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RainbowBrite
Aww, look at his adorable little face! I love his eyes. They are round like cartoon eyes. 
M
Member ID2
Eddie perked up and kept jamming his wheel. He doesn't use it but needs to be able to use should he wish to.
I bought an acrylic panel (£26) at Wickes yesterday and we practically made a Hamster Heaven into a tank by lining the inside with acrylic panels.
Simple set up with his big sand box as the main feature. No shelves and no tubes to trap sticky diabetic wee.
Eddie seems to like coarse textures so i was wondering if he doesn't like the soft Kaytee clean and cozy. It would be unusual but possible. I changed his substrate to hemp (AubiZoo) but added some of his old substrate as well.
He did a lot of digging but i'm not sure yet whether he's mad at me or happy with the new substrate.
I bought an acrylic panel (£26) at Wickes yesterday and we practically made a Hamster Heaven into a tank by lining the inside with acrylic panels.
Simple set up with his big sand box as the main feature. No shelves and no tubes to trap sticky diabetic wee.
Eddie seems to like coarse textures so i was wondering if he doesn't like the soft Kaytee clean and cozy. It would be unusual but possible. I changed his substrate to hemp (AubiZoo) but added some of his old substrate as well.
He did a lot of digging but i'm not sure yet whether he's mad at me or happy with the new substrate.
F
Frida
Eddie's got a cute little bum 
Did Eddie do a lot of digging before?
Did Eddie do a lot of digging before?
E
elusive
Good to hear Eddie perked up a bit.
Hope he’s having fun digging & does like his new substrate, how do you think the hemp will be for absorbency? It’s a long time since I used it but I didn’t find it as absorbent as paper substrate, the one you have looks a bit darker in the photo than any I’ve used so it may be a bit different.
Hope he’s having fun digging & does like his new substrate, how do you think the hemp will be for absorbency? It’s a long time since I used it but I didn’t find it as absorbent as paper substrate, the one you have looks a bit darker in the photo than any I’ve used so it may be a bit different.
M
Member ID2
Eddie didn't burrow much at all. The burrowing areas in his previous HH stayed untouched.
He dug in the beech chips dig box but he was probably digging for food.
In the bin cage he stayed mostly in the sand area and the dig area stayed pretty much the same but he managed to jam the wheel.
I'm not worried about absorbency because he pees mainly in the sand area.
Diabetic Percy i changed from Kaytee to wood shavings (didn't know of this brand of hemp then) because he peed anywhere and the Kaytee became mouldy very quickly. Wood became mouldy as well so Percy lived in a washable environment on wood shavings and toilet paper strips for nesting.
I've tried hutch hemp before but threw it out because i disliked the smell.
This AubiZoo is Aubiose i think but sold in smaller quantities, has no smell and a nice soft texture. No dust either.
He dug in the beech chips dig box but he was probably digging for food.
In the bin cage he stayed mostly in the sand area and the dig area stayed pretty much the same but he managed to jam the wheel.
I'm not worried about absorbency because he pees mainly in the sand area.
Diabetic Percy i changed from Kaytee to wood shavings (didn't know of this brand of hemp then) because he peed anywhere and the Kaytee became mouldy very quickly. Wood became mouldy as well so Percy lived in a washable environment on wood shavings and toilet paper strips for nesting.
I've tried hutch hemp before but threw it out because i disliked the smell.
This AubiZoo is Aubiose i think but sold in smaller quantities, has no smell and a nice soft texture. No dust either.
M
Member ID2
It looks like Eddie wants to keep living in his sand pit! He has a little house with Kaytee and toilet paper strips outside of it to make a nest. I just saw Eddie with a mouthful of paper strips walking across his cage heading for his sand pit to refurbish his coconut in there! He came out to eat but paid no attention to the fact that both doors were wide open.
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elusive
Aww! It’s so sweet the way he loves his sand so much!
M
Member ID2
I started off with a big shoe box house but this morning his cage looked like a tornado had hit it targeting the big house so i took it out and replaced it with a small corner house.
I've thought about it and now think that his frantic digging this morning was stress because he didn't like the set up. He's not a burrower by nature.
I struggle to read the hamsters behaviours sometimes and got this completely wrong i think.
In the end i picked him up and placed him in his sand pit which calmed him down.
The sand box reminds me of a swimming pool.
I've thought about it and now think that his frantic digging this morning was stress because he didn't like the set up. He's not a burrower by nature.
I struggle to read the hamsters behaviours sometimes and got this completely wrong i think.
In the end i picked him up and placed him in his sand pit which calmed him down.
The sand box reminds me of a swimming pool.
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RainbowBrite
I find it so cute how much Eddie likes sand.
M
Member ID2
Thanks. I'm always a bit worried that i'm missing something or not providing him with something he wants.I find it so cute how much Eddie likes sand.
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RainbowBrite
I think you are doing everything you possibly can to make Eddie happy. You realised he was not keen in his first set up so you made sure you changed it. You made sure he has washable items to avoid mould due to excess urination. You looked into his diet and bought fenugreek seeds. You have done everything possible in my eyes.
M
Member ID2
That was Percy my first diabetic dwarf with the washable set up.
I'm glad you think that i'm not missing something with Eddie.
I'm glad you think that i'm not missing something with Eddie.
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RainbowBrite
I thought I remembered you saying you decided not to use wood for Eddie due to them needing to be washed. Sorry, I must have got confused.
I was thinking of when you threw out the coconut hut and degu shelves as they could not be washable.
I was thinking of when you threw out the coconut hut and degu shelves as they could not be washable.
M
Member ID2
I may well have said that and use washable wherever i can. I didn't know about plastikote when i had Percy. Eddie doesn't have symptoms as severe as Percy did.
F
Frida
I totally agree with Rainbow. You're doing a great job looking after Eddie. When ever you see Eddie or for that matter any of your hams unhappy you're straight on the case to change things to make them happy and comfortable.
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Hamsters just don't like us messing with their cage sometimes, but Eddie seems to need something and you're trying to work out what it is 
Maybe he doesn't really know and just feels a bit grungy with his diabetes. It does make you wonder if it's something to do with that, that he stays in sand so much.
Maybe he doesn't really know and just feels a bit grungy with his diabetes. It does make you wonder if it's something to do with that, that he stays in sand so much.
M
Member ID2
It's almost like sand gives him some kind of comfort. Not that i can figure out why that would be the case.
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elusive
It’s not always easy getting things right & trying to figure out what it is that they want, all you can do is try out what you think best & sse how it goes.
As long as Eddie has his sand he seems happy, I have no idea what it would be about sand that gives him comfort but he clearly loves it & feels very much at home in it.
I was wondering does cork go mouldy? I remember how much he liked his tubes & know they’re totally impractical now but wondered if a cork tunnel might work as it would be easy to just lift up & check under as long as the cork itself was ok?
As long as Eddie has his sand he seems happy, I have no idea what it would be about sand that gives him comfort but he clearly loves it & feels very much at home in it.
I was wondering does cork go mouldy? I remember how much he liked his tubes & know they’re totally impractical now but wondered if a cork tunnel might work as it would be easy to just lift up & check under as long as the cork itself was ok?
M
Member ID2
He has a cork log. I think that Eddie does prefer the hemp but i don't know yet how hemp reacts to diabetic wee. He made a burrow and he's in there now. His set up probably looks boring and bare to most people but i need to be able to pick things up to check for damp patches underneath and watch out for mould.
