Hammy, in cage!

[KimOrbit]

Today, my father bought me that cage. I know that was small, but it was better than a basket.

I followed some of your Ideas and Hints and warnings. and her is the result:

I have removed those bar floors. I have replaced them with MDF wood.
I tried to fill Hammy's chick and send her into tubes. luckily she can pass through them and I think at least now they are safe for her.
Cage had a special water bottle connected to it. then dont worry about water of Hammy now :)
I checked hammy inside the wheel. now Hammy is a child and she was just good in that wheel. but Hammy didn't run in the wheel :(

Here is some photo:

[kirst]

It looks really good with that wood, Kim! Good work :D
I'm just wondering, what else are you feeding Hammy? Other than Sunflower seeds? :)

[KimOrbit]

:) apple and carrot and walnut and some hazelnut.

[KimOrbit]

but they are not in her new food plate now, I will put some now. thank you that you remind me.

[Mikayla]

Kim, where are you from? There's probably commercial mixes available.

[starbug]

When you go to the vet tomorrow, ask them which food they recommend. They should be able to tell you where to find a good food mix.

[KimOrbit]

I am living in Iran. and the answer is "YES" I have found commercial mixes for hamsters that I will buy them tomorrow. today I was busy with cage.

[Mikayla]

That's great, it'll give more variety. I imagine you don't have the best selection of...anything hamster in Iran. :)

[kyrilliondaemon]

Kim - Make sure you do get the commercial mix asap please. The diet Hammy is on for too long will end up with her seriously, seriously ill.

And try and learn to multitask maybe? Like buy a cage, buy food at the same time, and then fix the cage?
Or even better - buy a hamster, temp cage (at worst), and food, bedding and substrate all at once. It makes for a much healthier happier hamster. Even if the cage is a bad one.

Congrats on the cage, its nicely done with the shelves :)
And I'm sorry to be mentioning improvements in virtually every post, I'm just worried about Hammy. Have been for days. Its a sad fact that I was even half-expecting the vet visit to end up needed, I just hoped she'd be sorted out before it got to that.

[KimOrbit]

=)) sam you have made me laugh hardly :) Im typing hardly while laughing. as you know girls has multitasking in normal way ;) but as I mentioned my father bought the cage and he know nothing about hamsters. imagine, he calls my Hammy "golden rat" :) then how can I expect him to buy food today?? I was dealing with finding a beautiful wood for shelves and cutting them by my hands. and I had a 3 hour mathematics class and a 2 hour physics class. then I had a busy day :) and about buying every thing at once is a good Idea in a country where there are special PET stores not BIRD stores. can you believe that I have found Hammy hardly in a BIRD store?? there were nothing about hamsters and I was concerned about bumplefood before buying Hammy. then I couldn't buy a bird cage for her due to those Bar floors.
and as I mentioned I have found that food mix hardly. Im seeking every thing all over a big city. the city where I live in is the 3rd big city of Iran. then It was too hard for me ;)

[Mikayla]

I'm going to post that website here for you too :) http://www.hamster-iran.ir/

[kyrilliondaemon]

Yes I know you've been busy.
But seriously, Hammy is ill and it may well be your fault.
We make our lives hell to fit in everything the hamsters need sometimes, we devote entire days to getting and sorting their food when needed.
Devoted an entire week to finding a pet store with a cage suitable for our russians when they needed a new one.
I'm on a strict med schedule and frankly it goes out of the window when our pets need something. Why? Because their health comes first.
We had a billion other things to do when we devoted that time to the hamsters but we fitted it all in (e.g I went from a job interview to about half a dozen pet shops spread over more than 2 hours driving distance), and last night I had about 4.5 hours sleep fitting in work and hamster stuff, but its what I had to do for the hamsters so it was done. End of.

You should try and get the same attitude, or Hammy will never live the life she could.

[KimOrbit]

:D the I will be pleased more

[Eleanor]

Yes I know you've been busy.
But seriously, Hammy is ill and it may well be your fault.
We make our lives hell to fit in everything the hamsters need sometimes, we devote entire days to getting and sorting their food when needed.
Devoted an entire week to finding a pet store with a cage suitable for our russians when they needed a new one.
I'm on a strict med schedule and frankly it goes out of the window when our pets need something. Why? Because their health comes first.
We had a billion other things to do when we devoted that time to the hamsters but we fitted it all in (e.g I went from a job interview to about half a dozen pet shops spread over more than 2 hours driving distance), and last night I had about 4.5 hours sleep fitting in work and hamster stuff, but its what I had to do for the hamsters so it was done. End of.

You should try and get the same attitude, or Hammy will never live the life she could.

There's really no need to be so mean about it. For us, it's a case of simply driving to a pet shop but it's a lot harder for her.
She's doing the best she can and is worried for her hamster. She knows to get a hamster mix and is trying to do so, why bully her about it?

[Jodzie04]

You are definitely doing your best for your hamster and by just coming on here and seeking advice and listening to the advice you have made your hamster much happier I am sure!

[KimOrbit]

Sam, thank you. I will change the way of my life. hmm, you are right. but on the other hand Im doing my best to make Hammy the best life that she can have.

[LawaRawr]

alot of us can see you are truly trying to get things sorted for hammy it must not be easy compared to us who live in the uk, we have alot of pet shops and online shops. you have done a great job so far, we will all help you to the best of out ability, i hope you manage to find some food mix for her too. she is a lovely hamster :)

[kyrilliondaemon]

There's really no need to be so mean about it. For us, it's a case of simply driving to a pet shop but it's a lot harder for her.
She's doing the best she can and is worried for her hamster. She knows to get a hamster mix and is trying to do so, why bully her about it?

I swear I'm not trying to bully her, but the entire thing has shocked me with the way Hammy has been living. I know its unusually difficult for her, and its great she's on here for advice, but I find it hard to believe that she's been doing what she has and seems ok with it taking a while to improve. I'm really worried about that hamster, but yeah I guess she is trying... So I'm sorry for my posts and will try and be nicer in future.
Thanks for bringing it up anyway :)

Kim - Good luck with Hammy, the cage e.t.c. I hope she gets on a good diet soon. And hey, at least shes out of the basket lol

[starbug]

Kim, I think we're all working towards the same goal, which is to help you look after Hammy in the best way possible. You're making good progress with the cage and the vet's visit, plus ordering food from the website. Keep coming back here if you have any more questions or need help.

[KimOrbit]

hmm, all I can say is thank you ladies and gentlemen.

and Sam, please dont be sad. Im so pessimist that your posts didn't make me sad a bit. Im sure you love all the hamsters of the world. and Mine which is more cute :P :D be sure I will do my best. and I love your last sentence, At least she is out of her cage :D

[newham]

wow nice work on the conversion work and excellent work with the mdf

[Jodzie04]

but the entire thing has shocked me with the way Hammy has been living.

It is a sad fact that there are hamsters out there which are probably without water, food or a home so this hamster is a lot better off them lots of others! Sorry but you make it sound like it's neglected when actually she is improving things constantly for the hamster and has listened to ALL the advice!
If you look at the cage she has brought lots of people will use that as their cage for the whole of the hamsters life but she is going to make a bigger one.
By the sounds of it, hamsters aren't treated very well in her country so I think she is doing a great job.

Anyone who comes on here (I think) are here for a good reason and that is to get advice and anyone who does that WANTS to improve their hamsters life!

[KimOrbit]

I am punishing Hammy each time she chews a bar. she has stopped it for now. but will it work forever after?

[kyrilliondaemon]

Jodzie - Yeah, so that one is in bad conditions with an owner who cares enough to avoid it.

And Kim - Punishing probably isn't the best way to teach her, I don't punish my pets when teaching them so I don't know if it will stop her forever.
Oh and nope, our lot are way cuter :p

[KimOrbit]

:'( Hammy is huffing. she went to her bedding, she is not sleeping and she is not getting out :( I think I had not to punish her.

how can I solve it???

[kyrilliondaemon]

Its better to just distract her attention. Thread paper or card through the bars where she chews, and distract her with something else to do instead if possible.
We've been distracting our syrian by encouraging her to dig (we bury half her daily food and she has to dig to find it), and by giving her other things to chew. We've also made sure she had her wheel easily accessible, but Hammy might have to wait for that one.

[KimOrbit]

she has a wheel now, I agree that its small, but Its enough for her now. And its completely accessible in the cage. but she gets in and after few seconds she gets out, without rolling the wheel :( but digging was a good Idea. but how can I get her trust again?? she is Huffing :(

[kyrilliondaemon]

Er... What did you do to punish her?

[KimOrbit]

nothing. I only put my hand where she was chewing. last time my hand touched her nose. only that.

[kyrilliondaemon]

Good good
Then she should calm down and come to trust you again in time anyway. She just probably wasn't fully tame so has reacted more badly than she would have if she were more tame.

[KimOrbit]

hmm, thank you so much.

its 4:06AM now and I want to sleep now. well, Hammy is sleeping too and in this situation I will hear no nose of chewed bars :)

Sam, I have a good news for you. Tonight hammy trusted the water bottle and ate lots of water. then you can keep calm :) and thank you that your are concerned about Hammy. Please dont make your self Sad. because All you did was doing your best to make bests for Hammy :) then in this case non of your posts made me sad. but first night a little, cause I have mentioned, I had cried in that night because you showed me that Hammy is not happy in that basket :) but thank you so much. :KISS: :KISS from Hammy: :)

have a wonderful day

[kyrilliondaemon]

Good :)
Its nice she is drinking now, and I am sorry for upsetting you but hamsters really shouldn't be in baskets.
Have a good day trying her on her new food tomorrow.

[Hamtastic]

Kim, I think you're doing very well for being completely new to hamsters! On behalf of your Hammy, I'd like to thank you for registering here and asking all these questions! One day you will look back and remember these days when you were just learning! I remember my first week with my two roborovski hamsters, and I was so scared to do anything wrong, while I did not know very much. In the next few months, I improved their food and living areas a great deal, and in retrospect it was extremely helpful to read posts here and see how experienced hamster owners keep their hamsters. So keep reading, look around various subforums here (like housing, health, and nutrition), and eventually you'll feel confident!

[KimOrbit]

hmm, thank you so much. I will read sub forums soon.

and I have lots of good news that I will post them in "Hammy is getting strange" :)