Introducing Rosie

[Nessie Lang]

Our lovely hamster Rosie is settling in well, it’s been 2 weeks now! We’re new to hamsters after having house guinea pigs for many years before kids came along! She’s been on our laps (on a cushion blanket and with her cosy) by the cage a couple of times now but I’ve realised we really need to sort a play pen! What do you all use? Omlete one looks great but a bit pricey :-/

 

[Tulsi]

Aw what a sweetie. I used to use large storage boxes (with the lids off) for previous hamsters. I have a spare 100 x 50 x 35cm cage for my current hamster.

A bath is good too, if you have one.

If I didnt have the dog I would be very tempted by the omlet playpen.

 

[Jain]

Have use a round collapsible puppy pen with a mesh zip top

 

[Maz]

She's gorgeous There's a whole thread about playpens - I'll link it below. Some will depend on space and convenience. If you have the space (eg a spare room), to leave one up permanently, then the Songmix type are good and cheap and can be made any size you want. However for one you put up and take down each time it would be a real fiddle. Happy Henry Homes do a wood one (which I also have) which is a bit easier to take up and down each time and the panels are easy to put under a sofa eg when not in use. That isn't cheap either - about £55 I think.

I do have the Omlet one and I do find it the quickest and easiest to put up and down - seconds. Providing you don't use the plastic attachable floor. I just put mine up on the carpet - however you might want to protect a carpet! It is a bit expensive though. I love the size of it and the fact it stores away neatly and goes up in seconds (without the floor part). I just push our coffee table out of the way and put it up.

Is she happy enough to be on a sofa with you without jumping off? Another option is just have a hamsterproofed area (like a hallway with doors closed and something blocking the stairs eg).

Anyway here's the thread

Playpens and Playareas

This is a thread about playpen options :-)

www.thehamsterforum.com

 

[Socks Mum]

Hello Rosie, beautiful girl! Great to have you all on the forum!

 

[Maz]

I'll just add, if you did want to use the floor with the Omlet playpen I found it a real fiddle and time consuming to attach. I think I wouldn't want to do that each time and would only use the floor myself if the playpen was set up permanently. It's the opposite without the floor - just unfolds in seconds and folds back up again.

 

[Nessie Lang]

She's gorgeous There's a whole thread about playpens - I'll link it below. Some will depend on space and convenience. If you have the space (eg a spare room), to leave one up permanently, then the Songmix type are good and cheap and can be made any size you want. However for one you put up and take down each time it would be a real fiddle. Happy Henry Homes do a wood one (which I also have) which is a bit easier to take up and down each time and the panels are easy to put under a sofa eg when not in use. That isn't cheap either - about £55 I think.

I do have the Omlet one and I do find it the quickest and easiest to put up and down - seconds. Providing you don't use the plastic attachable floor. I just put mine up on the carpet - however you might want to protect a carpet! It is a bit expensive though. I love the size of it and the fact it stores away neatly and goes up in seconds (without the floor part). I just push our coffee table out of the way and put it up.

Is she happy enough to be on a sofa with you without jumping off? Another option is just have a hamsterproofed area (like a hallway with doors closed and something blocking the stairs eg).

Anyway here's the thread

Playpens and Playareas

This is a thread about playpen options :-)

www.thehamsterforum.com

Ah I didn’t even think about the hallway! That would be so easy to do in our house!!

 

[Maz]

It's blocking off the stairs that could be tricky. Although some hamsters enjoy running up and down the stairs as well (so maybe blocking them at the top?). They do seem to like investigating shoes in hallways ha ha.

If it's for early taming and socialising though, you might want to use a smaller area at first, like the dry bathtub. I put a fleece blanket in the bottom and then a spare wheel and the odd tunnel and hide - while I'm getting them used to me and being handled. I then sometimes progress to the sofa - depending on the hamster. My last syrian would never jump off. One of mine does now so I can't use the sofa for him!

 

[Steve]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Rosie is gorgeous, look forward to hearing more about her.

 

[Nessie Lang]

So the playpen from Omlete has arrived. Was easy to set up, and she has been wizzing around it. But wondering how long she should be in it. She’s started to get a bit frantic on the corners after about 10mins - is that normal? I put a couple of things from her cage in there as familiar and made up a dig basket which she is enjoying.

 

[Maz]

It looks great It varies really - how long to have her in it. It might depend what mood she's in. I tend to have plenty to do in it to distract them - a spare wheel helps. I hide treats or bits of food in various places. Or have a chew stick in there. It's fairly normal for them to try and find a way out but sometimes they're less interested in being in it than others. Last time Tino was in his he seemed bored quite quickly and went and sat in a hide, but the previous time he was enjoying the wheel and running around.

 

[Nessie Lang]

I might try it without the floor tomorrow night, as she seems to want to just nose around the room and that way she can do it safely within the pen but still ‘know’ she is on the floor by her cage. Yes, I had treats hidden but she didn’t really go for them as was exploring the perimeter mostly.

Funny little creatures aren’t they? I think she’s happy but I do worry. It’s hard as she doesn’t make any noises - my guinea pigs were so vocal it was always clear how happy they were.

She has never bitten, doesn’t run away from us, yawns, stretches and cleans herself in front of us. Sleeps mostly during the day but sees the kids off to school in the morning, and then is super active from 5ish. We handle her everyday, and now she comes to the gate when we call her. If she hears we are in the room she gets our attention. She occasionally stays still in my hand for a cuddle but mostly explores my jumper, or walk on hands. We’ve been using the sofa for her to have a run on but she ignores treats we put out and is always looking to go explore further. I think this is all positive but am I reading it wrong?

 

[Maz]

It all sounds lovely She sounds adorable. Yes the fact they aren't vocal (usually) means we need to read their behaviour and body language. Some hamsters are vocal but I've never had one that is. Unless they were very upset or stressed by something. My last Syrian had a scare one night when something happened in the house late at night (can't remember what the emergency was!) and he could hear our voices sounding alarmed and started making chirruping noises. It's the only time it's happened.

 

[Muffinsmuffins]

We have had four dwarf hamsters and I had three Syrians when I was a child , only one of these has made a noise and she hissed and buzzed like a bee … my daughter cried the first time she heard it as was terrified! And this was the one who took us the most time to get in our hands .. six months before she trusted us. She hissed every time a hand came near… So the others , we have just had to watch and learn ! Rosie looks like she is exploring and enjoying family life.

 

[Maz]

I had visisions of the hissing and buzzing Sorry it scared your daughter - it sounds like "go away" protective behaviour Maybe the hamster had had a bad experience in the past.

You've reminded me though that Tino, when he first came, sounded like an angry chicken if you spoke or said anything. So I shut up for a while
He was making that noise when I collected him and it continued until he was left alone in his cage - stressed and scared propably - but he only did it if you said something.