Older rodents...

baby and crumble

hi guys,

As some of you may know, my syrian hamster Isabella is now approaching/ is in old age for a hamster. I was wondering if any of you guys out there had experience of setting up hamster cages/ habitats for older hammies or other rodents? I've never had to, as the hamsters I had when I was a kid died young from accidents. (:()

Anyway, we're going to move her (rather large and unweildy) cage to the hallway so that it's quieter for her, and give her more substrate so it's easier on her paws and she can really snuggle up since older hammies don't/ can't warm themselves as well. I don't really want to take out her wheel even though she doesn't seem to use it much these days- just in case the mood strikes her I want it to be there. She's not frail by any stretch, but we want to be ready and make sure she's happy.

Any advice gratefully received!

honerbright

When my hamster Fern got to her older age (which wasn't even too old in Hamster terms ) we took out all her tubing and shelving in her house and moved all her food and wheel and everything all onto the one level so she wouldn't have to climb anymore. Fern was very acrobatic and liked to hang upside down from the rood of her cage so we didn't want to give her any more reason to be getting up to high - especially since she was a bit unsteady on her feet and had a bit of a tumble and hurt one of her wee legs.
Her fur got really thin as well so we kept her in the single room for the most part and had a heater on for her because it was winter and gave her extra bedding and a little coconut house (I found it held the heat best for her).
Sorry I'm probably not too much help, have a picture of Fern to make up for it:

baby and crumble

honerbright wrote: »

When my hamster Fern got to her older age (which wasn't even too old in Hamster terms ) we took out all her tubing and shelving in her house and moved all her food and wheel and everything all onto the one level so she wouldn't have to climb anymore. Fern was very acrobatic and liked to hang upside down from the rood of her cage so we didn't want to give her any more reason to be getting up to high - especially since she was a bit unsteady on her feet and had a bit of a tumble and hurt one of her wee legs.
Her fur got really thin as well so we kept her in the single room for the most part and had a heater on for her because it was winter and gave her extra bedding and a little coconut house (I found it held the heat best for her).
Sorry I'm probably not too much help, have a picture of Fern to make up for it:

Awww, what a gorgeous hammie!

Thanks for the advice. I think we're going to see if she's better with a lighter wheel- she's good on her feet still and of say a bit of running would be good for her bit the wheel she has is solid wood. We have a spare plastic one so we'll see. We want to give her easy climbs so we're thinking of getting a load of those wooden bendy bridges and creating a cool substrate layer. With lots of hidey holes. She was out tonight in her pen and seemed in great form so we're probably completely overreacting!!!