My sweet little scamp

[Socks' Mum]

Hi, I am Sheila, posting for Socks the Syrian hamster. He is black with little white socks on his front feet. He has never tasted egg yolk before, or tuna, but he likes them very much. He got some really tiny pieces and eats very carefully, but when they are finished starts trying to eat my fiinger instead, but also very carefully so I have time to get it out the way! He lives in a Hamster Heaven cage with lots of bedding, chews and cardboard. He loves to sit on top of his carrot cottage and chew on the dried carrots. He let's his mom stroke him then, but goes off for a good sand bath straight after. Nothing personal!

 

[RainbowBrite]

Hello Shelia and welcome to the forum. Socks sounds very cute and with his little white socks, he really suits his name.

 

[elusive]

Hello & welcome to the forum.
Socks sounds like an adorable little guy! Love to see a photo if you have one to post.

 

[Frida]

Hello and welcome to the forum

 

[Maz]

Hello and welcome! He sounds adorable!

 

[Maz]

How old is Socks? I just wondered if you’d had him long or whether you were considering upgrading him to a 100cm cage at some point

 

[Socks' Mum]

Hi Maz
He is about five months old. I brought him home from PaH on Saturday. Yes, a bigger cage would be a good thing and is on the agenda.

 

[Socks' Mum]

Hello & welcome to the forum.
Socks sounds like an adorable little guy! Love to see a photo if you have one to post.

 

[Maz]

I can't wait to see a photo of him! Poor thing being stuck for five months without a home. I'm very glad you got him. He'll be fine in a Hamster Heaven settling in. Assume you had one already?

 

[Maz]

Posted at the same time! Adorable ears! He looks very cosy in there with lots of enrichment!

 

[Socks' Mum]

Here is a glimpse of him. He is chewing cardboard in that corner. And a picture of more of the cage

 

[Socks' Mum]

Posted at the same time! Adorable ears! He looks very cosy in there with lots of enrichment!

Thank you! He was living with his two brothers and probably misses them a bit as they were sleeping in the nest together. Still, he needed a place of his own. He is pretty friendly, although still not sure about being picked up, but not aggressive

 

[Maz]

I can't believe they kept five month old Syrians in the same adoption tank! I hope he hadn't been in any fights. I'm sure he will bond with a human owner very quickly.

 

[Socks' Mum]

They seemed to be getting on OK, not interacting with each other though. Socks kept climbing onto things, possibly to avoid them, but they shared the nest boxes. He doesn't have any injuries, but having his own territory must be nice

 

[Maz]

I think it will be lovely for him having his own space and independence. Just watching mine zooming round the living room at the moment

 

[elusive]

Lovely to see Socks, he must be happy to be way from the little tank & lack of space at P@H, it’s sad when they get left in the pet shop so long but it’s great that you found him & have given him a home to call his own.

 

[Socks' Mum]

They do seem quite knowledgeable and caring at PaH. I'm doing a follow up call this weekend, and they take back pets if people can't keep them. I'm very happy with Socks, he's staying

 

[Socks' Mum]

I can't wait to see a photo of him! Poor thing being stuck for five months without a home. I'm very glad you got him. He'll be fine in a Hamster Heaven settling in. Assume you had one already?

I bought the cage the day before Socks came home with me. I was hoping there would be a 100cm in stock. Still, having two cages is useful for cleaning days. It's a nice cage for now. He uses the tunnels on top quite happily, but I have heard if younger hamsters squeezing out of the penthouse and escaping, so I'm a bit careful. I'll put it together at the weekend while I'm at home.

 

[Maz]

To be honest, most people find the Hamster Heaven works much better without the penthouse and tubes and just cap the tubes off. What tends to happen otherwise is they just block the tubes and penthouse up and pee in them and they need cleaning regularly. Which is a pain but also the hamster gets stressed about having to be cleaned out so often. I think the plastic tunnels skew their natural instincts. You could just pop a cardboard box house at floor level for a house/shelter - a small shoe box or other box if the shoe box is too big. You just cut the base out and use the lid as a lift off roof for checking inside. This allows them to bury hoards under the nest in the substrate and have normal behaviours and it stays well ventilated

 

[Jain]

I have the HH took the penthouse and tubes off straight away no stress issues with the size but Pete is a dwarf and spends a lot of time out of his cage a word to the wise a Syrian will find any possible means of escape if at all possible they should develop a cage called Fort Knox for Syrians a quote from 3 of my friends