Help - intelligent hamster!

[Catja]

Not sure whether this should be in housing or behaviour or here but our new rescue Bonaparte is VERY intelligent, I thought that when I saw him in the petshop but he is, he gets everything first time and is already working out how to escape from his cage.

Anyway he is in a Gabber at the moment - looks awfully small for him I am wondering whether a wire cage may suit him better, I don't know but I would love to get any suggestiona advice, pics of Gabber set ups that have worked for everyone here.

I'm wondering what the best toys are for him etc

I've decided by the way that he is a beautiful cinnamon and he is beautiful, amazing that such an intelligent pretty hamster was never taken.

I want the remaining time in his life to be filled with as much as possible as he clearly thrives on it.

[Gust0o]

Of course, he wants you to swap him to a wire cage... this is all part of his diabolical plan!

You can see Harry's Gabber set-up in the Syrian forum - and he's something of a spoilt hamster, who sounds a lot like Bonaparte.

At the moment, I'm making sure Harry has lots of time being handled by us - and running free.

[Gust0o]

This is Harry's Gabber, I'll grab more shots of the others tonight:



The Gabber, as the review in our 'Cage Review' section will tell you, is an immensely popular cage. I only discovered it a month ago, and already have three!

It has some good benefits - most importantly,it's a healthy size, with plenty of floor space; and there are no bars for the chewers! So no pinched noses!

In terms of toys, the best ones are those which match your hamster's personality - so there's no one answer to this.

Harry loves climbing, thus he has the hanging bridge and the wooden frame - so it works for him! However, Dave the Robo likes tunneling, so I build her tunnels!

What does he like?

Also, I think a rotation is healthy - so it's not always the same toys in the cage, but you can rotate, and give them a change.

[Catja]

Hi Gus

Wahts the green and blue thing at the front with the disk, sorry bad description, it looks good. How have you fastened the climbing frame, have you put it on the lid, do you take the whole top off to get the hamster? rather than slide the lid off?

[Basia]

The green and blue thing is little squares and circles or wood which slot together Catja. I had some when I first got Basil and none of my hamsters have ever paid any attention to it!
I find my hamsters ignore most of the toys I have tried. They all have the willow sticks bridge, a chube tube (minus the fluffy bed that comes with it) and their wodent wheels and that's about it apart from toilet rolls, egg boxes, dog biscuits. Some of them have the bottom part of the sputnic house as a hammock.
I think my Gizmo is intelligent too, he has learnt how to open his Imac door. I have had to put a peg on it now, much to his disgust.

[Gust0o]

It's a climbing frame, made of small pre-cut pieces of wood, which slot together - they're about £4.99 from Pets@Home, and you can assemble them into pretty much anything you want!

I've had some real success with these - Dave and the boys use theirs; and Harry, being something of a climber, has settled straight into his!

I take the whole top off to get Harry out - I find sliding the grille simply makes too much noise, and frightens the poor blighter! Taking the top off means you get better access, and it's fun for playing with him in the cage

[Hanlou]

Eeeep Catja...... you've summed up my own worries about Herbert perfectly! He didn't seem at all happy in his previous set up and now we've bought him a Hamster Heaven he still worries me, occasionally gnawing the bars and oh, he's steadily eating the Green thing on the top of the cage.

I've left him hoping he'll settle (he's had it a week) but he still seems to pace around and seems unhappy.

We've tried giving him extra long free range time but even though we've left his cage door open for him and given him free run of the pet room for 2 - 3 hours at a time (with his cage to go back to if he wants to, though he never does!), he still goes nutty when we put him back. Not necessarily constantly bar gnawing but just 'pacing' somehow. Herbert makes the HH seem small!!

I'm thinking of trying Tinkerbell in the HH and putting Herbert into the Zoozone 2 again, but she's an old girl and I don't want to unsettle her. Aaaggh! I don't know what to do.

So am watching this thread carefully! Could you try Bonaparte in a HH and swap Desi over for a bit before you invest in one?

I think I'm going to get Herbert a few climbing toys and see if that helps. At least with a wired cage you can do that.

Otherwise there is the Zoozone 2 Catja - though it's very big at 100cm long.

[Hanlou]

Well, Herbert must be a clever boy as he realised that the green thing on top of the Hamster Heaven had the potential to be an escape route - he was gnawing it in a very determined fashion to get out!

I've removed it, but I've also started doing things like hiding a few treats in an egg box - this seems to keep him happier.

Also - Humble Pie time for me!! Though I've never liked the hamster balls I didn't know what else to do with Herbert. He doesn't like being out when we're not with him. He doesn't like being restricted to a hamster-safe place. Yet he seems to need more free-ranging time than the average hamster!

So I caved in yesterday and got him a ball from Wilkinsons. I think it's big enough as he is a small hamster.

He loves it. He followed us round so rolled about wherever we were downstairs. We will of course still free-range him but this does extend his playtime and in some ways gives him chance to use his little brain, working out how to 'steer' the ball and brake it. Both of which he learned amazingly quickly.

He went back to his cage after so long and then later on we had him out in it again - this time I took him out and showed him the ball without the lid on to gauge his reaction and he happily jumped in it and waited for me to pop the lid on. :P

So it worked and he seems much calmer.....

[Gust0o]

I'm a big fan of the hamster balls - mainly because the hamsters seem such advocates themselves!

I've suggested this elsewhere, but it's a great way of letting them get the exercise they need, whilst maintaining a safe environment.

Also, added bonus, it's great for handling new hamsters - letting them exit the ball over your hand; and, letting them work off some off their excess energy, so they're much more amenable to handling afterwards!

All of mine get a daily - 20-30min run in the ball, followed by some free-ranging with us