sticks close to it.

I'm not really concerned; I'm sure she'll settle in, but mostly wanting to record my observations.

She seems and has obviously been handled before and isn't afraid of people, which is great. After a week at least, I will work on taming her (though taming doesn't really sound like the right word; bonding is better I guess.) She is definitely curious about me, but still scared and I can't even imagine how scary it must be to go from your home where you've lived for most of your life to a shelter to another new place, all full of new sounds and smells. I'm so glad I found her the same day she got to the shelter so that she didn't have to be there for too long. It's a good shelter, but it is overwhelmed with animals, and she was in a tiny cage with a tiny wire wheel.

[emojimom]

Oh, I was going to ask--I think Matilda is a Chocolate Banded Syrian, yes? The picture might not do her justice, but she seems to be a light brown color where she isn't white.

[cypher]

It sounds as though Matilda's doing fine, it's still very early days so she'll be getting used to everything .It seems to be quite common for hams, particularly new ones to sleep behind the wheel, maybe she's afraid someone will take away her wonderful new treasure
I'm sure she'll explore plenty when she's ready & make a better nest if she needs too.
The room sounds great too.
Syrian colours aren't really my thing but I think you're probably right about her.

[emojimom]

Cypher, you're probably right! Every time she hears me coming, she goes into her wheel like, "nooooo it's mine! don't take it!"

[CMB]

Congratulations on adopting Matilda. Hope she continues to settle in well.

[emojimom]

Matilda is getting used to me. I have started the bonded process, bringing her to a smaller bin cage so she can explore and get used to my hand. She's obviously not afraid of people, and getting a lot more comfortable with me. It's a much faster process than any hamster I had before, so it does seem like she's accustomed to being handled, which makes it easier for me. I've also discovered that she really, really loves peanuts and will pretty much do anything for one. She has them all in her nest, so she is not overindulging, but she is an expert at breaking them open, which my last hamsters weren't particularly skilled at.

I was able to weigh her and she is only 134g, which seems small to me. I have no idea what she was fed, and I know pet store hamsters (which I'm assuming she is, though the shelter I adopted her from didn't know much about her) tend to be smaller, but she seems smaller than Beatrix was.

Anyway, she continues to settle in well and already knows when she sees me she gets treats. I am confident we will be fast friends. I love having a little hammy in my life again.

The photos show her in the little flower pot I use to transport her from her main cage to the taming bin cage since she's not too eager to be held yet, and a cute shot of her stretching. I love when they do that!

[emojimom]

Just double-checked and my Syrian Beatrix was 172g at a young age, so I was right that Matilda is much smaller. Beatrix was much longer though.