Henry and Gordon

[Vierville]

Overgrooming maybe? Nanuk gets a very similar thing behind his one ear when he's been grooming himself a lot. Beautiful photo by the way!

[Pebbles82]

He looks fine to me

[Vierville]

Firstly, Gordon is lovely and that is a really sweet photo of him.

I've found that my little ones also have erratic shifts in their behaviour, very similar to what you've just seen with Gordon. I'm not sure why but it is often after a disturbance like me fishing them out of their substrate.

It doesnt seem that they are stressed by any of it, but they'll spend a few days being more active in the days, exploring what they think may have changed perhaps?

[Ria P]

That's interesting to hear Vierville.

It's new for Gordon though and not something he's ever done before. Maybe that's the new, sociable Gordon which would be lovely or maybe my phantom hamster will return soon, rarely to be seen again. If he does go underground again then he's got an awful lot of work to do clearing out his sand pit with all that substrate he's put in it.
Oh well, i'm fine with whatever he's happy with.

They seem to synchronise sometimes. Gordon rearranged his habitat and so did Henry overnight who lives in the lounge opposite Gordon. Henry's big corner toilet filled with sand was full of substrate this morning and he had thrown a cob of corn off a shelf and dragged it about his cage leaving a deep ditch. I sometimes wonder if they listen out to each other or what the other is doing.

[cypher]

Aww! lovely photo, he is a gorgeous little man.
It’s entirely possible that he could only have felt confident enough after a year but sometimes it’s just really hard to know why their behaviour changes, great that you’re getting to interact with him now whatever the reason.
If he eats his normal food & doesn’t appear to be losing weight or condition he probably doesn’t need baby food or porridge but it wouldn’t do any harm to give him a little once or twice a week.
The favourite with all mine has always been baby cauliflower cheese, either cow & gate or Ella’s kitchen, they like some of the veggie ones too but never seem keen on the meat ones, I’ve never had a robo but see no reason why they would be different in that respect.

[Ria P]

I'll get some of the cauliflower cheese, thanks.

Bad news about Henry.
I have just noticed a little blood in his toilet which i had kept a very close eye on. Looks like the UTI has flared up again. He was symptom free for over a month. I have a little Baytril left and started him off on the previous dose until i can make a vet appointment tomorrow to get some more.
Henry got himself into a right strop over it.....

Cypher, what's the name again of the probiotic you use? Dr something? Is that the one that goes on the food as a drop and can be taken anytime once a day?

I was hoping the UTI was a one off but doesn't look that way unfortunately so i have to put him on a probiotic.

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by cypher

It’s entirely possible that he could only have felt confident enough after a year but sometimes it’s just really hard to know why their behaviour changes, great that you’re getting to interact with him now whatever the reason.

Wee Gordon is still out and about during the day or comes to the surface when he hears us.
He looks up when we talk to him and follows my fingers around sniffing but won't come onto my hand now. He nibbles my fingers instead!! It's lovely to be able to stroke him which is not something i ever expected to happen.

I just sieved some debris from his sandpit and he immediately appeared from one of his tunnels to investigate.

[cypher]

Sorry to hear Henry’s UTI is back again, hope it clears up again soon with the antibiotics.
The probiotic I use is Dr Squiggles potent brew it is just a drop on food but if he’s on antibiotics ideally you want it to be a few hours apart, once he’s off them then any time is fine. I usually put it on there veg or other fresh food.

[Ria P]

Thanks. Which quantity do you buy? I was thinking of the 100ml but don't know how far it goes or how long it keeps.

[cypher]

I get the 50ml as that lasts me ages even giving it to four hams, the shelf life is quite good but not long enough for a 100ml bottle to keep.