The spray holder is a really good idea and you cage set up looks great well impressed
Cinnamon
- Thread starter Hamster Haven
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He has systematically harvested all the flax seeds after the last few days. I'll have to see if without them he shows any interest in harvesting the other sprays we have.
2 nights ago he had a lot of out-of-cage time (for him). I took him out for an interactive play session for a bit, and then I took him back to his cage in his transport. He didn't see eager to get out of the transport, so I thought maybe he wants more exploring time. I left him in a safe free roam area while I did a deeper clean of his hideaway. I replaced a bunch of old bedding (mostly searching for parts that might be damp or smell like it could have been peed on) and even cleaned out a bunch of poop piles that were mixed in with his hoard. Because he does use the sandbath as a toilet a few times a day, I don't feel the need to spot clean or deeper clean his hideaway very often, but he was due for me to dig around a bit more. Mostly I just did a heavier swap out of old soiled bedding for fresh bedding. No wipe downs with cleaners.
When I went back to pick him up he was hiding in a narrow space of the free roam area, which is kind of his MO. One reason I don't give him more free roam time is that even if left to his own devices, he often just finds a place to hide away rather than exploring. He is more active if we wake him in the afternoon, but that's harder to do with our schedules.
Last night he came to his hideaway when I was bringing in new food, but I couldn't get him to come out to play, which was pretty reasonable- I'm sure he was thinking, "Yesterday was more than enough and you cleaned up my personal space." His full salad was, of course, taken away after we went to sleep.
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 65
- Points
- 543
I've been wanting to make this video for awhile...
E
elusive
That is really cute 
M
Member ID2
Lovely to see Cinnamon on video.
- Messages
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- Reaction score
- 65
- Points
- 543
We've had a few good play sessions with Cinnamon this week. Since he is NOT one of the hamsters on this forum itching to come out each night, we only play with him every few days- rarely 2 days in a row (I know this isn't uncommon for Syrians). Friday night was his "adoptaversary" so we decided to stop at a pet store on our way home from an appointment and pick out presents for him, which ended up being dried sweet potato and a new Whimzee. We filmed quite a bit of video of him exploring his new treat and Whimzee. My daughter is enjoying trying to be a "YouTuber" so we've edited our videos more and she narrates them, but I'm trying to share this one here so that it starts right at 2 minutes, which is just us filming Cinnamon hanging out with us and checking out his new treats. If it starts at the beginning, just scroll to 2 minutes to see Cinnamon! He's in his transport already having pouched his broccoli and then gets to see his new treats in a setup we made for him.
F
Frida
It's lovely to see Cinnamon 
E
elusive
Happy anniversary Cinnamon.
Lovely to see him enjoying his treats.
Lovely to see him enjoying his treats.
M
Member ID2
That's a lovely video! Cinnamon looks happy and smiley when he finds the sweet potatoe treat.
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He's so funny. He IS SOOO nice with us when he's out, but his nature is still very subdued. After a few more minutes he'll just go searching for a nook that feels like a hiding place and just hang there rather than keep exploring more. Every time we take him out it starts with very patient and slow efforts to tempt him out of his hideaway and into his transport with fresh veggies. In fact, not long after that video we snapped this pic. He found a small toy suitcase we'd stood up in the play pen and turned it into a hideaway.That's a fantastic videoCinnamon is so cute and he clearly loves the attention and is happy around you both. He enjoyed his snack.
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We have a change up! Yesterday Cinnamon came out when my daughter's friend was over. They sat with him in the free roam area for a bit, so I took advantage of the chance to check his hideaway bedding, which doesn't get dirty too quickly since he wees in his sand bath most of the time. I was concerned (at first) to find his litter tray, which had been his bed, soaked with urine. I cleaned it and wondered if he'd converted it from bed to chamber pot. Today, I went to spot clean his sandbath and noticed the outpouring of stuffing pictured below- clearly he's been up to something in his hideaway! Usually, a top entrance hole is visible, with the bedding even with the top of the hole. Hopefully I didn't disturb him too much, but I took the items off the top briefly to peek inside. It does seem that he may have moved his lodging deeper, where his hoard is/ was, as he peeped back at me from that room rather than the old sleeping corner. I'll have to keep an eye on his litter tray now to see if he keeps it as an indoor bathroom, which would certainly be more convenient for me.
Does anyone here ever do a more extensive cleaning where you remove all the bedding in the hideaway area? For now, even if I've taken a lot out (like after returning from our dinner holiday) I've tried to replace it at least partially with fresher bedding from other areas of the enclosure and then spread the new bedding around the enclosure so it's mixed in with older, though not unfresh, needing. I do keep some of the hoard in tact and remove poop build up. I remove clumps in the sand bath 2-3 times per day.
Does anyone here ever do a more extensive cleaning where you remove all the bedding in the hideaway area? For now, even if I've taken a lot out (like after returning from our dinner holiday) I've tried to replace it at least partially with fresher bedding from other areas of the enclosure and then spread the new bedding around the enclosure so it's mixed in with older, though not unfresh, needing. I do keep some of the hoard in tact and remove poop build up. I remove clumps in the sand bath 2-3 times per day.
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E
elusive
It does look as though he’s been busy there!
I never remove all the substrate from the house or where they sleep & keep the hoard, even if needs more than just a spot clean I would always put some back & do what you’ve been doing using some from other parts of the cage mixed with clean substrate & some of the old.
I never remove all the substrate from the house or where they sleep & keep the hoard, even if needs more than just a spot clean I would always put some back & do what you’ve been doing using some from other parts of the cage mixed with clean substrate & some of the old.
- Messages
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Good to hear. I was thinking that that made sense based on a combination of what I'd read and instinct, but I like to check in periodically with other about what I'm doing. I think the bedding pushed out is cleaner bedding, but I think it was only forced out as he dug a new tunnel/ deepened an existing one.
- Messages
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- Reaction score
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So as you know from Cinnamon's diary from the start, he has always been on the shyer side. Last night something (maybe?) unusual happened, and I'm curious if anyone has noted something similar with a current or past hamster.
Background: We had him out for a play session on Saturday, so Sunday we let him be, and Monday I offered him his taxi but he was clearly uninterested in coming out, so I left him be... although I could not completely let him be. As I observed a week or so ago, he has stopped peeing as frequently in his sand dig box that is outside of his hideaway. The litter tray I had first given him to use, which was turned into a bed for months, seems to now be an actual litter tray- which means I feel compelled to rinse it and give it a fresh sand/ light bedding layer every couple of days. I had to open his hideaway top while he was awake to do this. He watched me curiously and I'm sure he was not happy with me, although he didn't project any upset. Then I left him be for the night. I put the camera out because my husband had lamented just wanting to see him on his wheel, and he only does that when we're asleep. He was observably awake on the camera between about 11:30PM and 2AM on Sunday night, and then again between 5AM and 5:45AM Monday morning. I reached in at 5:45AM to give him a pet and an extra snack.
Last night, Tuesday, he came out into his taxi when I coaxed him with a banana slice, which he nibbled at for a few minutes but did not finish later. I took him into the playpen and let him wander around / handled him a few times. He is never super active when out. He looks around curiously and explores a bit, then usually finds a corner or "hidey" place to hunker down in, which sort of confirms his personality to me- even when I've left the room and there's no human around him for a bit in a free roam area, I often come back to find him curled up somewhere rather than exploring. When I saw him doing this last night I brought him back to his enclosure- I usually interpret it as his sign that he's had enough playpen or free roaming time.
I put the video camera out again to see what he would get up to- just for fun. However, when I checked today it seems that he did not come out at all last night! That seems very surprising to me, although to be honest his behavior has been regular enough that, except when we are on vacation, I don't usually keep a camera up or check it daily. Usually, when I do track it, he spends 2 hours (maybe 3) on his wheel each night and then otherwise checks out his food areas and sometimes his dig boxes. I haven't noticed any other concerning signs- eating seems to be fine and other behaviors are "normal" for him.
Thoughts? Anyone have a hamster who occasionally hunkers down all night?! I know that in his hideaway, he has dug down about 8 inches, so he can certainly be semi-active in there, although he hasn't seemed to build a tunnel network.
Background: We had him out for a play session on Saturday, so Sunday we let him be, and Monday I offered him his taxi but he was clearly uninterested in coming out, so I left him be... although I could not completely let him be. As I observed a week or so ago, he has stopped peeing as frequently in his sand dig box that is outside of his hideaway. The litter tray I had first given him to use, which was turned into a bed for months, seems to now be an actual litter tray- which means I feel compelled to rinse it and give it a fresh sand/ light bedding layer every couple of days. I had to open his hideaway top while he was awake to do this. He watched me curiously and I'm sure he was not happy with me, although he didn't project any upset. Then I left him be for the night. I put the camera out because my husband had lamented just wanting to see him on his wheel, and he only does that when we're asleep. He was observably awake on the camera between about 11:30PM and 2AM on Sunday night, and then again between 5AM and 5:45AM Monday morning. I reached in at 5:45AM to give him a pet and an extra snack.
Last night, Tuesday, he came out into his taxi when I coaxed him with a banana slice, which he nibbled at for a few minutes but did not finish later. I took him into the playpen and let him wander around / handled him a few times. He is never super active when out. He looks around curiously and explores a bit, then usually finds a corner or "hidey" place to hunker down in, which sort of confirms his personality to me- even when I've left the room and there's no human around him for a bit in a free roam area, I often come back to find him curled up somewhere rather than exploring. When I saw him doing this last night I brought him back to his enclosure- I usually interpret it as his sign that he's had enough playpen or free roaming time.
I put the video camera out again to see what he would get up to- just for fun. However, when I checked today it seems that he did not come out at all last night! That seems very surprising to me, although to be honest his behavior has been regular enough that, except when we are on vacation, I don't usually keep a camera up or check it daily. Usually, when I do track it, he spends 2 hours (maybe 3) on his wheel each night and then otherwise checks out his food areas and sometimes his dig boxes. I haven't noticed any other concerning signs- eating seems to be fine and other behaviors are "normal" for him.
Thoughts? Anyone have a hamster who occasionally hunkers down all night?! I know that in his hideaway, he has dug down about 8 inches, so he can certainly be semi-active in there, although he hasn't seemed to build a tunnel network.
E
elusive
I’ve never had a camera on cage so I actually have no idea if mine have had the same routine every night, I would be surprised to be honest if their activity didn’t change from time to time but as long as things are normal otherwise I wouldn’t worry. It could probably be a lot of different things that would cause them to not come out, possibly some disturbance or cage cleaning, weather & temperature, could be anything really. If you don’t have the camera on all the time it’s possible he’s had nights in before too.
Just wondering if you do actually need to clean the litter tray that often? How much of the sand is wet?
Just wondering if you do actually need to clean the litter tray that often? How much of the sand is wet?
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That's a good question. It only started happening recently with his use of the indoor litter tray. Before that, he seemed to use the outdoor box a few times a day. Sometimes there would also be dampness in an area of his "indoor" (hideaway) bedding, but since it was less frequent I didn't go to check it out often so as to disturb his nesting area as little as possible. Last time I checked the tray after a few days, the sand was entirely damp (there was only a thin layer in the litter tray). I could try checking 2x per week only and see what it is like then, maybe add a little more sand next time for more absorbency. When I see clumps in his outdoor sandbox I take them out, but that's less disturbing to him because he's "indoors" when that happens. The good news is that with him using the litter tray, it doesn't seem like he's wetting other areas of his bedding, so maybe that's reason for me to do a little less, unless he's come out.
Other trend besides Cinnamon being shy and gentle: hamster mom who overanalyzes all of her actions and her hamster's behaviors
M
Member ID2
Why don't you clean the en suite toilet when he's in the playpen? I'd add a thicker layer of sand so you can scoop out the clumps.
I've never had a camera so have no idea of the hamsters nightly routines and behaviours. I go by the fresh food which they all enjoy. If the food is still untouched by the morning i check on them.
I've never had a camera so have no idea of the hamsters nightly routines and behaviours. I go by the fresh food which they all enjoy. If the food is still untouched by the morning i check on them.