Mr Nibbles Diary

[Yorkie]

He is sooooo cute ,but I would be surprised if he didn't like broccoli ,they aren't that expensive ,but worth it to see their enthusiasm .

 

[Maz]

With cucumber, we just buy half a cucumber from the supermarket As we don't really eat cucumber. It lasts a week or two in the fridge usually.

 

[Amy]

He is sooooo cute ,but I would be surprised if he didn't like broccoli ,they aren't that expensive ,but worth it to see their enthusiasm .

I will definitely try
I am a bit concerned about his burrow. He has been here for three weeks today and I have not been able to clean down there. I can see there is food and pee and it is starting to smell a wee but.
Should I clean while he is busy in his wheel? Should I try and get him out? He won’t like that… but it can’t be healthy staying down there all day I don’t know what to do

 

[Amy]

With cucumber, we just buy half a cucumber from the supermarket As we don't really eat cucumber. It lasts a week or two in the fridge usually.

He’s not that keen on cucumber

 

[Amy]

Great job he went in the Glas for the first time, grabbed the treat and backed out again…. I give up

 

[Amy]

I have got all the pee out! I waited until he was on his wheel, carefully took the house aside and dug in deep and got the wet bedding out. It stank quite strong of stale pee. I put fresh tissue bedding and filled missing bedding up. Took the rest of the wool stuff out and put loads of dried herbs flowers and food outside as an apology. He only once got a bit scared but as I talked to him he was okay and he has been snuffed my hands and taken a treat. It really had to be done, ammonia can cause respiratory problems, so I gather it was not good for him to sleep there. He seems okay and is not upset. I hope he doesn’t hate me. There was almost no food stacked away, so whatever he takes down there in the mornings he must be eating during the day.

 

[Maz]

Well done If you also put a pile of torn up strips of toilet paper next to his house entrance, he'll take some of those and rearrange his nest how he likes Gradually they get the message it's not a good idea to pee where they sleep or it disturbs their nest and hoard!

 

[Amy]

Well done If you also put a pile of torn up strips of toilet paper next to his house entrance, he'll take some of those and rearrange his nest how he likes Gradually they get the message it's not a good idea to pee where they sleep or it disturbs their nest and hoard!

Thanks Maz, I was so frustrated I didn’t know what to do…. Yes it’s not a good idea to per there but once he goes to bed that’s it, he stays there. Funny enough there was no hoard. Or only a few crumbs. I don’t think he is as brave as I thought… he just seems to not really be afraid of me. But just the slightest noise and he jumps.
Well he probably has never really experienced much in his short life. Eventually I hope he will want to come out. So far, he has zero interest

 

[Maz]

His hoard may be somewhere else. Or - he hasn't quite learned hoarding yet. One of mine was late in learning how to hoard. That's a possibility if he comes out and eats things straight away

 

[Amy]

His hoard may be somewhere else. Or - he hasn't quite learned hoarding yet. One of mine was late in learning how to hoard. That's a possibility if he comes out and eats things straight away

He does collect food in the mornings and takes it down, but he eats down there I can hear him. It just seems he doesn’t take much more than he eats. Occasionally he will bring an odd monkey nut back up with him, sometimes it’s only an empty shell he still is very small, I guess I was lied to about his age. I took a photo of him collecting yesterday morning. He is in his bed, so at least he didn’t reject the clean house. I hope he notices it smells better

 

[Amy]

I have been shopping and bought:
Broccoli
Freeze dried organic blueberries
Non sweet apple
And a golly woog plant, my vet recommended this as it high in minerals and vitamins. I bought an organic specially for animals small plant.
Let’s see if he likes it.
It is even recommended for baby animals.
I will upload a foto if anyone doesn’t know this plant (I didn’t)
Fingers crossed the true name is callisia repens

 

[Amy]

Thank you all for the good advice broccoli was a hit! He loves it, he’s mad on the golly woog too. I only have him the tiniest bit to try. So now we have a few options, that makes me happy.

 

[Aadizmommy]

love those tiny paws

 

[Hamster Haven]

I have been shopping and bought:
Broccoli
Freeze dried organic blueberries
Non sweet apple
And a golly woog plant, my vet recommended this as it high in minerals and vitamins. I bought an organic specially for animals small plant.
Let’s see if he likes it.
It is even recommended for baby animals.
I will upload a foto if anyone doesn’t know this plant (I didn’t)
Fingers crossed the true name is callisia repens

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View attachment 13011

I'm excited to try the Callisia! I'd never heard of it. My last Syrian also loved raw broccoli! I have yet to try it with our new baby. She tried a bit of hardboiled egg white last night and a spot of strawberry with some of the leaves- she surprised me by going for the leaves first!

 

[Amy]

I'm excited to try the Callisia! I'd never heard of it. My last Syrian also loved raw broccoli! I have yet to try it with our new baby. She tried a bit of hardboiled egg white last night and a spot of strawberry with some of the leaves- she surprised me by going for the leaves first!

Nibbles went straight for the plant, I was surprised as usually he sniffs new things first. Also the broccoli.
Tonight for the first time he came to the door, he wanted to climb into my hand but although he kicked his little hind legs it was too high. I will have to put more bedding there. But he is getting so much more trusting

 

[Maz]

He does collect food in the mornings and takes it down, but he eats down there I can hear him. It just seems he doesn’t take much more than he eats. Occasionally he will bring an odd monkey nut back up with him, sometimes it’s only an empty shell he still is very small, I guess I was lied to about his age. I took a photo of him collecting yesterday morning. He is in his bed, so at least he didn’t reject the clean house. I hope he notices it smells better

View attachment 13009

Higgins was like that. All trusting that there was plenty of food Just ate what he want and didn't hoard much. First time I had to give him a bit of a cleanout, it changed that completely. I felt terrible. He would rush out - pouch everything in sight strip every spray (that he had previously ignored) and disappear again. As I say I felt terrible as it was like he had food anxiety. Took quite some time before he settled down. At least he wasn't leaving loads of food behind!

 

[Amy]

Higgins was like that. All trusting that there was plenty of food Just ate what he want and didn't hoard much. First time I had to give him a bit of a cleanout, it changed that completely. I felt terrible. He would rush out - pouch everything in sight strip every spray (that he had previously ignored) and disappear again. As I say I felt terrible as it was like he had food anxiety. Took quite some time before he settled down. At least he wasn't leaving loads of food behind!

Aww I bet he thought he was in for hard times. I was worried when I cleaned out his burrow, but he didn’t change his behaviour. But he has pred in it again! He pees on everything that he likes I clean he pees it’s an ongoing process
I heard that you are supposed to wash your hands before you handle them, when I do that he won’t take a treat. He prefers my natural smell.

 

[Maz]

Interesting. Maybe it depends on the soap. I use unscented soap and mine don't seem to care. It's maybe not so crucial though with just the one hamster It's because I have two I wash my hands between them. The only other thing though is if your fingers smell of food they might get nibbled. But it's nice he likes your natural scent

Yes it can become a bit of an itch scratch thing the peeing. Especially if it's their hoard that's pee'd on. Sometimes they pee on things more to re-scent mark everything. But with a baby hamster it's more like it's just easier probably and he hasn't quite got into better habits yet. My last Syrian was incredibly neat - the pee area was well away from his nesting and hoard (maybe he learned it got disturbed if he pee'd in it) inside a tiny back compartment of his house. Very neat. Of my current two, one is also quite neat (mostly) the other one never stopped peeing in his nest! But he occasionally pees in his sand bath as well. However neither of them pee in their wheels, which is something!

 

[Amy]

I use an unscented soap too, but he turns his little nose away if I wash my hands! He has definitely got an attitude if you give him a treat he doesn’t fancy he flogs it away in disgust.

 

[Maz]

They are also quite clever at knowing when nuts are a bit off. With us, it's not until you start eating it tastes bad sometimes. My previous hamster Raffy was cracking a monkey nut once and then tossed it away in disgust. Clearly it was going a bit off!