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LilRussianRebel · 05-15-2019, 11:55 PM

She not long started chewing again, I turned a bendy bridge upsidedown in the corner and put the last of the kitchen towel in pre-shredded and she's been happy to take it all and make a nest ontop of the bridge, so I think a proper nesting box will help!.

I will say that as of last night she was pretty quiet, it's pretty much just this morning usually between 7am-11am that she starts chewing, which confuses me given she's supposed to be asleep.

I'll take another look at the different beddings and see what I think would work best for my situation because buying in bulk is going to mean I can use some of it for my dwarf too, although she's pretty old now and I've been noticing her fur is thinning out a little in places which I'm not sure if that's normal but she appears in pretty good health and spirits as of right now.

Taming wise, she walks into the carry box without any problems whatsoever, I usually put her in a pen because her timing is so inconvenient, she prefers to come out after midnight and that's not ideal for me to be traveling into the bathroom and just sitting casually in a bathtub when there are other people who use that bathroom.

So I think I'll have to keep trying when she's out of the cage, I can't usually get near her when she's in the cage because she runs away so I don't bother chasing her. In the pen she usually just runs around a bit quickly then starts trying to climb the sides, occasionally chews the bars but at the point where she starts climbing I usually take her out. I've been handling her with gloves because I really don't want to get bitten, my dwarf scared me the second time she drew blood which I think has a lot to do with it, but the gloves are fingerless so it's not like she can't completely smell me.

We had a pretty good session though last week, she was perfectly content in being out in the pen for a long time (15 minutes roughly) it was on her terms, she was waddling around much slower than usual, sitting and grooming, I was impressed, she even let me scoop her up to put her in the box, she didn't enjoy it and tried jumping out but as soon as she was in the box she was pretty chilled out.

Yesterday when I had her out so my mother could push the drawer to her cage back in properly, I had her in my hands, although wearing gloves she didn't try to bite me once and considering she was really stressed about the situation it was nice to know that even though she didn't like being held at all, she didn't try and bite me. So I think I'm going to keep working a few days at a time in the pen to try and get her used to being picked up, she rarely takes treats from hand and have tried letting her walk on my hand for a treat but she generally doesn't eat outside of her cage. She also hates being touched by anything, I tried the soft toothbrush method (Clean one, brand new) and she absolutely hated it, didn't try biting but would turn around every time and then would dart away. Hate is a strong word but I suppose I can understand her, I don't like being touched either lol!

Even if I can't tame her to be comfortable being out or with me, it's great to know I can atleast pick her up for health inspections, I usually do them when I get her out given she likes to overgroom in particularly stressful situations, it's good just to give her coat a close eyeballing to make sure she doesn't have anything going on with her skin as a result.

She's a very vocal hamster, she usually squeaks when she's not happy about something, well it's not a squeak, it's like a puff of air with a slight tone and pitch, it's hard to explain but my dwarf has recently started doing it when she's not happy about something too.

Sorry for the late and somewhat long reply, you've given me quite a list to go at and I look forward to trying out some of the things you've suggested and listed so thank you so much! I'm really so glad someone has managed to give me some possible ideas, and if it does turn out that none of those things work, then I'll have to think of another arrangement for her, although chances are my mother won't let me put her anywhere else so I guess I'll have to turn into a vampire, sleep all day and come out at night. Which isn't too much of an issue when I have the time.

Thanks so much again!

05-15-2019, 11:55 PM
LilRussianRebel Newborn Pup Join Date: Sep 2018 Posts: 12	Re: Desperately Need Help She not long started chewing again, I turned a bendy bridge upsidedown in the corner and put the last of the kitchen towel in pre-shredded and she's been happy to take it all and make a nest ontop of the bridge, so I think a proper nesting box will help!. I will say that as of last night she was pretty quiet, it's pretty much just this morning usually between 7am-11am that she starts chewing, which confuses me given she's supposed to be asleep. I'll take another look at the different beddings and see what I think would work best for my situation because buying in bulk is going to mean I can use some of it for my dwarf too, although she's pretty old now and I've been noticing her fur is thinning out a little in places which I'm not sure if that's normal but she appears in pretty good health and spirits as of right now. Taming wise, she walks into the carry box without any problems whatsoever, I usually put her in a pen because her timing is so inconvenient, she prefers to come out after midnight and that's not ideal for me to be traveling into the bathroom and just sitting casually in a bathtub when there are other people who use that bathroom. So I think I'll have to keep trying when she's out of the cage, I can't usually get near her when she's in the cage because she runs away so I don't bother chasing her. In the pen she usually just runs around a bit quickly then starts trying to climb the sides, occasionally chews the bars but at the point where she starts climbing I usually take her out. I've been handling her with gloves because I really don't want to get bitten, my dwarf scared me the second time she drew blood which I think has a lot to do with it, but the gloves are fingerless so it's not like she can't completely smell me. We had a pretty good session though last week, she was perfectly content in being out in the pen for a long time (15 minutes roughly) it was on her terms, she was waddling around much slower than usual, sitting and grooming, I was impressed, she even let me scoop her up to put her in the box, she didn't enjoy it and tried jumping out but as soon as she was in the box she was pretty chilled out. Yesterday when I had her out so my mother could push the drawer to her cage back in properly, I had her in my hands, although wearing gloves she didn't try to bite me once and considering she was really stressed about the situation it was nice to know that even though she didn't like being held at all, she didn't try and bite me. So I think I'm going to keep working a few days at a time in the pen to try and get her used to being picked up, she rarely takes treats from hand and have tried letting her walk on my hand for a treat but she generally doesn't eat outside of her cage. She also hates being touched by anything, I tried the soft toothbrush method (Clean one, brand new) and she absolutely hated it, didn't try biting but would turn around every time and then would dart away. Hate is a strong word but I suppose I can understand her, I don't like being touched either lol! Even if I can't tame her to be comfortable being out or with me, it's great to know I can atleast pick her up for health inspections, I usually do them when I get her out given she likes to overgroom in particularly stressful situations, it's good just to give her coat a close eyeballing to make sure she doesn't have anything going on with her skin as a result. She's a very vocal hamster, she usually squeaks when she's not happy about something, well it's not a squeak, it's like a puff of air with a slight tone and pitch, it's hard to explain but my dwarf has recently started doing it when she's not happy about something too. Sorry for the late and somewhat long reply, you've given me quite a list to go at and I look forward to trying out some of the things you've suggested and listed so thank you so much! I'm really so glad someone has managed to give me some possible ideas, and if it does turn out that none of those things work, then I'll have to think of another arrangement for her, although chances are my mother won't let me put her anywhere else so I guess I'll have to turn into a vampire, sleep all day and come out at night. Which isn't too much of an issue when I have the time. Thanks so much again!