Alfie has a dilema!

[CharlieB]

Alfie hasn't really slept since I took away the house after he and Percy faught over it last week. He has just run around looking lost or on the flying saucer. I mentioned it to the vet today while I took my Syrian as Alfie has lost some weight (looks like alot as he is very slim)

They suggested offering him a house again - Done the trick! as soon as he saw it, he ran in, snuggled down and went to sleep and is still asleep an hour and a half later! This is something he has never done since taking it away, he would lie down maybe for 30mins before getting back up and running around. He had made 3 different nests around the cage before I put it back, but wouldnt settle in any of them. Percy couldn't care less really he seams to sleep for england and it doesn't matter where he is!

But, Percy went into the house and they started squeeking at each other again - no fighting though. They stopped the squeeking both settled down and have gone to sleep. If they fight again will I need to separate them? Percy will only go where Alfie goes, but Alfie wont settle without the house

Any Ideas how to get some more weight on him? He seams to eat well - Ive tried porridge but he wont touch it (possibly as he wasnt settled) he is 19g - guessing this is too low? Percy is 26g and there is a noticable size difference (weight wize not length) - they were the same size when they first came to me. Alfie is fine in every other way, friendly, eating and drinking fine, eyes look ok everything looks normal

[Kirsty1987]

You could try giving him some stuff like mealworms, baby food (no garlic or onion in them though), Small bit of chicken, scrambled egg (no milk or butter), sunflower seeds, pasta, whole grain rice see if he will eat any of these mine love a bit of pasta
As for the house thing did he have any tunnels or tubes he could hide in? Maybe he felt a little exposed and that's why he wouldn't settle down? Make sure the house either has a big opening or 2 doors so one doesn't get cornered in during a fight. If its just squabbling i wouldn't separate just yet, keep a close eye on them if the fight gets worse and blood is drawn then i would split them up.

[CharlieB]

Thank you He had about 5 tubes in there but if he went in them he would just shoot through and not stay in them. There have been no more squabbles overnight and they are both cuddled up together in the house. Could he have turkey? I have loads of it in the house but no chicken I will do some scrambled egg later for them, let them have a sleep first how long can I leave the egg in the cage? how do I do the pasta? cook it so its soft?

[Kirsty1987]

Yeah they can have some turkey, with the fresh food I only give it to them when there out during playtime to make sure they don't pouch it then store it somewhere. With pasta just cook it as you would normally till its soft then let it cool down hope they enjoy the extra treats

[CharlieB]

cool Im lucky in that they dont store food but I will watch them while they eat it! They arent too keen on treats, wont touch any porridge, youghurt drops and tried some veg and they wouldnt touch that either :S they must be very fussy hammys! Quite often I spot Alfie in his bowl digging to the one bit he wants

[CharlieB]

Turkey tried - Alfie isnt interested, he took it off me and just left it and went to play! onto the next one

[lucyeleanor]

What is the house like?

If it only has one exit, they could be squabbling if one tries to get out but the other is in the way. If its got more than one exit, it could be that they are stealing each others food stores.

Could you put a second house in their cage? That way if they wanted to sleep separately they could, and they could choose to keep separate food stores. You don't even have to go out and buy a bed, just use a cardboard box (tissue box?) and cut some exits into it.

I would monitor the situation carefully. Crumpet & Muffin, my two Russians, often had little arguments and disagreements (including inside the bed) but never any fur ripping or blood drawing. This lasted for 6 months happily, snuggling otherwise but turned for the worse recently. Watch for bullying, one gaining more weight than the other, any kind of behavior which seems to take it too far. If it is making you uncomfortable, then you don't have to wait until one is injured, if you were rather they were apart and safe then that is your choice to make.

Best of luck

[CharlieB]

The house has 2 exits (I made a second one in it for him) They dont store food in there, so I dont think it would be that. They have got a second house, also with 2 exits, but neither of them go in it.

I am monitoring weight gain anyway as I was concerned about Alfie, Percy weighs 37g and Alfie is 30g. Alfie was 19g and Percy was 26g so they have both gained the same amount of weight (I weighed all my hammys last night My weekly job).

Percy likes to snuggle up to Alfie, but sometimes ends up on top of him but Alfie squeeks to say no and he gets off. They both get fully checked daily for any Pulled out hair or bleading. They only squabble in their bed, never any other time. They have 2 flying saucers but they insist on using the same one at the same time, but they seam to like that.

I have given Alfie a new water bottle as he couldn't get the water out of the nipple feeder one and I was syringe feeding him the water - its like a bird feeder thing, there is like a tiny tray and the water feeds into it and stops when its full and he takes the water out of that ok now. Percy doesnt like the new one so Alfie is the only one that uses it which means I can monitor his water intake.

I got very close to separating them last night. I paniked as Alfie had a slight wet mark on his side, but at closer inspection it was just water so guessing he had knocked his new bottle as under it was damp. I changed the substrate under it so I can see if the new bottle isn't working out and I have to go back to giving him water through the syringe. I had Alfie out inspecting him and had my Fiancee sorting out the spare cage to put him in so it is now all ready and will just need to put his wheel in there if we need to. They are still together and have had no squabbles over night or today, so tonight will hopefully go well. Im up all night tonight anyway as I have hospital tests in the morning so I can watch them non stop. If they have any more bad squabbles I will separate them straight away, It will be a debate over who gets the Alexander and who gets the bin cage! I think Alfie will stay in the Alexander as he loves the space where as Percy doesnt explore it that much.

My concerns with Alfies tummy have gone after removing any greens from his mix, everything is now normal. Hopefully Silvers mix will arrive soon so I can change them over to something better for them. He wont touch any treats, I tried everything! Only way I got him to put weight on was to add Porridge oats to his mix and it did the trick! How are Crumpet and Muffin doing now? Are they still separated? Do they seam lonely on their own? Thats the one thing I worry about separating my boys, their brother (Archie) is separate as I got the boys together as they were caged together and there was another pair - Archie was one of them, but someone bought the other of the pair leaving Archie on his own and he seams so sad now and needs a lot of attention which I dont mind But I dont want to see them sad on their own as they have been together since birth.