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Old 10-12-2020, 03:48 AM  
Space Hamster
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: UK
Posts: 13
Default Re: Help taming our hideaway hermit hamster!

Quote:
Originally Posted by cypher View Post
How long have you had him now? It does sometimes. happen that they’re very active & inquisitive when they first come home & everything is new then go through a phase of getting up later probably when the novelty of everything has worn off.
I wouldn’t reduce the substrate, the hamster heaven base isn’t that deep for a Syrian & I think you may just end up stressing him out & making things worse.
If you have a photo of his cage set up that would help just to see if there may be anything you could change to make things work better.
Some hams do get up very late, it varies a lot from one ham to another so you may have to try to find ways to try & tempt him out I wouldn’t force him to come out or wake up if he really isn’t ready.
There isn’t a simple answer as all hams are different but it seems that taming has been going well when he was coming out so it may just be a case of waiting for a while to see if he will begin to get up earlier again.
Some hams that are up l ate at night are awake later in the morning so there’s a chance you may be able to interact with him a bit more then if you see hiim.
Is the temperature in the room where he is kept around 18-20C day & night? The nights have really started to get colder now & if the room isn’t warm enough that could be a reason for staying in bed longer, some of my hams have tended to get up later when the weather’s cold even though the heating is. on, somehow they seem to know!
I think maybe you just need to give him time, they all go at their own pace so on’t worry too much.
Hello Cypher, thanks so much for taking the time to reply! To clarify, we've now had him for a little over a fortnight. I've just started a new post over in the housing suggestion showing his cage, I'd love to hear any ideas you have for improvements I can make to help my little guy feel more settled.

I got to see him the other day when he decided to sleep beside his wheel for the day. When I heard he was awake I'd sit beside the cage and just talk to him in a low quiet voice, offering some broccoli, but he wasn't very impressed and chittered at me. I don't know what I've done to offend him but it must be bad!

Since then he's vanished again, though I hear the very occasional noise or bit of nibbling going on somewhere under the bedding. I'm truly baffled that he doesn't seem to need to come out and drink during the day! The only way I know he's still okay is that I see his food and water levels have decreased each morning, though sometimes he ignores the food I've placed about his cage. Maybe he's just a lazy little so-and-so who doesn't like foraging!! I've gone back to mostly putting his food in a bowl just so I know he's actually eating.

I do worry about him, and in particular that if he was poorly or unwell I wouldn't really know...potentially until it's too late

This room can be a little cool (bit hard to make a fair judgement thought since once the weather shifts and autumn begins, I am one of those people who are just perma-cold... ) so I'm going to invest in a small heater to benefit the both of us. It'll be interesting to see one the clocks change at the end of the month whether our schedules might align a bit better!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ColaTheRobloxian View Post
personally i don't recommend trying to tame your hamster so soon after adopting them and taking them home. i usually let my hamster settle in for at least 2 weeks before trying to interact with them to really let them get used to the smells and atmosphere of my home. then i really take my time with them. i got my hamster to be tamed by sitting in a bathtub with him and letting him crawl on me to get used to how i smelled. then after a little while of doing that, i let him crawl into a mug or something then i would put him onto my arm where my sleeve or something else was covering it. after about a couple of weeks of doing that, i was able to get my hamster to walk around on me without me worrying about my hamster biting my arms or hands. my hamster took about 3 and a half months to get fully tamed.

i don't know if this has helped with anyone else, but it has helped me a lot. every hamster has different personalities and could take a longer or shorter period of time to get tamed! so, if what i said doesn't work, or if your hamster doesn't get tamed too soon, do not worry. just be patient with them and they will eventually earn your trust!
Hi Cola, thanks for your input. I've backed off and will just give him whatever time he needs to settle. Taming seems impossible at the moment since I so rarely see him, but I'll just have to hope his timetable and mine will align in the future so we can begin getting to know one another.

It's a bit disappointing and worrying after we got off to what seemed like a positive start, but my main concern is just knowing that he's okay. At the moment the only way I can tell is that I see his foodand water have gone down each morning. Hopefully I'll get the privelege of watching the little cutie eating his dinner later down the line
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