Pet Hamster

[tortoise]

How's the hamster doing?

Still alive!

I am starting the taming process by teaching her to walk into a small container to take her out of the cage. I give her favorite treats in there.

I have had fun finding things in my pantry and barn for her. I doubt I will buy hamster food again! I have whole corn, whole oats, steel cut oats, whole wheat, quinoa, millet, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, mealworms, etc.

She loves spinach and leaf lettuce best. Her second-favorite treat is a mini milkbone. 😁

 

[tortoise]

Hamster escaped - DS7 left the cage open. DH caught her 3 days later when he saw her run across the floor. She bit DH hard! (Other than that, she has not nipped or bitten.)

I sorted her commercial food into seed mix and "cookie" mix. I picked out the alfalfa pellets out and discarded them. They're not great nutrition for hamsters, and I don't want her getting accustomed to a food I will discontinue. I added dog kibbles and mini milkbones to the "cookie jar." I made a homemade seed/grain/legume/fruit mix for her. I'm out of fresh veggies, but we'll dehydrate some for her after I go shopping.

DS7 picked hundreds of dandelion flowers to dehydrate for her. She seems to like the stems, so I added dandelion leaves to my list of things to forage and preserve for her.

One of our young apple trees died over winter and DH pulled it out to replace it. DS7 cut twigs off of it to make apple wood bundles. They retail for $10 per 50 grams! dang! Makes me want to set up an etsy store for apple branches, grain sprays, and homemade seed mix.

I'm very happy that this hamster project is getting DS7 into some SS activities and mindset!

 

[Hinotori]

So much effort. We never went half that far for the gerbils.

Rats were even easier. Of course we had to keep a lock on the rat cages because they learned how to lift the latches and get out. The rats would come when called and would run up to us if they escaped.

 

[Chic Rustler]

sounds like alot of work

 

[tortoise]

 

[tortoise]

DS7 caught her last night and put her in her new cage. She seems happy, but hungry. I didn't put food in her new cage when I set it up because she was lost.

Hopefully this is the end of escapes for a while! 😅

 

[tortoise]

Kids picked a bucket of dandelion greens for hamster. They are in the dehydrator now. We will use them for enrichment and supplemental feeding over winter.

I'm impatient for clover to bloom. I plan to dehydrate clover flowers for winter too.

I bought 1# of lentils and 1# of split peas to add to her seed blend. They will last forever 😁 they were each <$2 at the grocery store.

 

[Trying2keepitReal]

I can't keep a fish alive! I don't dare try a reptile or amphibian. I'm a mammal person.

We got our fish from the CSA farm-it was housed in the duck pond over the summer, she is still alive and kicking but I think it is because I literally don't change her water until it is orange She seems to be in heaven

 

[Hinotori]

At least our rats would come rushing out to us when they heard us. They knew who fed and played with them.

Im glad the ramp worked and she knows where her food is

 

[tortoise]

I set up hamster's habitat for winter. I added 2 5-gallon buckets on garden soil and mixed it in with her mix of coconut coir and aspen shavings. The previous bedding mix was about half decomposed, but there wasnt any odor or fungus/mold so I left it in. She uses her sand bath as a toilet, so I dumped that and added new sand. I seeded the surface with her food. Whatever is left after she forages will grow. The roots provide structure that help hold her burrows. I have an LED light on a timer to help the plants grow. I spent <$5 [more] on this cage setup, just for a big bag of play sand at a home store.