Leo

[elusive]

Hello Leo!
He is looking very curious there, I have quite a few like that, I don’t think any of my Russians did it but all my Chinese want a good look!

 

[Frida]

Hello Leo
I also have a few photos like that. Albert loves to come right up close to investigate. Albert also loves sitting and having a wash on my hubby's phone if he leaves it on the arm of the sofa. Once my hubby left his tablet on the sofa and Albert went to investigate and started to walk over it. Albert was sliding everywhere it was the equivalent of a ice-rink. Very funny

 

[Daisy]

First time free roaming Leo! Well, not really free roaming because I only sectioned off a small section of the landing.

He was quite nervous but he gradually gained confidence as he explored.

It took a few tries but eventually he was brave enough to make it to the top of the "castle"

(Here he is inspecting the wallpaper)

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I have also been able to hold him a bit by letting him walk out of his transport jar into my lap. He likes to climb all over me and then I can pick him up.

 

[elusive]

Aww look how brave yo are Leo. king of the castle!
Love the photos & the it’s so sweet in the vid when his little face appears in the holes.
He’s really gaining in confidence isn’t he, lovely to see how well he’s doing.

 

[Frida]

Lovely update on Leo

 

[RainbowBrite]

Oh how adorable! It is wonderful to see how confident Leo has become and how you have both bonded.

 

[Coco61]

That is great progress for you and Leo. He will gain confidence and enjoy it all the more.

 

[Maz]

It’s lovely to see Leo . I also loved seeing him pop his head out. Amazing progress.

 

[Zara]

Sounds like Leo's settled really well into his free roam, he looks like he's having a great time playing in his castle

 

[Daisy]

I held Leo properly (in my hand) for the first time today. I also weighed him - 37g - which I think is normal?

Unfortunately there was a reason I picked him up and weighed him. He's been much less active the past few days. I've been aware that I haven't heard his wheel turning nearly as much. Last night I put some bedding on top of it to see if he used it at all and it was still there this evening. He had also left some food out which was a first. Normally he hoards it all. He looks well to me. He has a smooth shiny coat and feels warm. His water consumption seems normal. I hope it's just a temporary thing and not illness. I will weigh him again in a few days.

I had been too busy recently to make much progress with his new cage but perhaps that's as well as I want to make sure everything's alright before moving him.

On the 15th I spot cleaned his cage and washed his wheel, and at the same time I did replace his pumpkin hide with a new coconut-shaped resin one. I thought it was really nice because it has an attached food bowl. Maybe Leo dislikes it. I think it may have been around that time that there was a very slight change but the past couple of days it's been very noticeable. I've given him back the pumpkin in case it helps.

It's quite worrying but I hope he will be back to normal soon. Tonight I will try to tempt him out with some scrambled egg.

 

[Frida]

Sorry to hear Leo isn't his self.
Maybe it's the hot weather or it could be the change of the hide.
In the past Albert has not been happy with changes I've made and he's been very clever in letting me know and I've had to put things back.

 

[Daisy]

Sorry to hear Leo isn't his self.
Maybe it's the hot weather or it could be the change of the hide.
In the past Albert has not been happy with changes I've made and he's been very clever in letting me know and I've had to put things back.

I did wonder about the hot weather as well.

He seems to be perking up a bit right now. I put the pumpkin hide back in earlier this evening with some food inside it (as an apology), and then in the time it took me to go downstairs and scramble an egg, Leo emerged and started gathering up the food. So that's positive. He didn't like the egg but he reemerged when he heard me rustle the treat bag.

I hope this was just an epic sulk over the new hide and nothing more serious!

 

[Maz]

I hope so too! They can be very fussy. It sounds like he's doing ok tonight. He might have avoided his wheel after it was washed. Charlie used to do that. He wouldn't use it if it had been cleaned, and this would go on for some time. Until I put a smelly treat in it. That tempted him in and he'd start running on it again.

 

[elusive]

I really hope Leo is ok & it has been just a bit of temporary thing, it could have been something about the new hide he didn’t like or even something about it scared him for some odd reason, they can be sensitive little things, the heat could be a factor too but that seems a bit less likely, mine always seem in a hurry to jump back into their wheels & undo my cleaning efforts so that seems unusual too, it sounds positive now you’ve changed the hide back again anyway so hopefully he’s ok.
His weight sounds fine to me.

 

[Frida]

Sounds like Leo is happy to have his old hide back. It's funny how hamsters get attached to things and don't want them changed.

 

[Maz]

The coconut resin hide looks really nice as well - a clever idea. Maybe if he has it in the playpen for a while and gets used to it, he might accept it in the cage later

 

[Zara]

Good to hear Leo seems brighter again today since you've popped his pumpkin hide back in, hopefully he'll get back in his wheel this eve too. Maybe just try wiping half the wheel at any one time to keep some scent incase this did upset him. They are all so individual and funny.

 

[Daisy]

Good to hear Leo seems brighter again today since you've popped his pumpkin hide back in, hopefully he'll get back in his wheel this eve too. Maybe just try wiping half the wheel at any one time to keep some scent incase this did upset him. They are all so individual and funny.

I suppose with the wheel, if I wiped half of it at a time I would have to do it twice as often. So it would be half the disruption, twice as often. I'm not sure if that would work better or not. At the moment I do a fairly major spot clean once every four weeks, which means I wash the wheel, change his sand, check inside his house, wipe the shelves down, shake his hammocks out or wash them if they're stained. He normally sulks for an evening and then is back to normal so I tend to think it's better to get it all over with in one go.

As for tonight, he is out and about currently and he's taken treats from me so hopefully he's forgiven me for opening his house and picking him up yesterday. I think he did use the wheel a bit last night, and he collected all of his food. I feel much more relaxed about it as I'm almost sure he isn't ill now. I guess I should never again underestimate the strong feelings of a hamster about their things.

 

[Zara]

Great to hear Leo is back to himself, sounds like he was just having a sulk and has now forgiven you for moving things about. They do make me chuckle.

I only ever do very minimal spot cleans to our Syrians cage, I take the cage top off each week while he’s out roaming but I just look around to make sure everywhere looks dry and tidyish as he’s not keen on cage changes either.

 

[Maz]

Glad to hear Leo has forgiven you I haven't had a Chinese hamster, but I get the impression they can be more emotional somehow.