Introducing Alfie!

[AlfredHam]

I've finally managed to get some decent photos of Alfie, so I thought it was time to introduce him!
He's my first ever ham and he's been part of the family for two weeks now :D
I can see him developing his own little personality, he's definitely a greedy little man!
(Hoping the photos work!)

[SKB_Hamsters]

Alfie is so adorbable!

[AlfredHam]

That photo is huge :lol:#-o
I'll work on putting some smaller ones on :lol:

[AlfredHam]

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/image_zpsgp8vbuwk.jpeg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/image_zpsgp8vbuwk.jpeg.html)

[AlfredHam]

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/image_zps44mdareo.jpeg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/image_zps44mdareo.jpeg.html)
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/image_zps5ww78dd1.jpeg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/image_zps5ww78dd1.jpeg.html)

[bunerella]

Alfie is so cute!

[cypher]

He's lovely :)

[Pebbles82]

Ooh he is lovely - I really like his colouring - his dark head and white band :-) He's looking quite tame already.

On photobucket - if you click on a photo to open it there is a row of symbols appears top right if you move your mouse there - it tells you what each one is when you move your mouse over it. Click on 'edit' and a new row of symbols opens at the top (you need to wait a few seconds for it to open or they all move when you go to select one). Then select 'resize'. When the resize option opens you'll have two boxes with numbers in. Change the left hand set of numbers to 700 and the right hand box numbers will change automatically, then click on 'Apply' and then 'Save' and the resized photo will appear. You then click on the bottom link on the right and paste it on here, and the photo will fit the forum page :-) You'll end up with two copies of each photo in your library - the original one and the resized option. You can tell which is which by the description numbers. The original will have the file name from your camera (usually starts with a letter). The resized one will be a string of lower case numbers and letters. When you save there is an option to 'replace original'. I find this doesn't work and tends to crash the program. I either keep both or delete the original if I have it saved on my computer or camera before uploading.

[AlfredHam]

He is a sweetie! And the taming seems to be going well, he's quite happy for me to do his food and water whilst he's awake in his cage and loves climbing me in the bath - he did bite my toe yesterday, but I think he thought it was food! :lol:

Thanks for the photobucket tutorial serendipity :) , I'll have to try it on my laptop because the edit option seems to crash on the iPad! I downloaded the app which has helped, the first photos were huge!! But there's no resize option on there :(

[oddlyoblivious]

what a little puff ball! <3 He's so handsome!

[Thin Lizzy]

What a little Beauty! Love his colouring!
Congratulations on Alfie and being a first time hamster owner.

[flowerfairy]

Alfie is lovely. Congratulations.

[Taro]

Congrats!! Alfie is so so cute!

[AlfredHam]

Alfie says thank you!
We're hoping his new cage will be delivered tomorrow but zooplus delivery seems to take forever! His current one is a bit too small, but I think its helped with some of the taming process :)
He fell asleep under my leg yesterday during bath tub time, cuddled himself up in the towel and when I moved my leg he looked so cute!

[Pebbles82]

Aw that sounds lovely. He must feel very safe with you. Hope the new cage arrives soon. It's school holidays at the moment and I think things take a bit longer in the post sometimes then. I just had a parcel arrive a day late, after supposed to be being next day delivery. I also find Zooplus takes a while. They usually say 3 to 5 working days. In my case it has always been 5 working days, which means it could be 7 days if there's a week-end in the middle after ordering! They do post out from Germany, which is why it isn't that quick, but I've had Rodipet orders from Germany here in 3 days! Cages are larger items though so probably go via a different type of post/courier.

[CMB]

My Zooplus order only took 2 days :) I ordered EARLY, about 7am Thursday morning and it arrived Saturday at about 11am. It possibly depends on what time of day you order. As there will be a time of day when picking is too late to be shipped, so it goes the next day.

[flowerfairy]

Has his new cage arrived?

I love hamster cages. Looking forward to piccies.

[AlfredHam]

Aw that sounds lovely. He must feel very safe with you. .
But he hates my partner! Hides every time he comes in the room :lol:

I ordered the cage Monday morning so I was hoping it would be here today! Last dpd update is German distribution centre last night so could be the end of next week 😔

[Pebbles82]

That does sound a bit slow - but you might have it by Monday. The shipping bit could be quicker than the ordering bit!

Our hamster is a bit like that with my other half. He likes him if he sits still be doesn't like him walking in and out of the room (maybe the noises). He likes to sit under my other half's arm on the sofa (he has longer arms than me) - I think he thinks it's a shelf. And sits between us on the sofa because we're like two walls lol. So other half is fine as long as he doesn't move, then he becomes a big scary thing.

When Alfie is tame enough you could try him on the sofa with both of you on the sofa and he'll probably sit between you! When Charlie is a bit active he just climbs over both of us to get to the edge of the sofa and tries to jump off. And I have to retrieve him, but when he's that active I usually take him somewhere else or take him back to the cage. So cushions on the floor just in case he jumps.

[AlfredHam]

That's a good idea! I'll have to make super sure he's tame enough though, our house is so old and I'm sure there are a million holes he could hide in! Once I've finished all my uni work I'll try to start hamster proofing the room too :lol:
My partner is a chef so he's out early and back late, I just think he's not used to his presence yet as we've only had him two weeks :) he's still a fluffy baby and falls asleep after his ball and bathtub marathons, which are usually before my partner gets home so its not really surprising that he's so timid around him! I did suggest a fold away playpen last night but was firmly shot down :( (Old house = major storage issues!)

[CMB]

Under the sofa is a good place for a fold up playpen. Any gap between a wall and furniture can fit a playpen. Even a large playpen. :)

Homemade play pens are good too.

[AlfredHam]

That's what I said! I'll work on persuading him!
Hamster cage still hasn't arrived, annoyingly it's now in oldbury which is about an 1 1/2 hour drive from here! Fingers crossed for Monday!

[flowerfairy]

Yeah a fold up cardboard playnpen would be invisible. Make one and put it nder the sofa and see how long it is before your o h notices!!!

I am also waiting for a cage. Due tomorrow. Ooooooooo

[AlfredHam]

I am also waiting for a cage. Due tomorrow. Ooooooooo

I hope your cage arrives on time! Our hams could be moving together!

[AlfredHam]

Alfie's cage arrived! I'm slowly setting it up but I can't finish it until he's awake later in to put in the old substrate from his cage and all his toys and wheel!

[Pebbles82]

Ooh how exciting. Can't wait to see it. I usually get quite frazzled setting a cage up lol. Give yourself enough time :-) This is our playpen :-) Fits under the sofa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvXJ-Jbo0CM

[AlfredHam]

Ooh how exciting. Can't wait to see it. I usually get quite frazzled setting a cage up lol. Give yourself enough time :-) This is our playpen :-) Fits under the sofa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvXJ-Jbo0CM

That looks so good! It would just be much easier and nicer to not have to sit in the bathroom for an hour every evening! And he could have longer out of his cage!

I've done this much, I want his wheel in the back left corner and his sandbath needs filling with the old sand, plus a few more of his toys :D:D

[AlfredHam]

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/D72AE4B3-275C-4158-9F3F-EE60C0BEF593_zpsyogzweku.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/D72AE4B3-275C-4158-9F3F-EE60C0BEF593_zpsyogzweku.jpg.html)

[Pebbles82]

Looking good! You have lots of nice deep substrate in there and something to chew on while he's having a sand bath :-) Which wheel is it? I'd be a bit concerned about the hanging ladder toy though. Hammies can get their feet caught in chains and end up hanging by a leg and ladders are better filled in rather than open rungs.

I think taming is a bit easier in the bath than a playpen. Maybe have half hour sessions instead of an hour :-)

[cypher]

Not sure what else you have to put in there still but just wanted to say the hanging ladder toy thing could be a bit dangerous, the open rungs & chain can trap feet & it's very high up so a fall even on to substrate could be a problem. You would probably be better off getting a nice rat size cardboard tube & hanging that with ham safe string or pear clips & you'll have to think carefully & plan how Alfie will access it.

Cross posting with Serendipity again ;)

[AlfredHam]

Oh damn! Pet shop marketing fools me again! Could I replace the chains with sisal? So it dangles lower and gets rid of the chain? The rungs are really wide so shouldn't trap his feet, but I could fill them in with a bit of wood
It's a comfort wheel, he seems happy with it for now and after reading about the problems with the silent spinner on here I'm hesitant to change it right now, I quite like the wooden ones too but don't want to give him too much change at once

[cypher]

Pet shop marketing gets most of us at some point!
You could use string instead of the chains but rungs would still be a problem as they can slip through & they're not usually very comfortable using them. String/sisal can get chewed though so that's another possible accident waiting to happen if he chews it while on the ladder.

[AlfredHam]

Pet shop marketing gets most of us at some point!
You could use string instead of the chains but rungs would still be a problem as they can slip through & they're not usually very comfortable using them. String/sisal can get chewed though so that's another possible accident waiting to happen if he chews it while on the ladder.

Hmmm I'll get my crafty hat on cause he loves climbing! :mad:

[Pebbles82]

The comfort wheel should be fine and I think you can attach them to the bars too. They do like climbing sometimes but aren't very good at getting down again and tend to just drop so it's always good to have a soft landing, which you have with plenty of substrate. I like the rat sputniks (which you might have guessed by now lol). They hang down fairly low so if they jump out it's fine as long as there is nothing hard to land on, and then it gives them something to climb up to.

Our Syrian only ever seems to climb if a) he is looking for a way out - ie a door b) he is trying to get to some food or c) if there isn't access to something he is trying to get to - eg a bendy ladder or bridge.

You might find he doesn't climb so much with the Alaska if the door is on the front and not the top (or does it have a door on top as well?)

You could maybe have another bendy stick ladder - like the one you have at the back - leading up to an entrance on a sputnik.

Rat Rations sell the sputniks a bit cheaper than Amazon and you can choose your own top and bottom colour.

Sputnik - XL - £4.99 : ratRations.com (http://www.ratrations.com/sputnik-xl-p-992.html)

This is how it looked in Charlie's old cage and his new one. It gives them a kind of roof run as well if you have a tube going out of the other side of it. My roof run leads from the sputnik to a shelf (and in his old cage it led to his house roof). I had it hung at the front near the door and he used to like to get in and out of the cage through it.

[Pebbles82]

If you had one front left you could maybe have another bendy bridge over the sand bath, which would lead up to one of the entrance holes and make the sand bath kind of cosy. Just a thought - I don't know what other toys you have from his old cage.

[AlfredHam]

Hmm I might make a pets at home visit in a bit, see if I can pick one up, they sell them online so might have some in store

[AlfredHam]

I got a Sputnik, but I can't make it fit properly yet, I'm a bit concerned about the stability! I need to get a nice big bendy bridge for it to work I think, the one I got is a bit small. I also bought a floor bridge thing which is going straight back because it just collapsed when I tried to stabilise it in the substrate, not risking it collapsing with Alfie on it!

[AlfredHam]

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/D18EEEE4-6DFE-4C3E-AACF-594B275B3E55_zpslyzautya.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/D18EEEE4-6DFE-4C3E-AACF-594B275B3E55_zpslyzautya.jpg.html)

[CMB]

The Sputnik looks ok. It may be more stable on the floor for the moment. You could even have two. One on the floor and one attached to the roof. See how he likes the first one.

As he is a Syrian he may be big enough to get in it when it's attached to the roof already, especially as it is over the shelf.

[AlfredHam]

He's still quite small, and if I attach it to there I won't be able to use the door :(
I'll have a Rejig when he decides to wake up! Still waiting to move all his stuff over!

[CMB]

if it's not too stressful to the hamster. Swap the shelf to the left hand side. Hang the Sputnik on the roof if it will fit (above the shelf. The hanging ladder could be reached from the shelf and a bendy bridge or something at the end of the hanging bridge as a way to climb down. Like you have at the moment.

The hanging bridge could be changed for a large cardboard tube or large plastic tube if you are worried it could be dangerous or you may be able to adjust it to make it safe.

[AlfredHam]

Shelf won't fit there either because of the door positioning! Stupid doors! I think I'll just get a medium bendy bridge and do similar the back one over the sand bath like serendipity suggested, the positioning on this cage is silly! It's fairly stable where it is in the photo, there's no chance of him knocking it anywhere or it falling on him! I want to get him a flat roof house to replace the shelf at some point and he doesn't seem to mind change too much so I'll give it a few weeks then shift things slightly again.

[Pebbles82]

I don't think the sputnik will be very stable on the shelf. I found it only partly goes over the door - which works quite well as then the hamster can get out directly from the sputnik onto your hand or whatever. You could forget the bendy bridge at that end and hang the sputnik over towards the left side (he can use the bars to get in that side) and just have it partly over the door :-) It would then be hanging over the sand bath, which he'd probably like as then it will have a bit of a roof over it. You don't actually need access to it if it is near the side - I had mine like that at one point and Charlie just climbed the bars to get into it. And jumped out of the other side onto the substrate :rolleyes:

Or just ignore us and do your own thing! I'm sure it'll be fine as long as the hanging ladder goes lol.

[CMB]

How about the pot in the back left moves and the Sputnik hanging from the roof in that back left corner. The shelf in the back left corner under the Sputnik or moved slightly to access the Sputnik. A shelf on the back wall to join the left shelf to the right shelf.

[AlfredHam]

Ladder is gone! He loves the Sputnik though, I'll hang it tomorrow and leave it as is tonight.
He loves his cage, he's been playing quite happily all evening so I'm really pleased �� I was planning on leaving him to settle for a couple of days but as soon as I walked past the cage he was up at the bars wanting a cuddle so I got him out and he seemed so happy! http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/D1263F7F-788D-45B7-A98A-240E07BC5D18_zpsckmq1iip.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/D1263F7F-788D-45B7-A98A-240E07BC5D18_zpsckmq1iip.jpg.html)

[Pebbles82]

Great news :-) Glad he loves it. Where did he make his nest? Don't worry if the initial excitement turns into being a bit reclusive for a few days, they still need time to familiarise with the cage and scent mark everything. After you hang the sputnik I wouldn't move too much for the next week maybe or it might stress him out a bit. Hanging it next to the shelf could be good as that's quite close to where it is now and provides access at one side - and then it won't block the door :-)

You could add the occasional thing after a few days, but best not to take anything out or move other things around now he is in there.

[AlfredHam]

I put his nest where his old one was playing under the shelf at the back and he seems happy with it there, he's done a bit of rearranging but it's stayed in the same place ��

[Pebbles82]

That sounds good. I'm glad Alfie is happy in his new cage :-) I bet he thinks it's Christmas lol.

[flowerfairy]

Glad he likes his new cage and still wanted to come out and see you, aww.

[AlfredHam]

I've got a bendy bridge! So the Sputnik is now suspended! The left side of his cage looks really bare now though so I might put the funny cat house thing back in where the Sputnik was, or move his food bowl up there http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/A9D4F513-CB89-4C87-95A3-46CC541A17B5_zpsticb1wzi.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/A9D4F513-CB89-4C87-95A3-46CC541A17B5_zpsticb1wzi.jpg.html)

[CMB]

I wouldn't put he house back it looks too small. The Sputnik is good and the bendy bridge.

[Pebbles82]

That looks good. I have mine hung the other way round so one of the openings is in front of the door :-) But maybe you have it that way to fit with the bendy bridge.

I put an extra narrowish shelf along the back wall of Charlie's cage so it didn't look to bare on that side - his cage is about the same height as yours.

I'm sure it will evolve over time - my first proper cage did :-)

[AlfredHam]

If I can modify the ladder I might pop it back the weekend, he loves chewing the bridges though! So far not a single bar nibble either which is so nice because he has the beginnings of a bald patch on his little nose and I was worried about the damage he might do to his teeth :( I found a lovely pet shop today with loads of good hammy toys. Disappointed by the range of cages though, the biggest one they had was Alfie's old one, at least p@h do the hamster heaven! No wheels bigger than about 6" either but all their toys and houses look really good, they had a really lovely flat top wooden house which I will definitely be going back for at a later date, I drive past it all the time and have never had time to make the detour so I'm glad I did!

[AlfredHam]

Alfie says:
'I love my new cage and I especially love my Sputnik, thank you everyone for helping my human make it so lovely'
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/D015D75D-E3B4-4AFD-AA1D-7A6AC768C675_zpseab4w7ph.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/D015D75D-E3B4-4AFD-AA1D-7A6AC768C675_zpseab4w7ph.jpg.html)

[cypher]

Aww! That's good to hear :)

[Pebbles82]

Ooh it's lovely to see him in there! I used to put a treat in ours occasionally to tempt Charlie in there when he didn't use it much at first, but looks like Alfie has decided he likes it!

I can't remember what substrate you have - looks like Fitch or Carefresh? Anyway if it's one of those then you could maybe put a bit in the bottom of the sputnik. It sort of makes it slightly less big inside and cosier as well. I've often come down at night and found Charlie curled up napping in his Sputnik. I put a circle of hemp mat in the base of his, because I had a big hemp mat, but it's maybe not worth buying one specially. I put Fitch in it in the Summer when he found the hemp mat a bit too warm.

[AlfredHam]

At the moment it's a mix of carefresh and kiln dried wood shavings, I'm slowly making the swap over but didn't want to do a mass change with the cage change too as it thought it might be a bit stressful, I've got some shredded paper bedding that I might put in there :)

[Pebbles82]

Sounds good. I had a mix of Fitch and shavings for quite some time until it all got changed over gradually.

[AlfredHam]

ive heard so many mixed things about shavings so I wish I could just do a big change, I'd rather have something that there was no uncertainty about! He seems to cope really well with change though, he settled after about 2 days when we brought him home and now he's got the big door he'll walk straight out onto my hands in the evening which is so nice because I didn't trust him enough to do it in the smaller cage, he's much more relaxed now :)

[pinkneon]

Oh he is adorable! And so fluffy!!

[AlfredHam]

Alfie here:
Thanks pinkneon, I spend a large amount of time cleaning my fur and making sure I'm the fluffiest I can possibly be! I love a soothing wash at all points of the day, especially after a delicious meal worm :)

[pinkneon]

I've never tried mealworms to be honest ... They kind of freak me out!

[AlfredHam]

We only have freeze dried ones in this house, The packet rustling encourages a bit less laziness too - he's only just got out of bed!

[Pebbles82]

A few shavings mixed in will be fine :-) Because I only ever change half the substrate when I do a clean it was ages before it was all Fitch. After about 6 months I replaced all the substrate one time, and it went ok as I didn't clean his wheel or nest or anything else, although Charlie was a bit 'edgy' for a while as everything smelled different.

[AlfredHam]

A few shavings mixed in will be fine :-) Because I only ever change half the substrate when I do a clean it was ages before it was all Fitch. After about 6 months I replaced all the substrate one time, and it went ok as I didn't clean his wheel or nest or anything else, although Charlie was a bit 'edgy' for a while as everything smelled different.

That's good to know :) he does seem to be coping well with the change, he's so much more friendly too now, earlier he was in his ball and ran straight into my outstretched hand, I moved it in case it was fluke and he followed it! He also likes to rest right by me next to the sofa instead of in the corner like he used to :) I fell asleep by accident last night before my partner got home and when I woke up he was sat next to me in his ball having a little sleep too, so cute! But I felt so guilty for leaving him in there for longer than I should have :oops:

[Thin Lizzy]

Love Alfie's new cage and glad he loves his sputnik, with my cage I have 2 rat size sputniks with a rat tube in between them and Twinkle loves it!

[AlfredHam]

Love Alfie's new cage and glad he loves his sputnik, with my cage I have 2 rat size sputniks with a rat tube in between them and Twinkle loves it!

Oh that sounds good! I don't think I can get another rat one in there because of the top door, I might try for the hamster one at some point though! :)

[Pebbles82]

I find that when they come to you in the ball it's a sign they might want to come out of it - otherwise they just roll around exploring. It's best not to let them be in it for more than 15 minutes at a time really as well. Glad he is doing so well.

[AlfredHam]

I find that when they come to you in the ball it's a sign they might want to come out of it - otherwise they just roll around exploring. It's best not to let them be in it for more than 15 minutes at a time really as well. Glad he is doing so well.

we normally only do 20 minutes in the lead up to free play in the bath tub so I can spot clean the cage, he's a lazy boy so likes a little rest in between exploration sessions. He seems to really enjoy the area by the kitchen bin and the gap between the corner sofa and the coffee table (open plan). He also likes attempting to get over the door ledge into the conservatory, he's started taking a run up now instead of running backwards and forwards to try and get himself in! If he was in there much longer I'd be up til 1.30am as I like to give him a minimum of an hour in the bath. Once he's had bath time I put him back in his ball to take him downstairs then pop him back in his cage, I put fresh veg and maybe a little chunk of cheese or a couple of mealworms in to encourage him out of his ball - if he had his way he'd have another run around before bed time!

[Thin Lizzy]

Oh that sounds good! I don't think I can get another rat one in there because of the top door, I might try for the hamster one at some point though! :)

I have a top door on my cage, I use the other door at the front of the cage. Twinkle likes to be high up and this way I know she's safe.

[AlfredHam]

Alfie does love his Sputnik, so that's a possibility - I just like having both doors, although I guess since I put everything in it it's quite rare that I use the top one, normally just for quick access in the day to tidy it or do his food bowl as it's the quieter of the two doors!
I've just treated him to a silent runner! I think if he grows much more he won't fit in his current wheel so thought I'd act before it becomes a desperate situation!

[Thin Lizzy]

How's Alfie liking his silent runner?

[AlfredHam]

It's not here yet, ordered it from the sugarglider shop, hoping it will arrive this week though :) I think he gets a bit freaked out by the noise of his comfort wheel, I've tried oiling it but it's still pretty loud!

[AlfredHam]

I've made a few cage changes in preparation for the new wheel as it's coming on a stand. I still need to add more substrate and I've found a lovely wooden flat top house that I'm going to replace the plastic shelf with, I hate that there's a raised part where the house sits as it renders the shelf useless on that half, nothing sits nicely on there! I might get a corner shelf so he still has the full run of that half of the cage, I think that the shop I'm going to has those too though!
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/E38CBF33-FD3A-4EC6-BA20-90DC9CA5E92A_zpsumalu4xu.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/E38CBF33-FD3A-4EC6-BA20-90DC9CA5E92A_zpsumalu4xu.jpg.html)

[Thin Lizzy]

Looking impressive! How's Alfie liking it?

[AlfredHam]

its arrived! Cage is now looking an absolute mess! I'm going to have to have a big rejig tonight ��

[AlfredHam]

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/E7A9331C-8314-4415-B17A-9982DBA82C7F_zps8vj2jnfj.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/E7A9331C-8314-4415-B17A-9982DBA82C7F_zps8vj2jnfj.jpg.html)
I'm going to lift the shelf up higher so he can reach the Sputnik from the shelf, put a box over his nest so he feels enclosed still and add more substrate to under his shelf as there's currently just a big pile of it in the middle, his sand bath can probably fit nicely under the shelf once it's raised although that does mean he's probably going to start using it as a potty as that's his wee corner (not the worst thing - easier to clean!) I'm going to attach the bendy bridge to the other side of the cage securely so he doesn't knock it over, I'm also considering securing the base with cable ties just so there's no chance of it toppling over!

[AlfredHam]

He had a little go on the wheel when I put it in and seemed to like it!

[CMB]

Looks nice. Raising the shelf is a good idea to give easier access o the Sputnik and gives space under the shelf.

[flowerfairy]

I love the layout. Will be even better with the higher shelf.

[AlfredHam]

I wish he wasn't such a lazy ham! I'll be doing his cage at midnight at the time he's getting up at the moment!

[rainbowradgirl]

Awww what a little cutie! 😍

[AlfredHam]

Thanks rainbowradgirl! He certainly is!
Guess who woke up early and let me finish his cage!
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/B7D2DFC5-DF16-4B90-A076-849AD031F40E_zpshep898aq.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/B7D2DFC5-DF16-4B90-A076-849AD031F40E_zpshep898aq.jpg.html)
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/EF3B24C5-0077-4CAF-8F65-AEA129E279B7_zpsvbb8qwry.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/EF3B24C5-0077-4CAF-8F65-AEA129E279B7_zpsvbb8qwry.jpg.html)
It took him a while to work out his nest was in the box, he was not happy :( I showed him though and he's snuffling away in there checking on his hoard. Hopefully he'll pop out to check out the rest of his cage later!

[AlfredHam]

Well he loves the new layout as far as I can tell, the wheel seems a hit! It's so silent I can't get over it! He doesn't run properly if I'm watching though, he likes to check that what he's doing is ok - always looking up at me before he investigates or chews like 'am I allowed mum?'

[Pebbles82]

Yay another silent runner. Charlie liked his straight away as well - I think it's because they spin so well. I like the new layout. Can he land on the wood fence if he jumps out of the far side of the sputnik? The bridge bit is probably ok to land on but the fence bit might be a bit of an awkward landing. It looks like he can only jump out onto the bendy bridge going over the fence though :-)

He probably will be a bit miffed about the changes, so maybe just give him a few days space to get settled again - unless he's wanting to come out that is. The shelf looks better higher up! I sometimes think you need a degree in interior design to sort cages out lol.

[AlfredHam]

They do spin well, I keep playing with it because after the comfort wheel I'm amazed at how quiet it is! He looks so small in it though :lol: he doesn't really like jumping, but the photos deceptive he can't land on anything dangerous :) the only thing he was miffed at was the cardboard house but he now has a corner wooden one and much prefers it, I've left the entrance open because its more like he was used to, he always nested under the shelf before even with other options in the old cage so his nest was fairly exposed, he freaked when I had the cardboard tube in the entrance! Couldn't work out how to get back in when he'd just come out of it :(

[Thin Lizzy]

That's a really great lay out and Alfie loving his wheel.

[AlfredHam]

Thanks Thin Lizzy, he seems to like it much better now! I love being able to hear his little feet patting along on the wheel :)

[Jenibelle]

His cage looks awesome!!

[AlfredHam]

Thanks Jenibelle, I'm pretty pleased with it now! All I'd like to do now is replace the plastic shelf with something more solid :)

Well last night I looked into the nutrition of Alfie's food and found out it wasn't as good as I'd hoped, so this morning I was walking past the pet shop and popped in on the off chance that they might sell Harry Hamster. So guess who's had a food change this evening! I kept the old stuff back just in case but he seems to like it, straight in there nomming away!

Hmmm... What's this new smell...?
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/CCC90B10-A2E3-45CE-A2C4-7441B7802AA9_zpsso9akeu3.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/CCC90B10-A2E3-45CE-A2C4-7441B7802AA9_zpsso9akeu3.jpg.html)

Smells good....
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/6C577241-AF2E-41B1-AFE9-98FCCCCF1D50_zpswbxp7emt.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/6C577241-AF2E-41B1-AFE9-98FCCCCF1D50_zpswbxp7emt.jpg.html)
I like this one!
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/219406D1-DE6E-4CCA-A104-5C5D78589043_zpspchwoytr.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/219406D1-DE6E-4CCA-A104-5C5D78589043_zpspchwoytr.jpg.html)

[AlfredHam]

ohmigosh those photos are getting all weird and distorted! I tried resizing and they're all squished now :(

[AlfredHam]

nope, the colours gone weird too now.
I suck at technical stuff!

[Thin Lizzy]

I tried to look at the photos but it says they've been removed.

[AlfredHam]

Edited the original post now �� Photos should look like hamsters now not brightly coloured blobs!

[Thin Lizzy]

Lol! The third pic is a cracker with Alfie and the monkey nut!

[AlfredHam]

Surprisingly he's still got half of it left in his food bowl! I'm quite impressed it's ended up back in there too because he was throwing it around all over the place last night :lol:

[Pebbles82]

Lol! I can just imagine him throwing his monkey nut around. He looks very intent on cracking it in that third photo. Is the half left in his bowl an empty shell? Charlie likes to discard the empty shells in all sorts of places. Sometimes they'll only eat the bit they want though, and if the second nut is tricky they'll save it for another day - maybe that's why he left it in his food bowl, although you would think he would hoard it!

[AlfredHam]

yeah it's the second nut! I'm surprised he didn't hoard it, he loved playing with it! He also ate a load of the red and green biscuit things which he always left in his old mix so I'm really pleased :)

[Pebbles82]

Yes they do seem to like everything in Harry Hamster - even if most of it does get hoarded lol. If they don't think it's worth hoarding they leave it in the bowl I reckon. I think Charlie only ever eats from his hoard, in private. Like having lots of snacks available in the bedroom! And just empties the food bowl to fill his hoard up. That's my theory anyway! The pieces are a good size for Syrians with Harry Hamster. I tried some others but they had lots of itty bits in which he just left - I think they were a bit small for him.

[AlfredHam]

aww bless him :) he sounds like such a character!
Alfie definitely munches away at his hoard in the day time, but he does eat from his bowl - i think the size helps, he likes to sit in it and pick through to eat his favourite bits :lol:
Last night he went into his sputnik before I'd put his veg in and looked at me like 'ummm... where is it?!' When I popped some carrot in he jumped straight into my hands, ignored the carrot and wanted a cuddle! First time he's been so keen to get straight into my hands, normally I scoop him up from the bath or he walks into them from his ball :)

[flowerfairy]

I cant see the pics at all ...

Glad he is enjoying the silent runner. Kashi has had hers today and loves it. makes the cage rattle like crazy when she goes fast though.

[AlfredHam]

Oh no :( I wonder why you can't see them? How peculiar!
They're definitely a good investment, I haven't seen anything bad about them yet :) I'm a bit concerned that if it falls it might hurt him, it does wobble a bit when he goes crazy. I'm considering attaching the back to the cage side with cable ties just to stabilize it :)

[Thin Lizzy]

That's blooming lovely Alfie jumping into your hand, those moments are bliss!

[AlfredHam]

He seems to have decided his Sputnik is his jumping place so I'm gonna move it forwards so I don't have to crouch at a weird angle! Feels like we've really come forward with taming all of a sudden :)

[Thin Lizzy]

Little Alfie totally loves you & trusts you, wonderful to hear about your relationship and connection.

[AlfredHam]

Aww thanks thin lizzy, if only he'd get up earlier we'd be even friendlier! Still not out of bed, lazy ham :lol:

[AlfredHam]

Look how fast I'm running mum!
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/19B39FF4-192F-4235-B2EC-84C5FAFFE5B9_zpss8ctor2s.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/19B39FF4-192F-4235-B2EC-84C5FAFFE5B9_zpss8ctor2s.jpg.html)

Mum watcha doing?
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/2AF0A8B9-579E-42A2-95B6-2CA3F863E58D_zpsocwlv3lp.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/2AF0A8B9-579E-42A2-95B6-2CA3F863E58D_zpsocwlv3lp.jpg.html)

Should I stop and pose?
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/DD533491-6556-4F3C-AE28-9B447973423B_zpsxmxugqqr.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/DD533491-6556-4F3C-AE28-9B447973423B_zpsxmxugqqr.jpg.html)

I love my wheel :)
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/5F734DBE-0321-4928-94E7-19FDC5E6E088_zpsazsolmiv.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/5F734DBE-0321-4928-94E7-19FDC5E6E088_zpsazsolmiv.jpg.html)

[AlfredHam]

I kept reading about how much hams love porridge, so thought we'd give it a go, the pot was flat on the shelf when I gave it to him, so safe to say I think he likes it :lol:
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/66e433cb-aa3b-426f-91d9-38c73bd2a9c2_zps334pdyfj.jpg~original (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/66e433cb-aa3b-426f-91d9-38c73bd2a9c2_zps334pdyfj.jpg.html)

[Pebbles82]

Lol! I bet he had porridge on his face :-) I tend to just put a bit on a teaspoon and hold it out. Charlie grabs the teaspoon in both paws and holds onto it while he eats the porridge of it :-)

[AlfredHam]

I did start off with a teaspoon, but he was being all jumpy because he'd just woken up so I thought if I left it in the pot he'd be a bit braver :lol:
He's such a scaredy ham when he's sleepy!
He did have porridge all over but he's given himself a good wash now :lol:
Here he is having a big stretch after his porridgy wash!
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/249e1555-0d8b-4e9d-b00d-1cfc2c49d092_zpsqeasrc2a.jpg~original (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/249e1555-0d8b-4e9d-b00d-1cfc2c49d092_zpsqeasrc2a.jpg.html)

[Pebbles82]

Ooh that's a lovely photo :-) He looks very contented.

[Thin Lizzy]

Lol Alfie! Twinkle loved her porridge too and would get so excited that she'd end up dunking her face in it.
Great pic!

[flowerfairy]

Awww. I gave Kashi porridge for the first time ever today. She was most impressed.

Alfie looks so cute stretching away! Clearly loved his porridge too.

[Coco61]

Those 2 photos made me chuckle. Glad Alfie love his porridge. It was a bit chilly yesterday so when I heard Mocho awake inside his hose while I was cooking dinner, I made a quick teaspoon of porridge and held it under the bendy bridge leading to his 3 room house. Called him gently and it didn't take long for a nose to appear. He doesn't come out as its not the right time, but like Charlie he eats off the teaspoon but if he can lift the whole lot off the spoon he takes it back with him to eat in peace and darkness!

[cypher]

lol! love the porridge shot & that's a very satisfied looking stretch after his clean up :)

[AlfredHam]

So many porridge loving hams! He's getting up later and later at the moment, last night he didn't leave his house until 12.30! I've tried coaxing him out with veg when I hear him snuffling around in there but he just comes out, has a nibble then hops right back into bed :( im up late at the moment because I'm desperately trying to finish my uni work (dissertation is a nightmare!) but I'm worried that when I want to start going to bed at a normal time I'm not going to see him at all!

[Golden_Syrian_Hammmies]

Alfie is very adorable. I love his colour. Sounds like he has a sweet personality. Yes Hammies do love porridge!

I understand were you are coming from. Is hard because they are nocturnal but you do want to spend some time with them in the evening but at a decent hour! Fudge is a bit like this also. He has to be coaxed out. He's a bit of a lazy bum lol. He likes to wait to I put the light out and then he's out.

[AlfredHam]

Broccoli, for me?
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/da1c96a9-114d-4a53-8ee8-ab5fd1d11d9c_zps9jrru9yt.jpg~original (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/da1c96a9-114d-4a53-8ee8-ab5fd1d11d9c_zps9jrru9yt.jpg.html)

He's being a stubborn so and so tonight! Will not come for cuddles or a run in his ball! I think its because last night I found the source of the smell, Alfie has decided that he won't just have one pee corner, he'll also pee all over his hoard and wheel :( So last night his wheel had a rinse and his hoard got thrown and replaced with fresh, but I think he knows... It stank to high heaven though so needed doing, I think he thought he could trick me by using the corner as well :lol:

[oddlyoblivious]

That guilty little face. It's like he knows what you are up to and he doesn't approve. What a cutie though.

[Pebbles82]

Aw - that's such an expressive photo! He'll probably need a few days to come round - Charlie is like that after a wheel clean or hoard swap - he'll go reclusive for a few days - I guess they are guarding their territory. In fact Charlie won't use his wheel after it's been cleaned. He ignored it for a week once and didn't start using it again till someone on here suggested putting a treat in it - that did the trick!

I think most hams pee in their wheels - ours tends not to but he's unusual in that! When he does, I tend to just give it a wipe inside, while in the cage until the next cage clean - so it wasn't so whiffy, as if you wash it fully it sometimes makes them want to scent mark it more. But if they pee in their wheels anyway, then I guess that doesn't make much difference!

I hope he doesn't pee on his hoard now. I got into an itch scratch cycle with that once! Charlie ran out of room for his hoard so started hoarding in his potty/wee corner. Sometimes they do that if they think someone is going to steal it - so they pee on it to deter predators - but of course if they pee on it we have to remove it and replace it - this just made him pee on it more! In the end I changed his house for a bigger one, so he had room for hoards and his potty - and that seemed to do the trick - probably just distracted him lol.

Hope he accepts the new hoard you provided with good grace :-)

[AlfredHam]

He eventually decided to get out at 3!
He's never peed in his wheel before, so that was quite unusual for him, although last night he was pooing and running so I wonder if he's having too much fun to get out and go to the toilet! :lol: I gave it a decent rinse rather than a full scrub, I thought it still smelt pretty bad but didn't want to get into that cycle! It's so strange that he's started peeing in his house though, he always uses the front right corner, even in his old cage!

[Golden_Syrian_Hammmies]

Awk that is a bit annoying. Yeah as serendipity says it a territorial thing, and the more we clean they more they pee :( Fudge started doing it recently. In his wood house which wasn't plastikoted, think he just got lazy tbh instead of getting out to use his sand tray. So I put him in the grass nest which is actually bigger anyway and moved the sand tray nearer to the nest. Thankfully he isn't one for peeing In the wheel. He's a cute little man :)

[Pebbles82]

Charlie's had the odd moment where he's pee'd in his wheel or nest as well. When you say he's peed in his house, is it in his nest or a bit away from his nest? Anyway maybe he'll stop now. He is so adorable :-)

[AlfredHam]

It's away from the nest, but on top of his hoard. I think its laziness to be honest, he's never had a house before because the shelves were always low enough for him to just nest under there so the shelf was like a huge house and he'd go to the corner for a wee, now he's got an enclosed house I think he can't be bothered to leave it and wee in the daytime. He's still using the corner at night but maybe I need to get him a bigger house so he can get into the corner all the time?
He is adorable, glad it's not just me being biased :lol:

[Thin Lizzy]

Oh my that pic of him is just so cute! His fluffy little face Aww!

[AlfredHam]

Alfie is very curious today, the camera was so interesting he climbed all the way up my leg in the bath today for a nosey
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/6a6b556a-0120-48c6-9bd1-c4102106ec5e_zpsbl2xcd1j.jpg~original (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/6a6b556a-0120-48c6-9bd1-c4102106ec5e_zpsbl2xcd1j.jpg.html)

[Pebbles82]

Lol! They do like investigating cameras! It sounds like he is hoarding in his wee corner. When you have to replace the wee'd on hoard you could try putting the new food a bit nearer his nest away from the wee corner and he might start getting the message. Or if you put a bendy bridge over his house entrance he might start putting his hoard in there instead. I found Charlie used to spread out in his house and never seemed to have enough room for hoards. He did start hoarding in his bendy bridge tunnel once, and then had to climb over it to get out lol.

[AlfredHam]

I haven't checked his house again yet, but yesterday he came out a few times in the day to wee in his usual place so I'm hoping it may have been a one off (fingers crossed). I think I might have to get him a bigger house if he keeps doing it, he has moved his hoard from before he had a house though, he used to sleep on his hoard but now it is more to the side and spills into the corner!
I'm not going anywhere for the next two weeks and my tiny town only has pets at home and an independent fairly rubbish (and expensive!) pet shop, so I'll have a little look in the couple of pet shops in my university town when I go to hand in my dissertation!
I can't find anything that I'm that keen on online so I might just have to keep cleaning out the smelly hoard and replacing it with the new one, luckily I kept his old food just in case and I can keep using that to replace it until I've sorted the new house out

[Pebbles82]

Charlie's hoard used to spill over into his wee corner as well. You could make a shoebox house :-) cut a hole out for a door. Or have you seen the Rodipet houses? Some of them aren't too expensive, but the postage bumps up the cost as it adds another £7. They have rooms so they tend to nest in the one furthest from the door and use the other room for a toilet. The three room ones mean they have a room for their hoard as well.

[AlfredHam]

I've checked his house and no wee! Obviously he was just having a lazy day :)

[Thin Lizzy]

Such a cute close up.

[DrKMcK]

What a beautiful little hammy he is. That face is utterly adorable. :-)

[AlfredHam]

Thanks Thin Lizzy and DrKMcK, I certainly think so! :lol:
Here he is trying to come out for some more playtime - he'd just had an hour out of his cage already, if he tells you any different he's lying!
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/2d660ca7-dbf4-4ba1-b657-4efd5141d40f_zpsdxphtijn.jpg~original (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/2d660ca7-dbf4-4ba1-b657-4efd5141d40f_zpsdxphtijn.jpg.html)

[AlfredHam]

So today I went and bought a pet carrier and some extra Whimzees and Alfie had his first cage clean. He coped really well with it, I tempted him out of his house and into the carrier with a Whimzee and popped him in the bedroom with the curtains shut and a tea towel over the top, when I went to put him back in the cage he'd fallen asleep :)
He doesn't seem at all phased by the clean out so I'm really pleased. I did the Erin's Animals method and it worked well, although I did have to get rid of and replace his hoard again because he'd done another wee all over it :( I'm hoping it's because my partner was home yesterday and he didn't like the noise that was being made so decided to stay in his house instead and it's not going to become a regular thing!

[DrKMcK]

Sounds like Alfie is going to be a laid back hammy. It'll make things easier on you if he's good about cage cleans. Some hammies make it very obvious they are not pleased about their human messing around with their home. :-D

[AlfredHam]

I hope he is, he certainly seems laid back! Handling is getting easier every day too :) but I know fair well that if it wasn't for the amazing people on here he wouldn't be anywhere near as happy or easy to tame!

[Thin Lizzy]

Such a relief for you with Alfie's first cage clean, he sounds very relaxed.
How long did you wait before the clean?

[AlfredHam]

It must have been about a month, I haven't done it since his Alaska arrived, but I didn't do it in his old cage either because I knew he was getting a new one and didn't want to cause more stress than necessary :)
He's started making his first ever tunnels in the substrate now too, which is so lovely to see!

[Pebbles82]

Glad that worked well :-) It works for Charlie - he also goes to sleep in the pet carrier - sometimes he doesn't want to come out of it again ha ha. If the hay house is in there he chews it and doesn't want to leave it. But strangely if I put it in the cage he ignores it lol.

The thing I like about Erin's method - that works for us anyway - is Charlie actually seems to approve of the cleaner cage but still seems at home, I guess because there are still lots of familiar scents around. I'm sure he'll be fine with the new food hoard if you put it back in the same place. It's a pain when they keep peeing on it but I think they're very unlikely to eat it if they've pee'd on it. :D At one point Charlie's hoard was pee'd on with sand stuck all over it - I thought well if he wants to eat sand that's fine, but I didn't think he would. I reckon that hoard is the decoy hoard lol. There's probably a nice clean hoard somewhere else.

[AlfredHam]

I don't think he's got any other hoards! There wasn't any more secret food when I cleaned the cage out, and this one is so huge I can't see any way he's stashing extra anywhere, I don't feed him that much! :lol: the carrier isn't quite big enough for a house :( it's an aladino medium and the biggest one they had, but I made it nice and dark for him so he settled quite quickly, I put some of his top layer of sawdust in there too so it smelt nice and familiar.
I've given him a load more nesting material to try and encourage him to get up, if his nest is bigger there's less room to wee is my theory :lol:

[AlfredHam]

Well in a completely unexpected turn of events me and Alfie have moved back in with my parents for a little while. Apparently my partner needs space. I'm lucky he's so chilled. They have a dog so Alfie is confined to my old room for now

[Pebbles82]

Hope you both settle in. I would think about what you will say if he misses you and wants you back. At least you and Alfie are with family x

There was a song I used to like by The Beautiful South on that topic that I used to find comforting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6ZSb5F60R8

[AlfredHam]

Thanks Serendipity. It's a bit of a shock to be honest, we've been together for early four years and are meant to be getting married next year. I don't honestly know how we can come back from this, I've got three days until I finish uni and hand everything in, not exactly what I need right now :/
Alfie was suitably skittish last night, although his cage is the same I guess its probably quite stressful for him
that song is lovely x

[Pebbles82]

No it isn't what you need right now :( With only three days to go though presumably you'll have done most of the work for what needs handing in. Just try and focus on that for a few days maybe.

It will be a bit strange for Alfie as his cage is in a different place and everything will smell different, but he still has you there which will help with familiarity. I'm sure he'll settle again soon.

Time will tell over the next few weeks. It sounds like a very tense time for you both with finals due. Once that's done and the dust settled you may get chance to talk. It might just be the pressure x

[Thin Lizzy]

I'm so sorry to hear about you & your partner, hopefully it's temporary.
Alfie will soon adjust, he'll be getting use to the different noises and smells. He'll have sensed something is wrong so I'm not surprised he's been a bit skittish.
You need to concentrate on finishing uni and getting all your work handed in.

[AlfredHam]

not much more left to do, just one assignment left to finish off! Hopefully it'll all get back to normal soon. I've bought Alfie a little plastic igloo to go in his travel cage just in case because I didn't have anything small enough to fit for him to snuggle in.

[Pebbles82]

What's your assignment about? I'm sure Alfie will love his igloo :-)

[AlfredHam]

A community development project we had to do, we did some reminiscence sessions in a care home which was lovely but it's just writing all the theory behind it and the choices we made, should be easy but I'm stuck about halfway through!

[Pebbles82]

The theory is always the hard bit as it's technical and usually you have to quote lots of people :rolleyes: I used to do the background reading and write down all the quotes I thought would be useful. Then write the essay in my own words and when it came to a point where I needed back-up, stick a quote in.

When you get stuck it can be good to leave it for a bit and go and do something creative. It's supposed to use the different side of your brain so gives the intellectual side of your brain a rest. I used to go for a walk and take photos of leaves and nature and so on - always cleared my head :-) Baking is pretty therapeutic and creative too!

[AlfredHam]

Those are good tips Serendipity thanks :) I love baking but it's my job at the moment so doesn't feel all that relaxing anymore! I got a kitchenaid for my birthday last year so I can experiment a bit more now though which is nice :)
I've only got 750 words to go now, I'm hoping to get it done tonight so I can proof read and chill tomorrow before hand in and cocktails on Wednesday!

[AlfredHam]

So today Alfie began the switch over to Fitch from wood shavings, I've put some in his potty and Sputnik and completely removed the shavings from the wheel area and filled it with Fitch.
I'm hoping that this way some of it will smell familiar when I do a complete substrate change in the next few days provided that all of the new things I've ordered for his cage arrive. It's going to be quite a big change for him as he's losing his old house due to weeing in it and I'm removing the plastic shelf and adding a smaller wooden one that will hopefully make a staggered level over the new house. His sandbath will be moving onto the cage floor and his wheel will be attached to the cage and placed at the back.

He does like the Fitch though, he came out whilst I was swapping some of the substrate and pouched it to take back to his nest! It's much softer than the wood shavings and the bag isn't as ginormous as I was expecting :)

This is his current cage layout, it's going to change quite a bit!


http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/BF3D29C6-E177-4DB5-81DC-63BBEF6EB787_zpssmshjctp.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/BF3D29C6-E177-4DB5-81DC-63BBEF6EB787_zpssmshjctp.jpg.html)

[Thin Lizzy]

Sounds like Alfie has given you the "paws up" regarding the Fitch. The fact he came out and pouched some for his nest is a positive sign.
I used Wood shavings for 16 years and the reason for changing to CareFresh was when I was sifting through them and it had so many sharp bits that I had several cuts on my hands. I would always sift through the shavings before they went in the cage.
I did the changeover and at the time I had Twinkle who absolutely loved it.

[AlfredHam]

Yeah, I'm not so concerned about the stress the substrate change is going to cause any more after the pouching :) I had to refill his potty area because he'd pouched so much of it when I wasn't looking yesterday afternoon :lol:

The main reason for the change is that he's been scratching a lot recently and sitting on top of his house instead of the substrate like he used to so I'm concerned he might be developing an allergy :/

[Pebbles82]

Good point - the wood could be causing an allergy or aggravation. Glad he likes the Fitch! Charlie actually smiled, I am sure, when he first had it in his cage :-)

[AlfredHam]

Bless him :) it's so lovely and soft so I'm not surprised! I'd happily have a bed made of Fitch lol

[Thin Lizzy]

Lol! Now that would be a funny pic, a human sized bed of Fitch!

[AlfredHam]

So today Alfie has had a pretty stressful day :( he was put in his carrier for the big change around in his cage and once I'd started I noticed some pink substrate on the Fitch in his potty.
I rang the vets and made an appointment for 2:30 and finished sorting out his cage because by this point I'd gone too far to leave it as it was to reduce stress and changes for him.
He was a really good boy at the vets although he hated the car journey and the walk through pets at home to get to the vets upstairs when we got there and it was quieter he calmed down. He didn't bite the vet and was really chilled out, although he did go into his igloo on the table and start pushing it to the edge with himself in it! :lol: she prescribed him some metacam and weighed him, he currently weighs 154 grams :)
He's now back in his cage and has managed to find his way into the new house and is finally sleeping.
After all the excitement of today I doubt I'm going to see much of him tonight as I think he'll sleep quite late

[Thin Lizzy]

Fingers crossed his little infection clears up quickly, be sure to use all the metacam. You caught it quickly and got him to the vet.
When Archie had blood in his pee, I was told to complete the course even if the blood does go.

[Pebbles82]

Glad that went ok. Yes he could well spend a day or three housekeeping and sleeping now. I didn't know Metacam was for infections as well! I'm sure he'll be glad of lots of comfy Fitch though, even if it all seems a bit strange - hope he is ok.

[AlfredHam]

Today's metacam intake went well, just a quick pick up and squirt. He tries to bite the end so it's quite easy getting it into his mouth!
He seems to like his new layout and house, he spent a lot of time on his wheel last night and moved his food bowl from the centre of the house to the corner at the back lol
I'll let him have a run around tonight if he fancies it and check his house potty for blood when he's not in there because he hasn't used his old corner one at all!

[AlfredHam]

Well Alfie's back to his cheeky self, loves the Fitch and has decided he likes his potty upside down with his hoard underneath it instead of using it for its designed purpose. I realised I haven't posted any pictures of him for a while so here are a couple of him today

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/3196F7BE-AF74-47AA-B67D-B338A324DD6D_zpswomn3rsh.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/3196F7BE-AF74-47AA-B67D-B338A324DD6D_zpswomn3rsh.jpg.html)

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/DAE3D220-C0D6-4760-A14F-127CB405CDE1_zpsucgj30fo.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/DAE3D220-C0D6-4760-A14F-127CB405CDE1_zpsucgj30fo.jpg.html)

He loves a camera :lol:

[Thin Lizzy]

What an absolute cutie! Glad the meds are going well.

[AlfredHam]

Today was the final day of meds! He cottoned on to what the syringe was today and pushed it away with his paws :lol: we did get there eventually though!

He seems to like his new layout and his nest has tripled in size so he obviously loves his new house too :)

[Pebbles82]

He looks full of beans there! If he's turned his potty upside down, where is he weeing? I remember Charlie burying his potty in a big pile of Fitch in that house and then making an entrance hole so he could wee in the potty with the Fitch roof over his head lol. The roof had to go when I emptied the potty.

If he's hoarding under the upturned potty, maybe you could put another potty on top of it lol.

[AlfredHam]

I think on top of his hoard again lol, he just likes that corner for both things I guess! Now the house is plastikoted I'm not too worried, it just means I need to replace the hoard every now and then. Although I would like to check up on the colour of his urine at the moment :/

[Thin Lizzy]

Lol at Alfie pushing the syringe away with his paws! So glad that's his last day for meds.

[AlfredHam]

Well today Alfie decided to give me a little nip as I took him out of his ball! Obviously he didn't like being given the medicine and now doesn't trust me completely but he'll get over it soon I'm sure!

I turned the potty back up and he is just using it as a storage and weeing area now so when I empty it I'm having to replace some of the hoard, which is slightly annoying but he can't store it anywhere else as his nest is absolutely huge!!

There wasn't any pink in his potty today though so that's good, whatever caused it is obviously better now :)

[Pebbles82]

Glad to hear his wee is back to normal colour. Yes they soon let us know if they feel they've been messed about with too much lol! Charlie did that with his hoard as well in that house. It started off next to his nest and overflowed into his potty. I just used to put new food back next to the potty and let him watch to show him where to put it! It kind of worked a bit but occasionally some would go back in the potty.

The idea with Charlie's new labyrinth house was that he would have separate rooms for his hoard, nest and potty. It worked for the nest and potty but his hoard is now under his nest and I suspect outside the house as well with one empty room he just poops in! Lol.

[AlfredHam]

They are complex little things aren't they :lol:

Alfie has taken an entire spray of millet into his house last night, he'll probably pee on it :/
That's a good idea about showing him where to put it, I'll try that this evening and see what the reaction is. Ive been taking it away secretly so he doesn't hate me more at the moment lol

[Pebbles82]

I used to empty it while he sat and watched. Then put the new food back a bit further away from the potty :-)

[AlfredHam]

I keep chickening out, he's still not 100% over the metacam and vet visit, although he does love his new layout. He was following me around whilst I was making dinner tonight so hopefully he's nearly forgiven me :lol: although he still won't come near my hands :(

I need to remember to take a photo of his nest at the minute, it's so huge for such a small boy - reminds me of Charlie's Fitch mountain lol

[AlfredHam]

Woke up this morning and Alfie has been doing some redecorating. Apparently he doesn't want a door to his house, I've no idea how he'll actually get out of there later but he has firmly shut himself in lol
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/318B0249-6E95-4C70-BDF6-C639B291D1CE_zpski3pid6c.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/318B0249-6E95-4C70-BDF6-C639B291D1CE_zpski3pid6c.jpg.html)

[AlfredHam]

Well I could hear him scuffling around in his house for about an hour but still hadn't seen him, thought it was getting a bit late so decided to lift up his house roof. He was sat by the door, unable to get out because he had decided he no longer wanted his giant nest and had shoved most of it through the door and wedged it into the tunnel. It was so compacted I had to move the bendy bridge to get it out! He was well and truly stuck inside there lol

The potty seems to have become the it place to store things, he has two Whimzees at the moment because he didn't seem to like the toothbrush so I gave him a crocodile, but they both have pride of place on the very top of the hoard. He's also decided he doesn't like the potty having rounded edges and has given them a spiky appearance :lol:

[Pebbles82]

LOL! That's strange actually because Charlie went through a phase of chewing the corners of the potty. In the end I got him a new one and he hasn't chewed that. I think sometimes they just want to not have it there so decide to chew it to death - it gets in the way of hoards.

Charlie has also done the stuffing up of the entrance :-) I once saw him squeeze himself in through about a 1cm gap over the top of his piled up substrate blocking the door.

[AlfredHam]

Haha, there literally wasn't the space to squeeze through! When I lifted the bridge the Fitch stayed there in a tiny mound it was so compacted lol! But the way he looked at me was like I had done something monsterous, I'm not sure if it because I'm still evil metacam lady or if he was enjoying self imprisonment but I'm obviously not the flavour of the month!

[pinkneon]

Haha! Aww
Sweep once blocked off both doors to his house. I ended up unblocking one because I was worried he'd suffocate or something! Whether he sleeps inside his house or not he burrows right down under the substrate so it was pointless me unblocking it lol though I don't think he could of got out otherwise!

[AlfredHam]

The house is directly on the cage floor due to advice from Serendipity about the weight of it, she's right if Alfie tried to burrow under it and it fell on him he'd be very squished! So there's no burrowing out of there lol
This is the state of his house at the moment, it looked quite neat before but it's a bloody mess now!
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/8644C223-47BB-4ED0-BCAD-A4AB2CB1DD4D_zpsqgjgzcfx.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/8644C223-47BB-4ED0-BCAD-A4AB2CB1DD4D_zpsqgjgzcfx.jpg.html)

I seem to have been forgiven after my daring rescue though, he came out of his house about 10 minutes after the disturbance, straight to the front of the cage and begged to come out - I opened the door and he practically jumped into my hands

[AlfredHam]

Definitely forgiven! We've had a lovely little cuddle this evening before playtime so things are headed back to normal :)

[AlfredHam]

Some photos of Alfie that I took this evening:

Hi mum, whatcha doin?
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/004721A5-DCD2-4C02-B299-C20D914F24FB_zpspqxidd5z.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/004721A5-DCD2-4C02-B299-C20D914F24FB_zpspqxidd5z.jpg.html)

Can I join in please..?

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/B851F95C-384F-40FE-8067-E2E9CD080395_zps9ynlazvb.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/B851F95C-384F-40FE-8067-E2E9CD080395_zps9ynlazvb.jpg.html)

I'm gonna join in!

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/BEFE49BA-C21D-47E4-AE90-7A8F6A4DAD0A_zpsi79khemv.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/BEFE49BA-C21D-47E4-AE90-7A8F6A4DAD0A_zpsi79khemv.jpg.html)

[Pebbles82]

Lol I love his little face :-) Great photos. I'm sure he could have dug out if he'd wanted - some hamsters manage to dig through plasterboard walls. He could have unstuffed the bendy bridge by digging it out from the inside. I think they often block themselves into houses to keep the humans out ha ha. I guess he could have burrowed under the door mound and bendy bridge too as it's quite a wide door.

Funnily enough I had a peek in Charlie's house today and found an almost identical picture. Sitting at the front of his potty were his toothbrush chew and new carrot chew, all covered in sand. Obviously very specially items he has put there to stop predators stealing them (worst place possible Charlie!). So it obviously doesn't matter what house their in, house big it is or how much space there is for hoards, sometimes they just want to stick stuff in their wee corner - lol!

[Thin Lizzy]

What an adorable and innocent face! Gosh he's blooming cute!

[AlfredHam]

If he could've got out I'm going to suggest that maybe he wanted me to rescue him so he had a reason to forgive me :p lol

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks he's cute :lol:

[AlfredHam]

Alfie was a very good boy today, I checked on him this morning and must've either not shut the cage door or done it very badly so it was open when I got home tonight ](*,) thankfully he either didn't notice or decided it was too much effort to escape and he was snuggled up in his nest still! Very grateful for the lift off lid to his house right now and the fact that he's a lazy man ham!

[Thin Lizzy]

Aww that's just adorable! Alfie's one very happy, content ham and he knows he's got a great house and owner and why risk it with escaping.

[AlfredHam]

Aww thanks Thin Lizzy :) I'd like to think that but I honestly think he just hadn't even bothered getting up all day, he's so lazy :lol:

[AlfredHam]

I decided Alfie's cage was too close to the TV and thought the noise might be contributing to his lack of appearance in the evenings recently. I know he's awake because I can hear him scuffling around in his house but he refuses to make an appearance so this is Alfie's new location:

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/92345599-137E-4ED7-AC6A-35A000B052AC_zpsiedahjok.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/92345599-137E-4ED7-AC6A-35A000B052AC_zpsiedahjok.jpg.html)

The radiator is off and the window opens into the conservatory so doesn't have any direct breeze that won't be combatted by the radiator on the other side of it so I'm happy with the temperature of it and its much quieter there so hopefully I'll start to see more of him soon :)

[AlfredHam]

Only just moved him and I've already moved the food! Put him back in the cage and he immediately started bar chewing :/ doesn't matter that he's got all the food in the tubs in his cage somewhere he needs to escape to get to the giant stash :lol: he's stopped now though so that's a relief!

[AlfredHam]

The cage move has done wonders! Alfie is now up and about at 10.30-11 now instead of past midnight! Here he is in his Sputnik :)

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/A969C79B-3AD0-4DA1-A04A-58CAB312A845_zpsdmu9n5mp.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/A969C79B-3AD0-4DA1-A04A-58CAB312A845_zpsdmu9n5mp.jpg.html)

[Golden_Syrian_Hammmies]

Hehe look at him :) that's good, it's always nice if they come out a bit earlier so we can get to bed too :p

[Thin Lizzy]

So pleased to hear his cage move is going well. Such a cute pic of him in his sputnik.

[cypher]

Alfie looks so sweet in his sputnik there, glad to hear he's happy with the cage change & keeping more sociable hours for you :)

[AlfredHam]

He was a cheeky monkey last night, I was out for the evening and asked my partner to let him out for a bit and give him some food but every time he went near the cage to let him climb into his ball he either ignored him or hid! I got home and he was running around the cage and leapt out at me when I opened the door lol!

[AlfredHam]

Me and Alfie are now living with my parents for a while, we've been here a week and he has settled nicely into the new environment. He lives in my room now so I'm very grateful I splashed out on the silent runner because I can't hear him at all at night!

He moved his pee corner to the side of his nest and I bought him a new potty to go there. However my potty/hoarding shrine suspicions have been confirmed as when I went to empty his potty this evening I was greeted with a second hoard corner and a potty full of treats lol!

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/charlotteirwin94/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-07/2175F8B1-D44C-476B-8437-D8BFB897426A_zpsd7kpewwr.jpg (http://s621.photobucket.com/user/charlotteirwin94/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-07/2175F8B1-D44C-476B-8437-D8BFB897426A_zpsd7kpewwr.jpg.html)

[cypher]

lol! He's obviously well pleased with the new potty ;)

[AlfredHam]

Haha! I was so pleased he'd moved his wee corner because it's been a constant battle for a long time for him to turn around and start hoarding there because of the new potty just makes me laugh :lol:

It's like he's saying: 'ha! Think you can outwit me?!'

[Thin Lizzy]

Aww that's so cute & funny!