I think it has happened. Whatever was in the food or the water that I fed my ladies. It has hit base. Koko, already quite an odd little (or not so little actually) creature, has now officially lost it. I am quite certain of it.
It started with this; when I first got Koko, I thought she needed exercise so I bought one of those big balls that hamsters, guinea pigs or rats can run around in. Koko was just tiny back then, but I figured, the younger she is, the better she’ll learn. I put her in, using some force, and put the ball on the floor. She was so completely freaked out by this confined space that moved and smelled unfamiliar, she started moving wildly. Now this was when she would still poop whenever she was stressed out which, in those days, was every time I took her out of the cage. So, while frantically moving around in that ball, which caused the ball to roll around swiftly, she started pooping out of stress. The ball was rolling around quite fast which caused her little droppings to be launched all around the room. Needless to say, after I managed to pick myself up of the floor from rolling around laughing (seriously tears rolling down my cheeks), and clean up the droppings, I found this wasn’t a success. Several times I tried it as she grew bigger, but not even her gutsy little sister, Ruma (being a big fan and daily user of the silent spinner), wanted to be inside that big fuchsia pink ball. So the ball disappeared among the other unused rat toys I spent a fortune on (I now make most toys myself, as they completely destroy most things anyway), under my bed (great storage place in a 1 bedroom apt..
Then, a few weeks ago, I saw someone’s cage setup and I saw they used the ball as a home/nest for their rats. Since I like to mix the cage up every now and then (or pretty much every week), I thought I’d give it a try. And whaddaya know? Koko sleeps in it. ALL THE TIME.
If that wasn’t enough indication, yesterday I cried tears of laughter again. I had eaten a baguette and put the 2 ends (I hate eating those) in the cage. One was instantly found by Koko and she instantly attacked it. But, a little while later, she found the other, much bigger piece, which I had put in the bottom of the cage. I wish the camera function on my phone still worked because this would have been a video worth posting! She spent a full 10 minutes (!!!!) holding the peace in her mouth, walking around the cage in circles. Going down one floor, walking a circle, coming back up one floor, walking through one of the tubes (I thought she would hide it in there), walking back down one floor, coming back up, trying to enter the tunnel to the upper cage, doing another circle and so on and so on. She just wouldn’t drop the peace of bread or stop circling. I am sure she lost it for a moment there. Shortcircuit in her brain or something like that.
Sadly, I was so amused by the whole thing I forgot to take pictures, so for once, I I only have a stolen pic of a silent spinner to illustrate my blog, but don’t despair, I am sure she will get into other trouble again soon and I can shower and bore y’all with more pictures. Right now she and Ruma are happily chewing on a piece of old Goat’s cheese each.
Best toy I ever bought for a pet!
hyvää iltaa, me.
Rattus Norvegicus 
It looks space-age! 😀 And i actually may have to give my baguette ends to the hamsters because I dont like them bits either hahaha, never thought to give them to the hams, but now they will all be treated!! 😀
I give almost every leftover to the rats. They are omnivores so it’s easier to share, I don’t think your hammies will eat fish or bacon. My deviants devour anything protein 🙂
Hahaha they eat chicken, but not really huge meat-eaters. I have offered a few other meats before but they really are fussy farts. If I leave it in their cage, they scoff it when Im not looking 😉
Oh man, I wish my rats would behave a little more around food. I once had to dig Ruma out of an ovendish that had been covered with aluminum foil. She simply lifted it and got in the dish. I could have baked her along with it! haha 🙂
HAHAHAH oh what a nosey thing ;D hahahah, I doubt a Ruma-pie would be very tasty haha 😛 yeah hamsters tend to be quite secretive when eating. More often than not, they stuff whatever looks edible into their cheek and then wait till they are back in bed 😛
Yeah, Ruma can climb onto everything in my apt. Sometimes that is quite annoying. I can never have food and the ladies out at the same time.
Haha she was loving the huge piece of bread and didn’t want anyone else to take but couldn’t find the appropriate super secret hiding space so she ended up circling and circling and circling. Awesome! My ratties would hide so much food all over the place it was crazy. I would find seeds in my pillowcase after I let them out to play.
Hemmm 🙂 I remember a time I found cashews under my duvet. Mostly they hide stuff under my bed. They will even go as far as to take food from the cage and hide it there. Itks fine with me as long as it’s dry foods. I once found a very much deteriorated strawberry behind my bed…
Hahahaha yea i know the feeling of that kind of discovery. When I moved out of an apartment and took all the furniture out of the room what little treasures I found everywhere! BLEHH!
[ Smiles ] Exercise is good.
Have you ever thought about giving them some more vegetables? The last time, they were given peas.
I was thinking that if they ate a healthy diet and combined it with exercise, they are going to live longer and happier lives.
They get at least one sort of fresh vegetable or fruit a day. Usually Cucumber, tomato, carrots,broccoli, beans or peas. Today they got banana. And really whenever I am cooking I slip them some veggies. Like last night when I was cooking endive. They really do get their veggies, no worries!
[ Chuckles ] Thanks for letting me know!