Day 3

I've sort of learned parts of Fuzz's schedule. In the morning, she goes to sleep around 8:30. During my lunch break, when I come to check on her, I find her getting a drink of water and eating some lunch, then she goes back to sleep. So far so good, except her water bottle hasn't been working very well. I think I've finally fixed it, though.

But, I can't figure out her schedule at night, and it keeps worrying me.

So, on day 1, Fuzz was awake by 10:30 pm. On day 2, she didn't wake up till after 11:15. I figured that might have been my fault... in the evening I kept going in to check on her, and turning the light on. Hamsters are nocturnal, so maybe that made her think it was still time to sleep. I made sure I left her alone for a solid half an hour in the dark, and when I came into the room, she was on her wheel.

Well, tonight was a YSA temple trip, so I didn't get home until after 11:30... pretty close to midnight. I expected Fuzz to be up and happily playing on her wheel. But she was still asleep!! Gah!! I mean, I'm not with her for most of the day. Maybe she is conscious more often than I think. But, it makes me a little nervous.

But, she is responsive. She always stirs a bit when I go into my room, especially if I turn on the light. Tonight I was worried she might be dehydrated, so I brought her a milk bottle lid filled with water and held it in her cage. She crawled out of her castle to come sniff it, and then she went back to bed. I hope that means she's not thirsty. A thirsty animal would go crazy for water, right? So then I tried to tempt her with a tiny piece of carrot. She came out to sniff it, and then she went back to sleep.

She's probably fine... She's just a baby. Babies sleep A LOT! Probably I'll hear her stir around while I'm sleeping tonight. But man, I wish I understood more about hamsters.

Update: She woke up at 12:30 and started running in her wheel. I let her test out her hamster ball tonight. She rolled around in it for just a minute or two before she switched her attention to trying to chew her way out. I let her out and just let her run around my bedroom floor for a couple minutes. Not sure if that is kosher or not for day 3 but she seemed to enjoy it. Although even after I let her out of her ball, her first goal was to keep gnawing on it.