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Holly
06-12-2007, 02:13 AM
Just wondered if it really is this easy to tell if a female hamster is on heat????

Last night was the third night I've shared a room with our 8 week old female Syrian and Mocha, our seven month old male. They are on opposite sides of the room but can obviously smell each other. I hadn't noticed anything different about Mocha's behaviour since getting the new female - until I switched the light off last night at about 10.30 pm!

They both went nuts :shock: ....both of them were running all over thier cages frantically and squeaking (I think it was both of them but it may have just been the female) like a pair of winter whites. Mocha is usually quite laid-back - he was climbing the walls.

Is this likely to be because she was on heat? I moved her in the end and they both settled down....

Basia
06-12-2007, 02:25 AM
Could well be Holly. If you stroke her back she will stick her tail up in the air.
My males don't seem so bothered any more but they were a bit hyper when I first got Fuzzy which made me think she probably was a girl. She has always been super hyper and so is Berry. They desparately want to come out of their cages whenever they are awake.
Sounds like you are having fun!

souffle
06-12-2007, 03:43 AM
Sounds like she was for sure. We can always tell when it is one of the girls 'night' as Nelson and Paws are always up and running like crazy on their wheels and acrobating from the roof. Much more active than normal. The females also get up earlier and make a huge effort to escape :oops: Sonni has got out a couple of times and it has always been on her 'night'. Poor Mocha he is desparate :roll: They will lick your hands after handling the girly even if you wash. Nelson and Paws might even try a little mating practice and get IT out which is somewhat embarassing.
The females smell the least on their receptive night we find. (to humans but not boy hammies obviously). I haven't heard them squeak though. Maybe she is in love with Mocha. :oops: The discharge is clear, not sort of sticky yellow liike the other nights.

Holly
06-12-2007, 04:23 AM
The females also get up earlier and make a huge effort to escape :oops: Sonni has got out a couple of times and it has always been on her 'night'.

This is what worried me - I put an extra clip on her door, escapes are all the more worrying now :?

I think I'll move her on these nights - it'll upset both her and Moxy less, I think, if they can't smell each other. Will it now be every 4th night from lat night or can it change???

souffle
06-12-2007, 05:39 AM
It should be every 4th night but sometimes they do vary a bit and miss a few days. He may just have got the scent now and will settle down once he is used to it.

lau200
06-12-2007, 07:51 AM
i have to admit it's difficult for me to tell when my girls are on heat. the only time i did notice was when my robo Urkel was in the same room as them and they both went mad running round and biting the bars and squeaking. since he moved out of that room i can't tell!

Holly
06-12-2007, 02:42 PM
I'm keeping everything crossed I don't get a repeat performance tonight. I do love having Caramel and Moxy in with me but obviously won't do it if it's upsetting them both....not to mention keeping me awake :?

Basia
06-12-2007, 03:12 PM
You called her Caramel - good choice. :P
Hope she doesn't decide to bar chew like Berry. The Rex has made little difference to her bar chewing because she is so big she can easily reach the bars on the top, she also hangs from them like a monkey and when she falls off it's not quiet!
My boys definitely don't react like they did when I first had Fuzzy. I have to say of all of them though, Sid is the worst - perhaps it's a grey thing....

souffle
06-13-2007, 12:19 AM
If Ours bar chew at the top of the Gabber we put large tiles smooth side down over the platform side and weight them down so they cant get their noses through. They give up eventually!

Holly
06-13-2007, 02:48 AM
Things were better last night - not a peep out of Caramel, though Mocha has started being a bit naughty again, it seems...



Hope she doesn't decide to bar chew like Berry. The Rex has made little difference to her bar chewing because she is so big she can easily reach the bars on the top, she also hangs from them like a monkey and when she falls off it's not quiet!

Mocha's bar chewing is becoming a problem again, since getting Caramel (well, actually since the night before last). I have been putting heavy books onto the back part of the grill (he can only reach the bars above where the shelf is) and it seemed to deter him for a while. However last night he chewed through one of my books and began gnawing again :cry:

It drove me absolutely nuts and I'm ashamed to say that I removed his shelf at about 4am so that I could get some sleep. I've put it back now with some tiles covering the back bit. The problem is I have no means of cutting them to fit in between the bars that run the other way - so they wobble and I think he'll still be able to chew.

I've had what might be a brainwave though:

What about a row of roof runs (do an ebay search - I can't seem to do links today) along the back above the shelf in the Rex? That would be like blocking access to the bars from within rather than without - and give them something extra to play on. I've worked out that you would need six of them to completely cover the shelf area - expensive if it doesn't work out as they are 1.99 each plus postage......

Basia
06-13-2007, 04:10 PM
I am very reluctant to cover up the wire grill with anything, especially at this time of year, because the thing that bothers me with the gabber rex cage is possible heatstroke.
Many years ago I lost a pair of chinchillas to heatstroke and more recently a lovely dwarf doe who had babies in the nest. Luckily I did manage to hand rear the babies but I could easily have lost them too. It is absolutely devastating to lose an animal this way and I always take care to keep my animals as cool as possible. I think that this is the reason I am not particularly keen on the gabber rex.

Holly
06-13-2007, 11:01 PM
That's very sad, Basia...but I have the opposite problem and I'm paranoid about keeping them warm and out of draughts in winter - probably why I love the Gabber Rex so much!

We have a rather inefficent boiler and it's very hard to keep the house warm in winter so I love the tank-type features of the Rex. Right now the four hammies in the Rex cages are all tucked away in corners of my west facing bedroom which has dark curtains and is cool all day until about 5 pm when the sun moves round. I leave a window open and a fan on in the evenings - and a good thing with the tiles on top of the cage is that I can take them off during the day anyway - he doesn't bar chew when he's asleep! Even at night they only cover less than a third of the grill area anyway - as he can only reach the roof in the two rear corners above where the shelf is at it's widest.

I think I'm going to try the roof run thing anyway - they are circular so, though they block his access to the roof, they'll actually leave more bars open to the air anyway.

souffle
06-14-2007, 12:16 AM
I think that there is plenty air through the Gabber even with half the bars covered. Ours make 'summer nests' in the other corner of the tunnel bit which are more open if it is warmer. They never seem to suffer from the heat. With hamsters being so small they have a large surface area compared to their body volume so they lose heat quite quickly. Most hamsters I have heard to who have died of heat stroke have been in cars, sheds or in bright sunlight.
I am sorry to hear about your losses Basia. The mum must have been so dedicated to her litter she did not leave them even when getting too hot. Poor wee lamb. We did have an exceptionally hot time last summer and we are just not used to it really in the UK :cry:

Basia
06-14-2007, 02:55 AM
I think that there is plenty air through the Gabber even with half the bars covered. Ours make 'summer nests' in the other corner of the tunnel bit which are more open if it is warmer. They never seem to suffer from the heat. With hamsters being so small they have a large surface area compared to their body volume so they lose heat quite quickly. Most hamsters I have heard to who have died of heat stroke have been in cars, sheds or in bright sunlight.

That's a relief. Our house is fairly modern and belonged to an old couple before we had it who practically sealed it to keep it warm. It is a very warm house but I have the hamsters all over in different rooms at the moment to put them in 'cool' spots. I couldn't bear to lose another animal that way. The little rabbit was about 5 years ago Souffle but it was in a very hot spell and her babies were about 10 days old. She was an exceptionally good mother and I think it all got too much for her.
Sorry Holly - hijacking your thread :oops: