Meet Gus Gus and Teddy!

[breadbunny]

Hi everyone, these are my boys Gus Gus and Teddy! They are both long haired Syrian hamsters! I’ve always had short haired Syrians so this will be my first time with the long haired variety

Gus Gus is the Sable coloured one while Teddy is the cream(?) coloured one. I’m interested to see how Gus’s fur will grow because when I first got him, he only had short hair and now he’s beginning to grow longer tufts in only 3 weeks!

The funny thing about Gus is that he burrowed once and never did it again after I added a multi-chambered house. I believe it is because the multi chamber fulfils all his needs currently. He’s a bit of a homebody, only coming out during the darkest part of the night. On the days that I scatter feed his mix, he only ran 89 rotations on his wheel when he used to average 2K rotations Despite his reclusiveness, he is sorta friendly as he eats from my palm and lets me pet him!

Teddy is the one who lives in his burrows but sadly his bedding is not as high as I would like it to be I’ve ordered higher platforms but it’ll take a month to arrive because it’s from the UK (I live in SEA). He surfaces earlier at night but he’s more skittish! Recently he’s been coming to my palm to take some food so that’s some progress.

I am unable to take them out of their cages for playpen time because I’ve a dog and a toddler which makes controlling the environment really difficult! And honestly I’m someone who is content to just watch my hamsters and get in the occasional pets here and there

 

[Socks' Mum]

Welcome to the forum. Your hammies are very beautiful

 

[Maz]

Hi - gorgeous hamsters They are lucky to have such lovely homes I had to google SEA to see what it meant South East Asia. So, in your other post I noticed you mentioned about the prices of the Bucatstate's being higher in Europe and USA and maybe due to import charges etc. Can I just ask how much they cost where you live? It would be interesting to know the price before import charges!

It's also interesting that Gus runs on his wheel less since he has been scatter fed. That suggests some wheel running is just either boredom, for the sake of it etc - or that foraging is more interesting than wheel running

Incidentally we have another Teddy on here!

 

[breadbunny]

Hi - gorgeous hamsters They are lucky to have such lovely homes I had to google SEA to see what it meant South East Asia. So, in your other post I noticed you mentioned about the prices of the Bucatstate's being higher in Europe and USA and maybe due to import charges etc. Can I just ask how much they cost where you live? It would be interesting to know the price before import charges!

It's also interesting that Gus runs on his wheel less since he has been scatter fed. That suggests some wheel running is just either boredom, for the sake of it etc - or that foraging is more interesting than wheel running

Incidentally we have another Teddy on here!

Oh yes I replied on the other thread but it’s about 270 SGD which is 157 GBP converted! And that’s already marked up from China prices!

That’s my theory for now too! But of course it’s early days so his behaviour might still change as he matures . Also I realised that he discovered his flax sprays so he must have spent all his time trying to reach for the “bulbs” since he has to perch on the branch to reach it.

And yes I was browsing the other threads and saw the other Teddy too!

 

[Maz]

Ah yes, some Hamsters go crazy for flax sprays Maybe it's more of a temptation than wheel running.

 

[Vanessa1]

Hi there, welcome to the forum it's a very friendly group of people who are always interested in what you have to say your hammys are really beautiful. I have a male Syrian his name is Teddy he's 8 months old. I believe you have to trim the long haired hamsters because it can tend to become matted. I'm sure someone on here has had experience with grooming a long haired, I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures of Teddy and Gus Gus and hearing about their adventures Ness

 

[Maz]

I think they need combing now and then - I'm not sure if there are special combs! Some people use a toothbrush.

 

[Socks' Mum]

Yes, trimming around the bottom might be useful. You might need to check every few days for mats too

 

[Tulsi]

Aww. Such beautiful hamsters and imaginative and fun looking set ups.

 

[breadbunny]

Hi there, welcome to the forum it's a very friendly group of people who are always interested in what you have to say your hammys are really beautiful. I have a male Syrian his name is Teddy he's 8 months old. I believe you have to trim the long haired hamsters because it can tend to become matted. I'm sure someone on here has had experience with grooming a long haired, I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures of Teddy and Gus Gus and hearing about their adventures Ness

Oh so you are the other one with a Teddy Yes I’ve read that I’ve to brush them with a toothbrush! Hopefully mats won’t form so quickly Teddy seems quite fastidious about his grooming, cleaning himself well until there’s barely any bedding stuck to him! The person at the pet shop told me to buy aspen chips which won’t get caught in his fur — it doesn’t but it cannot hold a burrow at all! And seeing as Teddy loves burrowing I had to buy paper bedding for him to burrow, it was too painful knowing that I will be denying something he loves.

 

[breadbunny]

Yes, trimming around the bottom might be useful. You might need to check every few days for mats too

Gulps. I better work on taming first then! Wouldn’t want to spook him

 

[Maz]

It sounds like he's doing a good job of grooming and hopefully won't get any matted bits At least with a toothbrush you technically don't even need to handle him I think not all long haired hamsters get matted bits and it might be more when they are older and not grooming so well. I am actually completely fascinated at the idea of seeing a long haired hamster grooming themselves! I've never had one and can't imagine how they do it as with short haired hamsters it seems to mainly involve licking their short fur.

If you ever get chance to video him grooming please!

 

[breadbunny]

It sounds like he's doing a good job of grooming and hopefully won't get any matted bits At least with a toothbrush you technically don't even need to handle him I think not all long haired hamsters get matted bits and it might be more when they are older and not grooming so well. I am actually completely fascinated at the idea of seeing a long haired hamster grooming themselves! I've never had one and can't imagine how they do it as with short haired hamsters it seems to mainly involve licking their short fur.

If you ever get chance to video him grooming please!

Yup I will introduce the toothbrush soon! Fingers crossed.

Definitely something to keep an eye on when he gets older. Actually the grooming looks the same to me! But I noticed that his poops tend to be strung together which I suspect might be the long fur he’s ingesting.