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One really smart hamster - Catherine - 01-07-2014

You have heard about Robin the hamster before. He likes to play hamster hide and seek at 2am. It is winter now and he wants to sleep and he wants to do things on his own terms.

So, he has set up a nest on my microwave cart , in a tea box. I removed the tea. He can reach the spot from his bin/cage. He gets me to put him back when he wants to eat and drink. Now he has figured out how to get back to his bin from the shelf where his tea box is located.

So this morning he was sleeping in his tea box. Then later he was back in his bin. Five minutes later he was back in the tea box.

I put his treats in his bin and he was in the tea box. When I checked he was still in the tea box, but the treats were gone.
It seems that I am no longer needed. He can do everything by himself. Of course I am still the one that fills the food dish and water bottle.
You have to admire his independent spirit and his ability to plan out how he wants to do things.Smiley4


RE: One really smart hamster - Reduckto - 01-08-2014

Haha that is lovely!

So funny how every animal is different. How long does it take you to feed and water you heard of hamsters Cathrine?


RE: One really smart hamster - Catherine - 01-08-2014

I stopped breeding hamsters two years ago when the pet store closed. So now instead of a large colony of hamsters I just have four.
I stopped putting couples together and very soon there were no more babies. I have watched the rest of the hamsters pass on from old age. These four are from the last two litters. After they go I will have no more of my hamsters left. Sadsmiley
I will probably rescue hamsters from time to time. I have enough cages and bins and supplies to take in quite a range of animals.

It is just nice that my youngest hamster is such a character. My first hamsters were really special and my last hamsters are special. There were a lot of special hamsters in between.

It used to take a whole day to clean them, now it takes twenty minutes.


RE: One really smart hamster - AnimalFamily - 01-09-2014

Given a little more time he will probably figure out how to feed and water himself too!


RE: One really smart hamster - Catherine - 01-09-2014

Robin has figured out how to get into Flora, the guinea pig's enclosure, so he can now feed and water himself. Her food is not the same, but it will do if I am not home to put him back in with his own food.

I have never figured out why some hamsters do this, but over the years I have had independent hamsters. They just wanted to feel like they were in charge.

Sadly I now have only three dwarfies. My only female, my oldest hamster, curled up to sleep last night. This morning she looked like she was asleep, but she was so still and when I checked she had died in her sleep. RIP Judy. She was nearly two and dwarfies only live that long.Sadsmiley
The other two are nearly two and Robin is 17 months. When I bred dwarfies(eleven years) I had 140 of different ages and their babies. These three are the last of my colony and it is the end of a big part of my life. I used to be called the Hamster Lady. Hundreds of children had their first pet experience with one of my dwarfies.

I think it is extra special that Robin is such a character. He is the last of a long line of dwarf hamsters. I did have fun, but when the pet store I dealt with was closing, it was time to stop breeding and let the colony die out. Robin is my last baby hamster. The youngest is always special.Heart


RE: One really smart hamster - Cibach - 01-11-2014

Robin sounds like a real character who knows what he wants, and just how to get it!!
I'm sorry to hear that Judy has gone. Two years seem like a flash to us, but is a whole lifetime for the hamsters. It will indeed be the end of an era when they have all gone, but Robin sounds such a character that I won't be surprised if he goes on and on.


RE: One really smart hamster - Reduckto - 01-11-2014

I know how you feel Cathrine. Not on the same scale though.

We had 7 Guinea pigs at my home home but now they are all slowly dieing out. Its just not the same at feeding time.

I find it fasinating that the hamster goes into the guinea pig enclosure. How do the piggys react?


RE: One really smart hamster - Catherine - 01-11-2014

With just a two year life span everything just moves so fast. From baby to adult to old hamster is just months to me and a lifetime to a dwarfie.
Over the years I have had hamster get in with the guinea pigs many times. Pigbert loved them and they would be snuggled up in his fur. I set up a ladder so that escaped hamsters could get in with the guinea pigs and have food and water and a warm fur "blanket" to sleep with.
Flora seemed okay with a hamster house guest.

It is funny how things change. I had 4 bearded dragons a year ago and then by the summer I had none. Now I have one rescue again.

I had eleven guinea pigs at one time. Now I have six. Only three are part of the older group. I do keep taking in new ones, but I still miss the old gang. Rosie and Pigbert and Frodo and Lily and Miss Charlie...they were so much fun.


RE: One really smart hamster - Catherine - 01-14-2014

So finally I got a picture of Robin in his tea box.
[Image: IMG_9890.JPG]
He better not be planning to get into my hot chocolate.
[Image: IMG_9893.JPG]
Maybe I better move the stuff before he gets into it. I can give him another empty tea box. I always have plenty of those.Smiley4


RE: One really smart hamster - AnimalFamily - 01-15-2014

So sorry to hear Judy has passed on. Hopefully it gives you a little comfort knowing she passed peacefully in her sleep, and she lived "the good life" in her short time with you.
This part of having pets is never easy. Whether it's only a couple or many, many years, the feelings are just as intense.

Robin looks mighty comfy in his home away from home!