Foster hamsters

[Pebbles82]

That's a lovely set up Did you make that little colourful house on the right? It's lovely - like a hansel and gretel house. Glad Jim has a new home.

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

That's a lovely set up Did you make that little colourful house on the right? It's lovely - like a hansel and gretel house. Glad Jim has a new home.

That's an Aldi tissue box from Xmas which i cut and put over the bon bon glass jar sand bath.
The tank is too crowded and i can't catch Scottie now.

I'm just playing about with a Hamster Heaven with tubes for internal runs but in sections so i could clean them with a bottle brush if needed.
I used to use the 55cm Trixie bridges a lot but the quality has deteriorated so much with wide gaps that they are no longer safe.

[Ria P]

Little foster Robo Lola is now living in the foster tank. She wasn't too upset by the move. I used all her things and set them up as close as possible to her previous set up.

[cloudy]

Aww, she is adorable! She looks happy in her new tank.

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by cloudy

Aww, she is adorable! She looks happy in her new tank.

Yes, the foster hamsters rarely display any kind of stress behaviours caused by their temporary housing situation. Even this small tank is quite an upgrade from their previous homes.

The only tricky ones were female Syrians but that is going by my own past experiences only and cannot be seen as a generalisation. Hamsters are individuals with personalities, regardless of their gender.

[cloudy]

Originally Posted by Ria P

Yes, the foster hamsters rarely display any kind of stress behaviours caused by their temporary housing situation. Even this small tank is quite an upgrade from their previous homes.

The only tricky ones were female Syrians but that is going by my own past experiences only and cannot be seen as a generalisation. Hamsters are individuals with personalities, regardless of their gender.

That is interesting because I always read how stressed hamsters get moving to a new set up. I wonder if it is your calm nature that helps them. They know you and must know they are safe.

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by cloudy

That is interesting because I always read how stressed hamsters get moving to a new set up. I wonder if it is your calm nature that helps them. They know you and must know they are safe.

Lol and thank you. True enough, hamsters do bring out the better side of me and i truly prefer their company to that of most humans.

It's definitely not me though and depends on the individual hamster's personality. I once had to temporarily house two of our own hamsters in spare cages and their reactions couldn't have been more different.

I think the foster hamsters cope so well with changes because they nearly always come from tiny, bare cages with wheels so small they couldn't use them, therefore had nothing to get territorial over. They wouldn't miss the smell because the cages usually stink to high heaven.

Their issues are more of an emotional than environmental nature once they've moved into their foster habitats.

[cloudy]

That makes sense. They are not used to much and perhaps do not expect much. I have always preferred the company of animals to humans. I totally relate.

[Pebbles82]

I think you may be right there, that the change is so much of an improvement they are not so stressed by the change. I was thinking that about our new boy (it will be nice when he has a permanent name!) - obviously he came from the rescue but I expect he was originally in a very small cage and hadn't been in the rescue long and he seems very confident and happy in his Plaza!

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

I think you may be right there, that the change is so much of an improvement they are not so stressed by the change. I was thinking that about our new boy (it will be nice when he has a permanent name!) - obviously he came from the rescue but I expect he was originally in a very small cage and hadn't been in the rescue long and he seems very confident and happy in his Plaza!

The rescues do their best but their set ups wouldn't be as enriching as what you have to offer the new boy. He has no time to get stressed because he's way too busy exploring and rearranging. He sounds very happy!