Strange hamster?

ergonomics

Hi all. I bought a Syrian hamster yesterday and it's the first one I've had. I did all my research before I got it and thought I was well prepared except now he seems to have a weird habit. Probably nothing but I wanted to make sure. When he poos he sits back on his hunches and pulls the poo out with his paws or mouth and then throws it away. Is this normal or should I be worried?

ashlingm

maybe hes a bit constated especially if hes only on a hamster dry food diet
add more fruit and veg full of nutrients and minerals (except iceberg lettuce...ive heard its not good for them - better safe then sorry)
also add more fibre to his diet...Fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and pulses are all good sources of fibre. also cereal-based foods such as breakfast cereals, pasta, rice and bread

Our man in Havana

Lots of my hamsters do this - perfectly normal - nowt to worry about.

Susannahmia

That seems normal enough, they also eat it! As someone else said he might be slightly constipated. I wouldn't give them too much fruit and veg at first, gave my one half a grape the other day and she ended up with diarrhea.

BeansMeansHynes

Yes this is perfectly normal. Mine does it quite a lot! Its part of his grooming ritual at night when he gets up.

ergonomics

Good good. Figured it was nothing to worry about but just wanted to be certain!

LuckyStar

Don't give him breakfast cereals, loads of them are full of sugar and salt.

ergonomics

I have another question. It's probably a stupid one but I always worry about my pets.

My hamster has gotten into a habit of climbing the edge of his cage, which I know his normal. My cage is tall with two upper floors, one of the right and one of the left with stairs connecting them. What my hamster does is climb as high as he can, about three quarters of the way up the cage...and let go so he falls down. He also moves all the bedding from under where he will land when he falls. Another habit is to just walk off the edge of the platforms. He knows how to use the stairs, and 9 times out of 10 he does, but it's the one time when he decides to jump that scares me. Is this something I should worry about or should I do something to prevent it.

On a side note, he climbed to the top of the cage yesterday and fell asleep while still hanging on to the side of the cage. It was very cute!

Susannahmia

ergonomics wrote: »

I have another question. It's probably a stupid one but I always worry about my pets.

My hamster has gotten into a habit of climbing the edge of his cage, which I know his normal. My cage is tall with two upper floors, one of the right and one of the left with stairs connecting them. What my hamster does is climb as high as he can, about three quarters of the way up the cage...and let go so he falls down. He also moves all the bedding from under where he will land when he falls. Another habit is to just walk off the edge of the platforms. He knows how to use the stairs, and 9 times out of 10 he does, but it's the one time when he decides to jump that scares me. Is this something I should worry about or should I do something to prevent it.

On a side note, he climbed to the top of the cage yesterday and fell asleep while still hanging on to the side of the cage. It was very cute!

Wow he's either an adrenaline junkie or a exceptionally stupid hamster! I can't say I've ever seen mine do anything like that but then again the style of cage I have doesn't give him the opportunity. They are very short sighted maybe he forgets how high up he is? I wouldnt worry unless it looks like its hurting him.

dudara

I've had dwarf hamsters in the past who have been climbers. The problem with hamsters is that they're very single minded. Getting up is no problem, but the getting back down is another issue altogether. I really do think the hamster brain just goes "wweeeee!!".

I don't like them falling long distances, so if I do have a hamster that likes climbing, they're moved into the single storey wire cage. Any non-mountaineering hamsters live in the double cage.