Moo had his first taste of free roaming the other night. I thought he had seemed a bit older and slower recently and reckon he is at least 18 months old. Anyway he proved me completely wrong and was extremely active out of the cage and did some very vigorous attempts at scaling my barriers (there was another line of defence behind it!) and climbing up onto his cage stand (which is quite low) Much more active than Pickle actually. So he still has plenty of energy! He enjoyed it so much he keeps coming to the door for more - but then sometimes changes his mind when he smells food - so that will be a regular thing.
He got very interested when Pickle was trying out his new cage before I moved Pickle. I had it on the floor near the other two cages - it was quite close to Moo's cage and Pickle was running around inside it. Moo came right to the bars and sniffed a lot, got a bit excited and seemed very keen to get out. Not sure if it was - hey pal - or - I want to get out and have a fight. So I moved Pickle further away in case it was the latter!
Moo and Pickle were both out at the same time snacking and drinking last night. Here's Moo. I am absolutely sold on front opening door cages again - you can get so close to the hamsters in their environment and they get used to it.
Attachment 50143
Attachment 50144