Henry

Henry is so sweet and looks really settled. Great videos, he‘s an active little fella and clearly enjoyed his treat ball. The clip in his wheel, meerkating and washing is super cute! ☺️
 
Maz said:
Henry is lovely to watch - he always looks so perky :) Although looks about to fall asleep in the last video but still happy.
Click to expand...

Nah, this was in the middle of prime zooming time. Right after his flump, he climbed around the castle a bunch and started a new construction:

Castle Builder

He was out and about for another 6 hours. But in a way he was tired, of interacting. I broke the deal and he was showing it to me.

I woke up to Henry calling for me, found him standing up on the bridge. We did our treat time, and he gave me a polite no nibble when I tried to pet him. He needed help with his castle, Henry fortified the entrance too well. It was plugged up with sticks and the roller toy. He went in immediately and bruxed at me a bit, it was too cute.

That's my one concern, Henry won't burrow much. I think otherwise we've figured each other out and have a good thing going. I had a burrow starter in the bedding for the first month and he never took to it. I tried encouraging it with a treat, but he only ever digs an inch down at most. He likes to build up little nests instead. The bedding is 16 inches deep in most places, tapers down to about 8 in his wheel/play area
 
I wouldn't worry about Henry not burrowing much, not all hamster do.

The substrate depth is there should he wish to take it up and he may well do when he feels like it.

Lilly is not much of a burrower either. She chose to nest and sleep in a little house on top of a shelf. She burrows to hide her stash but like Henry spends a lot of time being busy above substrate.
 
Beryl said:
I wouldn't worry about Henry not burrowing much, not all hamster do.

The substrate depth is there should he wish to take it up and he may well do when he feels like it.

Lilly is not much of a burrower either. She chose to nest and sleep in a little house on top of a shelf. She burrows to hide her stash but like Henry spends a lot of time being busy above substrate.
Click to expand...

That's really reassuring, thanks for the advice Beryl! Lilly is such a little character, Syrian sized confidence in a dwarf package
 
I’ve found that too, some hams love to burrow a lot while others really don’t bother much.
Henry’s obviously quite content doing his own thing & is very good at communicating with you if he wants or doesn’t want something so I wouldn’t worry at all.
 
It's been a very good week with Henry, more of the same every day. He still gets up for treats in the morning, and likes to hang out on the couch sometimes. I'm hopeful he's finally burrowing properly, there's a good tunnel under the sandbath plus one by the castle.

Today I accidentally spooked him and got bit, I moved his ball toy and he unfortunately grabbed it + got pulled a bit. I'm guessing he will be over it by tomorrow morning and want his treats.

Morning Treats
Spooked + Bites
 
Love that first video, he looks so keen & excited to have his treat.
I wouldn’t worry too much about spooking him, it happens sometimes but I’m sure he’ll soon be over it. It looked as though he was looking for another treat at the end there.
 
You're right, he was definitely looking for another one at the end and after the video! I tried again in hopes to end on a good note, but got nibbled hard. Just a confusing interaction for him, I don't blame the little guy. Next time I will clear the treat area beforehand for him.

Aw thanks Rainbow, he really is a smartie with that. Easily the most expressive hamster I've had
 
He really is, and we had one more chance to interact tonight. I tried to give him extra time to settle down, and when I attempted to fill his bowl tonight he was already in his castle waiting. He was so ready for treats, and was incredulous that I took longer than usual. I should have filmed it, he was standing there and just giving me a stare as to why the flying saucer hand wasn't coming down right away. He even made sure to show me he was moving things in his cheek pouches for space and ready for them, it was 100% deliberate. He would just look right at me and approach, then paw the cheeks again and stare until I gave him his favorites. Henry is so clever with communicating, I don't have to read into things with him. He finds foolproof ways to show me. Glad we ended tonight on a good note and no love was lost.
 
Last edited:
Sure enough, it's like Henry was never spooked yesterday at all. Super excited for treats and barked for me a few times this morning. A bit lazy with the treat ball, I expect it will be pulled into a tunnel or solved by the evening.

The castle seems to be his main home now, I'm very excited he might finally be burrowing deep into all that substrate.

Treat Seeking Missle
Meerkats
Laziest Hunter
 
ilguy said:
Henry did his trademark flump, and he meerkatted after I reacted to how cute it was at the end. This is his "no thanks"

All Done Flump

I think you're right Beryl, we are still on good terms. Henry is very clearcut with his one interaction a day rule. He's pure sweetness and will interact for a good bit, but then always wants his alone time once we're done.
Click to expand...
His way or no way 😀
 
Beryl said:
I wouldn't worry about Henry not burrowing much, not all hamster do.

The substrate depth is there should he wish to take it up and he may well do when he feels like it.

Lilly is not much of a burrower either. She chose to nest and sleep in a little house on top of a shelf. She burrows to hide her stash but like Henry spends a lot of time being busy above substrate.
Click to expand...
Petes the same regarding burrowing I've stopped being concerned if they are happy that good enough for me
 
Henry indeed built a burrow under the castle, I saw one of the chambers while he was building it through the side of the bin. I'm very excited that he might have dug a tunnel the whole length of the bin to the wheel, his old hole/nest is much more solid and I can't see all the way down it now. He's being funny about it, acting a bit evasive and alert around the castle. I guess I'm not supposed to know where the entrance is, it's his new home & territory.

He still came out for treats when he heard me, and did a good investigation of the lid while climbing around his log. Henry also finally solved the treat ball, I woke up to it taken apart.

Lid Investigation
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top