Meet......

[mlwinters]

OK, I guess I better spill the beans...If you look closely at the latest photos I posted to my "My Medium Sized DIY Cage" thread, you may have spotted that the water bottle was not empty.

Well........Please say hello to Archimedes.
Archimedes.jpg

For the most part, he is a black short haired Syrian but he does have lighter black/gray fur towards his tail and a hint of brown around both his side scent glands. I got him from Pets@Home (pitchforks at the ready) but I didn't adopt him. When I went to get a hammy, ideally to adopt, something drew me to him. His (at the time) jet black fur, his little ears and his white belly strip. Call it love at first sight or just throw your pitchforks at me, either way....I had to get him, the epic cuteness.
When I got him P@H told me he was 9 weeks old but he is now 23 weeks old. I weighed him for the first time about a week after I got him, he was 130g which seemed a little low to me. Ever since he's been slowly packing on the grams and when I weighed him again last night he was 157g, a little more like it.

When I first brought him home and after sleeping I'm the P@H box until about midnight, i picked him up at about 1945, he finally woke up and came to the open side of the box to look out, got freaked out (understandably) and shot back into the box almost tipping it up onto the closed end. About 5 mins later he tried again, had a little look around and then saw his wheel. He then came out and went to check it out, even since he figured out what is was and what its for, he's been addicted to it, even still. After about an hour he came off his wheel and started looking/sniffing the area around his wheel. I have a P@H leaf hideout which at the time was right next to his wheel. Once he found that, I didn't see him untill the next night. I think the new home, new bedding ect was a little overwhelming for him. The new cage was a little confusing for him too, having been stuck in a tiny cage most of his life, once he moved to his new home, it took him 3 days for find all parts of his cage. I started getting worried because his water bottle was in the same place as it is now and with him taking so long to find the first floor shelf, I had to put a small water bowl and his food bowl on the ground floor so he had water and food. Once he found all the different floors, I removed the water bowl and kept his water bottle in the same place. His food bowl is now on the top floor.

Archimedes is my first hamster so I am still learning the basics. His tameing is taking long than I'd hoped but he will climb on me for food or for a sniff and he will stay on my palm, the back of my hand or my shoulder when I carry him from my bedroom to the living room for playtime. He will also treadmill over my hands for a short time (about 5 mins) before he gets bored and annoyed. I can also cup my hands around him when I need to pick him up without him running off or leaping out of my hands.
However, I would not consider him "fully tame" as he is still jumpy and it will take him a minute to come over to the door when I go say hello or to bring him into the living room. He is getting better every day though and his personality is slowly started coming through, and what a little devil he is too.

I took his sandbath jar out for a clean last night. Once I sieved out the bedding and gave the jar wipe, I put the sand back into the jar, put it on the sofa as you see it, turned my back to take a drink from my cup. I turn back around not 20 seconds later to put the jar back in his cage and found this >.

Sandbath Chaos.jpg
It took 20 minutes to vacuum up the mess. Thanks Archimedes.

Although Archimedes is not yet fully tame, I have managed to letter train him. When I first got him, I would always pee on his hoard in his nest. Apart from it being gross and unhealthy, it would also stink my flat out.
I saw him one time going into the front right corner to pee. I then grabbed an old ice cream tub, 1/3 filled it with childrens playsand with some of the pee-on bedding and put it in that same corner. He will now only ever pee in that tray and it can be moved elsewhere in the cage and he'll still use only use the litter tray. That said, I keep it in that same corner just so it doesn't confuse him. I have to clean it out every 2-3 days which keeps the rest of his cage clean, stops the cage smelling so bad and stops the pee from contacting the wood.


A few of months ago, I picked up a baby spider plant. Now its a lot bigger, I let Archimedes have a little play with it for the first time last night. It seemed to be a hit. Although the spider plant is now missing a leaf and there's muddy paw prints on my sofa :P
Plant 1.jpg

Plant 2.jpg


Anyways, untill little one causes more chaos.
Morgan & Archimedes

[dreamtree1234]

Yes, I did notice that the water bottle wasn't empty and, in the fourth pic, there was some food in the bowl. I had no idea that you were "supposedly hamster-less" at the time that you posted pics of Archimedes's cage and was waiting to give the big, introductory reveal now, lol. Congrats on choosing each other!!! Archimedes is just TOO precious and cute; I can totally understand falling in love at first sight with that mischievous face! That first pic is just so priceless, and he just oozes so much charisma and charm. I love that he is extremely sweet but a bit naughty, too. I'm sorry, but I just have to laugh that he made such a mess of your sofa with his sand from the sand bath, lol. At least be thankfully that he didn't use that opportunity to play Houdini and give you the ultimate hide-n-seek game; that could last hours. I'm glad that his taming is going so well, and he is potty trained now. Have fun with him; I look forward to hearing all about his next grand adventures and seeing more gorgeous pics of him so I can ooh and awe over his cuteness.

[BorisPasha]

Congrats on Archimedes, I can understand why you fell in love with him

[cypher]

Hello Archimedes
He looks adorable!

[mlwinters]

Thanks folks, I am so happy I got him, he is such a cute-ickle-devil, but a sensitive cute-ickle-devil. Archimedes is still quite shy, he hates loud noises and doesn't like being told what to do. This alone makes me glad I got him. I would hate to imagine what would have happend if he was given to a small child. He has also made it clear that he needs the size of cage that I gave him, any smaller and I think I would drove him nuts.

Originally Posted by dreamtree1234

Yes, I did notice that the water bottle wasn't empty and, in the fourth pic, there was some food in the bowl. I had no idea that you were "supposedly hamster-less" at the time that you posted pics of Archimedes's cage and was waiting to give the big, introductory reveal now, lol. Congrats on choosing each other!!! Archimedes is just TOO precious and cute; I can totally understand falling in love at first sight with that mischievous face! That first pic is just so priceless, and he just oozes so much charisma and charm. I love that he is extremely sweet but a bit naughty, too. I'm sorry, but I just have to laugh that he made such a mess of your sofa with his sand from the sand bath, lol. At least be thankfully that he didn't use that opportunity to play Houdini and give you the ultimate hide-n-seek game; that could last hours. I'm glad that his taming is going so well, and he is potty trained now. Have fun with him; I look forward to hearing all about his next grand adventures and seeing more gorgeous pics of him so I can ooh and awe over his cuteness.

Hehe, those pictures of my cage your talking about were taken the day I got Archimedes (27/02/1. I removed the sticks, adjusted a couple other things, made sure there was enough food/water/toilet paper and went to pick him up. I didn't post the first cage post untill 9/3/18.
I'm slowly revealing my master plan...master plan of what, I'm still trying to work that one out, lol.

Thanks, he is just the cutest little fluffball. He does some really funny and daft things sometimes. You hit the nail on the head dreamtree1234, "extremely sweet but a bit naughty", I couldn't agree more .

Since his introduction to the spider plant went so well, its now a part of his normal playtime. I put in on the sofa, against the armrest so he can climb in and out when ever he want. He does have a habbit though of hiding pumpkin and sunflower seeds in the soil. Finding and taking them out after is a pain but I dont want pumpkins in his spider plant.

Lol oh trust me, I swear he's got Houdini in his blood. I have to watch him like a hawk whenever he's out of his cage. He's determined to get into the sofa by any means he can. I'm forever digging him out from between the cushions. I keep telling him, "On the sofa Archimedes, not in the sofa", he never listens though :P. Luckily I'v managed to get him before he gets too deep so far but its only a matter on time before he out-smarts me somehow.

His taming is coming alone slowly but surely. I still avoid moving suddenly, making loud noises or appearing out of nowhere so I dont spook/freak him out. Archimedes is the first animal I'v ever tamed so it has been as much of a learning curve for me as it has been for him. Also being a pet shop hamster, (I'm just guessing here) taming was never going to be a 2 second job anyway. I knew it would take months and indeed that is the case. But he is coming alone nicely. Archimedes almost litter trained himself, I just encouraged him to use the ice cream tray. He still poos whenever and wherever he needs to, strangely though, never on me, always on the sofa or in his spider plant but never on me, that's not a compliant, just an observation.


Ok here is a couple more cutey-pie pictures:
Hi.JPG
Archimedes being cheeky in his spider plant...again.
Notice the state of his paws...

Yummy.JPG
Yummy.
Don't worry, I don't let him eat too much. He only munches it rather than full on eating it. He mainly likes tearing it to shreds.

What Was That.JPG
My computer pinged at me, Archimedes doesn't like it. Stood like this like a few seconds and then ran behind me and sat there for a minute before coming back out.

Sand.JPG
I keep the sanitised sand in a storage box which I then put on the sofa for playtime for a digging pit. It also helps get his scent get on it so its easier on him when I clean out his litter tray and sand bath.


This thread was just to introduce you to Archimedes, I will no long post updates to this thread but rather make a new thread in the coming days, my logic will become clear then.

Thanks again for your kinda words and I hope you liked the pictures .
Take Care
Morgan + Archimedes

[dreamtree1234]

Aww, totally love Archimedes's charming and playful personality and absolutely gorgeous and adorable pics! He sure seems to love his spider plant; however, I'm not too sure that the plant is too thrilled, lol. This is just so cute and makes me laugh. As far as him getting into your sofa, I always use a very big blanket or sheet to completely cover my sofa so Eros can't get into the leather sofa or between all of the cushions. This may help you, but you still will have to be watchful since hams can easily climb the blanket/sheet and made their grand escape that way.

I can't wait to see what your "master plan" is whenever you figure that one out, lol. Have fun with your little darling!!!

[mlwinters]

Originally Posted by dreamtree1234

Aww, totally love Archimedes's charming and playful personality and absolutely gorgeous and adorable pics! He sure seems to love his spider plant; however, I'm not too sure that the plant is too thrilled, lol. This is just so cute and makes me laugh. As far as him getting into your sofa, I always use a very big blanket or sheet to completely cover my sofa so Eros can't get into the leather sofa or between all of the cushions. This may help you, but you still will have to be watchful since hams can easily climb the blanket/sheet and made their grand escape that way.

I can't wait to see what your "master plan" is whenever you figure that one out, lol. Have fun with your little darling!!!

I'm glad he is starting to come out of his shell now, it took a while but I'm happy to go at what speed he's happy with. Lol I got the spider plant just for him, I'm not a plant person, so it was a very well spent £1.59. I did have a fleece blanket on the sofa but he start chewing it so I took it off, but a bed sheet could work I guess. I'll give it a try later and report back.
I always watch him like a hawk whatever's he's out, there's too many dangerous things in the living room to risk him running around on the floor. On the sofa or anywhere in the hallway then yes, not the living room floor though. If I need to do something with his main cage, I place his travel cage on the sofa, wait till he climbs in and shut the door. I don't trust him on his own for more than 30 seconds. As mentioned, its only a matter of time before he tries a Houdini impersonation.

Don't worry its all coming very soon hehehehe :P

[dreamtree1234]

Lol, I have a spider plant as well, but Eros has never been close to it. I love all of my different plants and have names for each of them. I know that I'm a bit silly, lol. My spider plant's name is Deku since it reminds me of Zelda's deku shrub character with all of its spiky leaves sprouting out from its head and falling in every direction, lol.

I hope that the bed sheet works for you since hams always tend to enjoy crawling swiftly into all of the craziest places on sofas otherwise.

You sure know how to keep the suspense going!!! I look forward to it being revealed, lol.

[mlwinters]

It's not silly at all, I have names for odd things. The spider plant I have in my flat is Archimedes's, he might have a name for it but since I can't ask him if/what he's called it, its just "the spider plant".

Bed Sheet.jpg
Thanks for the bed sheet tip. It worked like a dream, it stopped him from being able to chew the cushions or get inside. Thanks for that .

[dreamtree1234]

I'm so glad that the bed sheet worked so well. Happy 6-months Birthday, Archimedes!!!!