Nala and Gaz

[Imbrium]

well, I'm 99% confident she's being truthful about having a cage, since you can't exactly let a hammy out in the yard . they're experienced hamster owners - they used to have a pair of dwarves, but the last one passed away recently. she wants another hamster and thinks mine are SUPER cute, hehe.

syrians are sexually mature by 5-6 weeks... as far as when to wean/separate, I've heard 3-4 weeks from some sources and 5 weeks from others, so I asked my vet to get a more reliable opinion than that of internet people - he very confidently told me 3-4 weeks was all they need. they're three weeks old as of today (well, about 10 hours from now).

I'm tempted to pull the bigger hams soon, but I'm just going to leave everyone with mom and separate at the same time because I fear if I move some to their new same-*** cages before others, there would be problems when I added the last of the hammies. I wish I could leave the runt with her for as long as she'd tolerate it, but unfortunately with him being male, I don't dare leave him in *too* long.

I'll be selling one off at about 3 1/2 weeks old assuming the vet says the bigger ones are ready to go when they have their check-up on monday and then I'll probably wait until they hit 4 weeks to separate the remaining babies by gender. they're eating me out of house and home when it comes to solid foods, but they also still nurse a fair amount.

I suppose the exact time I wean them will depend on what the vet has to say and whether I see a significant increase in squabbles - lately, I've been hearing "upset baby" squeaking from the cage periodically and when I go investigate, there's usually two lying front-to-front and pushing/shoving at each other.

I'm hoping and praying I get most of them sold off by 6 weeks or so, as I'm gonna have major space issues if I have to keep them each in their own cage while I still have lots of them left. syrians are a pain in the butt with their solo lifestyles sometimes

I've been slacking on taking photos the last few days, what with Gazzle being under the weather, Trouble getting sick and the holiday, but I'll see if I can get around to snapping some of the hammies, gliders and bunnies today.

 

[Imbrium]

ok, no pics until someone tells me how to make photobucket stop sucking! it's suddenly changed the link from http://s1183.photobucket.com/albums/x465/mareimbri1/bunnies/ to http://s1183.beta.photobucket.com/user/mareimbri1/library/bunnies/ and the page comes up for a split second and then goes white and won't load and it's p*ssing me the hell off! I dunno if it has something to do with me opting out of the new version when it got forced on us or what.

 

[holtzchick]

It loaded for me.... Yeah I hate the beta version too though...

 

[Imbrium]

it apparently works for me if I use internet explorer... thank god, after the 10+ mins it took me to FIND IE on my comp (tried in vain to get rid of it more than once). I freaking hate IE, though >.> I'll deal with pics when I wake up, lol.

 

[agnesthelion]

Imbrium wrote:

*sigh* I put the gliders in their big cage instead of the little "nursery" cage for some play time... put Trouble on the wheel to see what she thought of it. I came back 10 mins or so later and she was still sitting on it, so I figured she must not know how to get down. I went to pick her up to take her off the wheel and she was clinging to it for dear life... while I was trying to get her to let go, she suddenly freaked out and started biting the crap out of me! they've never bit me before . oh, and she pooped all over me while I was trying to get her to quit biting, too... and her poop is NOT back to normal yet... so I had to dodge bites while scrambling for paper towels to clean up.

Yikes! This sounds really overwhelming. I sure hope the gliders come around. I remember reading all about bonding with gliders and how it can really be a process. how "runny" is her poop? I also remember reading something that glider poop is moist and it will stick to you. It can vary from toothpaste consistency to more formed pellets. So is it water or just moist and sticky?
Anyway, hope she comes around and feels better and the bonding starts going better.

 

[ldoerr]

I would LOVE to see pictures of your bin cages for your hamsters

 

[Imbrium]

I'll post pics later when I finish making the first cage and feel up to arguing with freaking internet explorer because photobucket and firefox have gone through a nasty break-up >.>

I never did get around to putting a window in the cage that Misty and the babies are in, which in retrospect works out better anyway due to the mesh I bought being 1/2'' spacing - wouldn't want them figuring out how to climb out the bottom of the window! (which is why they're in the bin cage to begin with even though the meshed rabbit cage is a little larger) the bin is so deep that there's no need to put a lid on it, so they get plenty of fresh air that way.

I've almost got the first bin cage ready to go - I just need to drill holes to attach the mesh to the window and then put it on. I used my new dremel to cut the hole this time instead of the hand saw I'd used before... takes about the same amount of time, but the edges are much smoother and it makes a little less mess.

I'm planning to cut windows/drill air holes in all the bins and drill screw holes for attaching the mesh and cutting/prepping all the mesh windows but not actually putting them together until right before someone comes to pick one up, that way the screws don't stop me from being able to nestle the bins into one big stack.

I also picked up a good idea from a toy-making thread on a sugar glider site for how to make sure there are no pointy edges on the screen that could harm a hammy (the mesh has to go on the inside of the bin because otherwise they could chew the cut edge of the plastic).
http://www.glidercentral.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1089091/Gizmogirl#Post1089095

 

[Imbrium]

bin cage the mom and babies are using (no wheel 'cause little ones can get hurt on it):

I'm gonna use thumbnails for most stuff because there's SO many photos and I still don't know a way to make them a happy medium size instead of either stupidly tiny or stupidly huge - you can click on them to see the larger version... anyway, here's a tutorial for how I'm making the bin cages. it's missing pics of a couple steps 'cause I already had the mesh piece wrapped/finished and didn't feel like cutting another one since I have to do that outside due to clipping off little bits of wire on it that like to fly everywhere.

I started with these bins:



for the first bin, I had to measure out the window... but I saved the piece I cut out so now I can use it as a template for the other bins. there's some dremel marks in the middle 'cause I used it as a test spot to make sure I had the hang of things before I started making real cuts (pic was taken before I got p*ssed off enough to learn how to disable the flash on my camera)



I decided to do my work in the bunny pen 'cause there's more space than anywhere else in the house and I like being around the bunnies/they enjoy being nosy when I'm doing something in their space that doesn't involve them. they're totally unfazed by power tools, which seems weird (but I'm not complaining). I actually had to shoo Gazzle away at one point because she came up and nose-bonked my foot while I was using the dremel and I didn't want her getting too close.

I got creative a while back and "wired" the bunny pen with an extension cord so that I could easily inflate the air mattress when I sleep in there, so I unwound it from the pen and used that to power the dremel... don't worry, whatever the reason for the electrical tape was, it had nothing to do with bunny teeth, lol (I inherited the cord from my parents, it's probably as old as I am). because the pens are a wonderful 4' high, the bunnies can't stretch up to nom the cord if I coil it up at the top... I zip-tied it along the top edge of the pen on the way back to the outlet.



I used masking tape to mark my cut lines and then used the dremel to cut out the rectangle:



I drilled holes around the window for the screws and ventilation holes in the sides and back of the bin (pics are big because otherwise you can't see the holes)... yes, that's a Gazzle bootie in the first pic:

the dremel was *really* handy because sometimes the drill would leave displaced plastic scraps on the inside of the hole that were attached too tightly to pull off with my fingers - I used the dremel to sand them off (I was too lazy to change bits so I just used the cutting tool to carefully do it - I wasn't actually drilling with the dremel even though that's an option 'cause I also have a drill). after all the cutting and drilling were done, there were lots of little plastic scraps inside the bin that needed to be tossed:



I cut my piece of hardware cloth to be slightly larger than the window, then cut a couple strips from a $3 fleece blanket I got at walmart and wound them around the outer edge of the hardware cloth to cover any pointy bits (totally doesn't matter if the cuts on the fleece are straight). to start it, I just wrapped over the end like you'd do if you were wrapping an ace bandage before starting to go diagonally down the side... same deal when the first strip ran out and I had to start the second. at the end, I just used a largeish crochet hook to pull the end under one of the loops so it wasn't exposed:



because I used the 1/2'' mesh, I had to buy washers so that the screws would actually hold the mesh in place... you can buy washers singly at home depot, but if you need a ton it's much cheaper to buy a big package. if you ever build a bin cage, just make sure the washers are at least 1/2'' and the screw heads are too big to fit through the holes in the washers. for the size window I put in it (iirc, around 17'' x 6'', I don't remember exactly), I needed 8 screws to make sure there was no way they could possibly wriggle between the mesh and the bin. the screws start on the inside with the bolt on the outside, btw, 'cause that's better for the hammies. even with the fleece wrapped around the hardware cloth and having to use washers, 3/8'' long screws fit perfectly:



looking at the finished window from the outside and then the inside:


Nala "investigating" a half-finished bin cage:

pics of the "starter kit" I'm offering with the babies, minus the care packet 'cause I didn't have a finished one printed off and was too lazy to go print one (I even included a boxed hammy for display purposes ):

 

[Imbrium]

as requested, pics of my menagerie. not many of the bunnies, as they were being somewhat uncooperative (Gaz especially)... the low volume of bunny pics is in no way a reflection on how much I love their fluffy butts

I had to bribe the hammy babies with kale to get them to stay put long enough to snap photos. the solid babies were much more cooperative than the striped ones.

the gliders:

Nala... with her usual fiery demon eyes in most pics with a flash, lol:

I tried to take pictures of Gaz, but she ran into the first floor of the condo and gave me "the butt" >.>

 

[Imbrium]

agnesthelion wrote:

Yikes! This sounds really overwhelming. I sure hope the gliders come around. I remember reading all about bonding with gliders and how it can really be a process. how "runny" is her poop? I also remember reading something that glider poop is moist and it will stick to you. It can vary from toothpaste consistency to more formed pellets. So is it water or just moist and sticky?
Anyway, hope she comes around and feels better and the bonding starts going better.

it's kind of a pudding consistency... much messier than when I first got them by far . there have been a couple times where it was very watery, but thankfully not many. they're hanging in there, but I'm still not happy about the baytril (and the breeder and someone on the sugar glider forum where I asked about giving probiotics expressed displeasure towards baytril - apparently it's kinda hard on their systems). looking forward to the vet visit monday to talk to him about the issues w/force-feeding baytril and to find out if the hammy runt will be ok, as he's now about half the size of his brothers! ><

 

[agnesthelion]

Let us know about the vet visit. I would be nervous about forcing feeding the baytril too. Especially while trying to bond and then if it could be hard on their systems too? Not good.

Good luck at the vet and cool hammie cage btw. Very creative and crafty

 

[qtipthebun]

Omg the hammies finally look like hammies!! I'm that weird person who thinks baby animals aren't cute until their eyes open and they get fur...shoot me, I know.

And I've never seen a sugar glider before, so these pictures are just blowing my mind! I didn't expect them to be so tiny!!

 

[Hyatt101]

Oh my word, cute pictures! Sorry the gliders aren't doing well, hopefully they'll come around soon.
Let us know how the vet goes! ray:

 

[ldoerr]

Thanks for the picks. If my mom would let me I would so get one of those hamsters, but unfortunaltly my parents think that I have WAY to many animals as it is. ( 2 aquariums, 2 rabbits and a cat in a 1 bdrm apt). I LOVE those bin ideas for cages Such a great way for them to get more space for MUCH cheaper than the pet stores. All of your animals are SUPPER cute

 

[Imbrium]

qtipthebun wrote:

Omg the hammies finally look like hammies!! I'm that weird person who thinks baby animals aren't cute until their eyes open and they get fur...shoot me, I know.

hehe, I thought they looked like hammies by 2 weeks... they get SO far along before their eyes open! they definitely look like hammies now though.

I'm even more worried about the runt than before. in the last week, he's gone from 1/2 the size of the others to about 1/3 (they've grown FAST). my new digital scale arrived yesterday... he weighs 9-10 grams >< I weighed a couple of his brothers and they were 28g and 35g.

speaking of weights, Nala is 3 lbs, 3.6 oz... Gazzles is a whopping 3 lbs, 11.6 oz! I'm working on weaning them over to grass hays and less pellets, hopefully she'll drop a little weight or at least stop gaining.

 

[HolyHandGrenade]

:laugh: Wow, it blows my mind that your two buns add up to weigh a little less than my one Monty. I'm *still* getting used to the concept that my bunny is gigantor, hehe

 

[Imbrium]

lol, I've never met a bunny that big... would love to encounter one some day, though.

bad news from the vet - my hammy runt has a heart defect that has stunted his growth, which is why he hasn't been getting any bigger. he isn't expected to live past a couple more weeks

I'm going to make sure his short life is a good one... and shower him in treats since I don't have to worry about his long-term health. poor little ill-fated guy! :tears2:

 

[Hyatt101]

I'm so sorry Jennifer. I know you will give him a good life :'(

 

[Imbrium]

it's not *too* tough on me, at least, just because I've planned all along to re-home them so I'm anticipating saying goodbye to all but the cream colored baby very soon anyway - it's not the same as losing a "forever" pet. it's still very sad for him, though, that he gets shafted out of a good, long life.

 

[whitelop]

Well at least his short life will be a great one!
You're such a good animal mama, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't beat the "few weeks to live." I'm just really glad he was born to you and not to someone else who didn't care as much.
The mom was the one your male mated in the pet store right? Didn't you go back and get her?