Zak

[elusive]

Zak’s behaviour has been quite odd lately!
He started switching between his open nest & the newer sand bath one which I’d completely emptied out & refilled with fresh substrate & tissue, while he was asleep in there I took the chance to remove a little bit of the peed on substrate from his open nest, I only did a tiny bit really but he would not go back in there, he kept going over, walking away then walking around with his nose in the air the way he did before as though he’d lost something & couldn’t find it!
He’s always hanging out of the door of the cage & sometimes he’ll walk onto my hand & come out for a bit of a cuddle or climb on me or sometimes change his mind but he suddenly started really scrambling at the cardboard to get out, he’s not that strong now so he does need a little bit of a push from behind to make it.
Once he was out he was doing the same thing sniffing the air really like he was looking for something he lost rather than just exploring smells, he had a little run around on the floor then on the sofa & when I put him back in his cage he finally went back into his open nest & settled down again.
Wanting to come out has become quite a regular thing now & he was out three or four times this morning before settling down to a crock then bed.
He has slowed down a lot & sleeps a lot but between times he’s really full of beans!
His colour seems to have changed a bit too, it doesn’t really show on camera but his darker grey bits look as though he’s had a bit of a blue rinse!
Here he is on the sofa yesterday, only a quickie as I had to keep catching him before he went over the edge.

 

[Member ID2]

Yes, he does act like he's looking for something but what. Amazing how mobile Zak still is and lovely to see a video of him.

Sometimes its near impossible to figure out why they behave in a certain way.

 

[elusive]

It is! I keep asking him what he’s looking for but he’s not giving anything away…

 

[RainbowBrite]

Wow, Zak is so lively and it is lovely he wants to spend time with you. He is just amazing and so precious.

 

[Frida]

Lovely to see Zak out and about

 

[elusive]

Thank you both

 

[Maz]

It's lovely to see him out and about and he is amazing. I think he's looking for the bit of pee'd on substrate you removed

 

[Coco61]

Wonderful to see Zak out and about with you. He is astonishing mobile for his age even if he does sleep a lot as well.
Whatever he is looking for, his nose is active and he is interested in it all!

 

[elusive]

Zak’s still going walkabout!
He’d already been out a few times yesterday when I saw him in his food bowl & spoke to him from across the room & straight away he was standing up with his feet on the bars wanting out again.
He had a little run around on the floor in front of the cage, stopped for a cheese crock then slipped between my legs & was off marching down the living room, he’s still quite fast but I caught up with him as he went into the hall, he found a bag of compost which he thought was really interesting! Then he was off again, thought about going into the bedroom but changed his mind, almost went into the kitchen but I didn’t fancy losing him under the washing machine & managed to head him off so he kept going down the hall to the door & spent a while investigating my orange wellies, he seems to like orange things!
Quite a long walk for an old man, it was getting dark so I put him back in his cage while I went out to collect my bird feeders , tidy up after the birds & have my evening serenade from the robin.
When I went back in I could just see him in his sand bath nest & he was totally flat out bless him, he did manage to drag himself out of bed for a crock later when I went to say goodnight.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Aw he is so active! How cute he likes orange things. Sounds like he had a lot of fun.

 

[Maz]

That is really amazing at his age! He had a lovely roam around. I wonder what it is about orange? It's a reddish colour so you'd think he couldn't see it . Are all the orange things feet related?

Maybe it's the lighter nights and spring weather

 

[elusive]

I wondered about the orange thing & him being able to see it, really not sure but he seemed just as interested in my kindle cover as my shoes & boots!
We haven’t really had any spring weather yet & he seems to be going back to bed earlier so not sure about that either, he has been having a tiny pinch of powdered bee pollen every day for a while now so maybe that’s given him a boost.
He still seems to be on a mission to find something but I’m none the wiser as to what it is….

 

[Maz]

Maybe he doesn't know either! But he'll know when he finds it Maybe he can see orange then! Or maybe it's things that have a particular scent of you, that you use a lot. But then that could include a lot of non orange things too! Just thinking a kindle would get handled a lot.

 

[Maz]

It sounds lovely having him out and about and interacting so much though

 

[elusive]

It is lovely, we do spend a lot of time together now & every moment is special, running around or just sitting holding his crocks for him with his little nose & whiskers tickling my fingers, so much to treasure.

 

[Frida]

It's so lovely to hear about Zak's walk about and him enjoying his crocks.

 

[Member ID2]

That is quite a long walk for an old boy, no wonder he was flat out.

Hmm, the walls of the hamster room here are orange and so are the futon blankets.
My phone cover is also orange and the hamsters climb around on it sniffing and nibbling.

Maybe they can see certain colours and some appeal more than others.
I'm envious of your orange wellies.

 

[elusive]

It is curious considering they aren’t supposed to see well at the red end of the spectrum but I guess they must see something, my phone cover is blue & he really wasn’t very interested, I’ll have to see what he makes of the orange watering can.

I'm envious of your orange wellies.

I have some bright green ones too

 

[Member ID2]

I've always wondered about the choice of colours of the Silent Runners. Bright orange and yellow. What kind of wheel does Zak have?

 

[elusive]

He has a silent runner, I’d never really thought about that.