Clive

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by cloudy

So Clive loves tofu too! How cute. It is lovely he trusts you so much and was okay with you tidying up his cage. His hoard must have been making it uncomfortable for him to burrow and sleep underground.

Could be but i don't really know. I'm trying to find out by elimination. I have noticed lately that he often sleeps by the entrance tunnel. I went through the substrate i took out and couldn't find any hairs which is something else that puzzles me.

[Ria P]

And yes, the nose appeared from the substrate almost instantly when i put the tofu in. The nose spent ages sniffing before the rest of the hamster followed and gobbled up all the tofu.

[cloudy]

So it looks like hamsters seem to like tofu. How funny he had not tried it before but he sensed it and came out to eat it right away.

[cloudy]

I just thought, could Clive be eating his hair? I wondered if you cannot find it if he eats it. I wonder if he is over grooming perhaps. Sorry if that sounds dumb. Just a thought as I know guinea pigs do this. They call it barbering.

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by cloudy

I just thought, could Clive be eating his hair? I wondered if you cannot find it if he eats it. I wonder if he is over grooming perhaps. Sorry if that sounds dumb. Just a thought as I know guinea pigs do this. They call it barbering.

I never thought of that. That's a very valid point though. Thank you. That would also account for the neck and head areas staying intact. I know that he licks his scent glands.
Do you know why he would do that? I can imagine that could be quite dangerous and cause internal blockages.

[cloudy]

Some say it is due to boredom or stress but many happy guinea pigs have done it and the carer never knew why.

If Clive is loosing hair in the areas he can reach then perhaps he is actually barbering. I have never known it to be dangerous for guinea pigs as they seem to be able to digest it. They can digest hay which is really tough.

Actually, when I was new to guinea pigs I used to hold my baby piggy against my shoulder and she would happily stay there for ages. A few weeks later I happen to notice my hair was all different lengths. She was enjoying eating it! It never did her any harm but I made sure to tie my hair up after that.

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by cloudy

Some say it is due to boredom or stress but many happy guinea pigs have done it and the carer never knew why.

If Clive is loosing hair in the areas he can reach then perhaps he is actually barbering. I have never known it to be dangerous for guinea pigs as they seem to be able to digest it. They can digest hay which is really tough.

Actually, when I was new to guinea pigs I used to hold my baby piggy against my shoulder and she would happily stay there for ages. A few weeks later I happen to notice my hair was all different lengths. She was enjoying eating it! It never did her any harm but I made sure to tie my hair up after that.

Haha! That gives barbaring a whole new dimension. I think it would be harmful to hamsters because fluffy bedding and fibres when ingested can lead to blockages.
I'll give it another week or so to see if there's any improvement but if not, i'll take him to the vet.

[cloudy]

Oh I see. I can understand your concerns. I hope Clive stops doing this, if he is. I always wish we could get underground cameras. It would be brilliant to know what goes on under there.

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by cloudy

Oh I see. I can understand your concerns. I hope Clive stops doing this, if he is. I always wish we could get underground cameras. It would be brilliant to know what goes on under there.

I read on here about someone's hamster escaping and going down a pipe. They bought an endoscopic camera to go down the pipe and located the hamster. They baited him out with cheese i think it was.
I suppose a camera like that would need to go into a Robo proof encasing.
I wonder how David Attenborough's camera team gets these amazing underground shots.

[cloudy]

I can imagine a hamster trying to chew it up or covering it with bedding so we cannot see what they are doing.

There was a programme that followed the lives of rabbits. They had all this amazing footage of their burrows. Then they revealed it was a custom made habitat and they were able to install cameras before the rabbits arrived.