Shirley Gets a New Bin Cage (and the Prevue 9.5” Quiet Wheel!)

Hello hamster 🐹 friends!

Today’s RGH short is of Shirley, one of my foster dwarf hamsters.

Shirley came with her sister, Laverne at the end of Nov, 2020. Originally they shared an enclosure. I watched them very carefully for a week or two and it seemed that Shirley was bullying Laverne a bit (resulting in a more aggressive & fearful Laverne). By the time I decided to separate them, Shirley had taken over both hamster hides and Laverne was sleeping in a pile of bedding next to the hide. I had also heard a few squabbles over wheels and hides. I never saw any bites but I didn’t want to take any risks (since I can’t always see them!).

Laverne has done very well post-separation. She has begun coming out more and more and seemingly wants to interact with us.

Shirley at first seemed to struggle little more with the separation, but after a few weeks she has come out of her shell and is such a doll!

When I separated them I left Laverne in the 200 qt bin and moved Shirley into a 100 qt bin. This video is of Shirley checking out her new digs (and new wheel!). It was filmed in mid-December, 2020 (sorry, it took me a bit to get this up!). I had to put together Shirley’s bin very quickly and I realized after filming this video that she needed more bedding! So, I moved a few things around to provide 8” deep of paper bedding on one side of the bin.