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Old 04-04-2022, 01:15 AM   #1
sushi_78
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Default New Syrian

On Saturday I got a Syrian hamster. An acquaintance had got in touch with me to explain that they were leaving the country, and could take in their 2-year-old hamster, or find him a home. So I said I could give him a home myself.

At some point after we had arranged the rehoming but before they brought him to me, he developed a swollen left eye. The owners took him to the vet and he was prescribed a course of fusidic acid eye drops and metacam, and the vet also recommended an over-the-counter eye lotion to use afterwards.

When the hamster arrived he was on Back 2 Nature paper pellets which I'm not really keen on for hamster bedding as they're heavy and rough and can't be burrowed in. I was slightly conflicted on what to do, as doing a full bedding change in addition to a change of home is a lot of change for an old hamster, but since they had changed the bedding just before bringing him to me I decided that I might change it to Fitch now. It would disrupt the hamster whenever I did it, so it seemed better to get it over with. Before changing the bedding his eye was swollen closed. There was some slight crusting but not much discharge. But the next time I saw the hamster after changing the bedding, the eye was open and clean. So I don't know if it was a bedding issue, or just an intermittent problem that coincidentally resolved after I changed the bedding.

I wanted to avoid making big changes in addition to the bedding change, so the only thing I did was add a larger house for him. He only had two little plastic huts before. He's still sleeping in one of the huts. Should I take the huts away? Or just wait a bit longer?

He already has a suitable wheel (Savic Rolly) and the cage is not a bad size for an elderly hamster (Pets at Home XL). The cage is awkward to access though due to the tiny door. I have a new-style Grosvenor cage. Not the one with the top opening door but a different one that's slightly bigger (80x48cm and 40cm high) and has a front door. I've been weighing up the pros and cons of leaving him where he is settled vs moving him to a cage with slightly more space and more convenient access. Does anyone have any advice or thoughts on that?

I set up the motion-activated camera last night and saw that he was fairly active. He has no trouble with mobility and he even ran on his wheel. He's been moving lots of bedding around too.

His name is Kebab and I'm going to keep his old name since he's had it for 2 years already. I don't have a good photo of him yet but here is a short clip from the motion camera: https://i.imgur.com/Na0kgOp.mp4. He is a satin but I'm not sure of his colour.
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Old 04-04-2022, 03:27 AM   #2
cloudy
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Default Re: New Syrian

It is so lovely you have given Kebab his forever home. From what I could see in the video he looks healthy and active. He is beautiful.
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Old 04-04-2022, 04:22 AM   #3
Ria P
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Default Re: New Syrian

Congratulations to the lovely Kebab!

I had the p@h xl a couple of times, once for my first hamster and then for a foster. I don't get on with that cage at all because every time i wanted to do some spot cleaning i had to take the wire top off.

Elderly Syrians tend to pee more so may need a little more cleaning. I'd move him in the Grosvenor now using all his things and setting it up as close to the original set up as possible. I'd place the plastic hut he sleeps in next to the house like an outhouse and he may well move into the main house. I think that he'll be fine with a move because all his things and smells will be there.
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Old 04-04-2022, 04:49 AM   #4
LunaTheHamster1
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Default Re: New Syrian

Congratulations on your new family member.

I think it depends on the hamster really, but like Ria states I would be tempted just to do it now, get it over and done with. I think something like this does come down to your own judgement and the nature of the hamster, but if you can move stuff across to a similar layout go for it.

Twinkle came with a plastic hide that the rescue told me he loves and probably won't leave it, he left it straight away and burrowed around under his new wooden hide and that was that lol. I would leave the hides in for now, maybe just put a pile of food/treats in the new larger one to tempt him in.
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Old 04-04-2022, 11:23 AM   #5
sushi_78
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Default Re: New Syrian

Thanks for the advice. He seems a confident hamster and he was fine with the full bedding change so I decided to move him to the Grosvenor today. I think he seems quite happy. He explored the cage fully and then went back to sleep.





The platform is the plastic one that came with the cage and it's very shiny/slippery so I'm going to get either a hemp mat or a sheet of cork to line it with. I also want to get a cork log or something to go on the floor.

At the moment I've put his blue plastic hut just by the entrance of the new house so hopefully he'll move into it.

The cage door locks didn't come with the cage. The door is very loose, so that any hamster could easily push it open (potentially even accidentally while bar climbing). I bought the door locks on Ebay (search for hamster cage locks and they'll be one of the first results).
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Old 04-04-2022, 12:18 PM   #6
Ria P
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Default Re: New Syrian

That looks great! And so does Kebab. Cardboard is less slippery than plastic and would do in the meantime.
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Old 04-04-2022, 02:50 PM   #7
LunaTheHamster1
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Default Re: New Syrian

Awesome Sushi. enjoy getting to know your new little housemate
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Old 04-04-2022, 03:48 PM   #8
Lilafernim
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Default Re: New Syrian

Congratulations on the new hammie! He looks lovely bless him, so happy he found such a loving home.
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Old 04-04-2022, 04:01 PM   #9
sushi_78
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Default Re: New Syrian

Thank you everyone!

His old home was very loving too. They were sad to leave him and spoke about him and all his foibles with such warmth. Apparently he likes to have two water bottles and if his food is too old for his liking he chucks it off his platform. They also gave me a mountain of supplies for him. So he's a very lucky hamster who has had two loving homes.
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Old 04-04-2022, 05:12 PM   #10
Lilafernim
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Default Re: New Syrian

That’s lovely to hear! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like I was saying he wasn’t loved before. I only meant if they hadn’t had known you and had to find a different owner, being 2 years old already I think there would’ve been some difficulty and you wouldn’t truly know who he was going to.

It’s nice you’ve taken him in and gave him such a lovely home already. If you still have contact with the previous owner maybe you could ask them to send a voice message and play it to kebab, see how he reacts!

I used to have a hamster who’d do the same thing with the food, or anything for that matter. They’d always be little piles around the cage in the morning! It’s a shame they couldn’t stay with him but sometimes life interrupts unfortunately, and kebab was lucky enough to fall into your hands for care.
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