[demyere]

Hi I’m a 23 Y/O with a job for the first time and have always wanted a hamster! Finally decided I was financially ready for a pet so I bought one from gumtree. He is a mottled winter whit /hybrid dwarf of about 4-6 weeks in age when I got him last Sunday and his name is Pablo! His previous owner sent me videos and pictures of him being really tame and in her hands.

I had left him alone for 2-3 days before trying to hand him treats only interfering with his cage to change his water and food. I would talk to him and try to give him treats! The first night he hissed at me because his water bottle spout came off and I was trying to retrieve it. I was very shocked and jumped, causing a loud sound as I pulled my hand.

The second time I had given him treats and he was eating them whilst I was trying to put scented tissue in to familiarise him with my scent. As I scattered it around, it fell on his back and he freaked, lying on his back and baring his teeth even for a few seconds after I left the cage. He continued eating his treat in the open though after, running back to his tunnel after he was done.

He had also hissed at me after this when I was moving some things around his cage so I calmly stayed in the cage until he calmed down before leaving him alone for the night.

I have to say however, I am a rather jumpy person by nature and having watched so many videos of taming before I had him, I was rather afraid he might bite. The first time I gave him treats, he reached over the sunflower seed and sniffed my finger for too Long and I pulled back my hand and dropped the treat, he fell off his small step into the bedding because of this twice. Ever since then I’ve offered him treats lower to the ground.


Yesterday, I had noticed his water bottle leaking and his substrate was very wet. I wanted to remove the substrate around the area because I had read that dampness is bad for hamsters. I tried to lure him away from the spot using treats and his food bowl but he was very suspicious of what I was doing and came back to observe. I am quite scared of him at this point so I removed most but not all and wanted to replace his water bottle and leave him alone. As I was putting his water bottle back, he moved and the spout touched his back again and he freaked out again.

I felt so bad and just tried to talk to him after, telling him to be calm in a soothing tone. He recovered and again finished eating his treat before walking back to his home.

I really want to do right by him and have fun with him. He currently lives in a Rody savic Cavia with plenty of toys and he seems to like everything. Brought him out of his cage into my closed bathroom once but he seemed to want to go back instead. I do want to be able to clean his cage, feed him etc without being scared of him. I know I have to spot clean soon because it’s starting to smell and there have been a few ants spotted. How should I proceed with this situation to prevent further messing up the taming process. Please help I’m so lost.