new addition :)

[KatiePillow]

Today I went into the pets at home, and the adoption centre...and there was this fluffy..(bad tempered :p ) but beautiful 'russian dwarf' :) I haven't thought of a name for him (or her..) yet, and s/he is just settling in now,
S/He was returned because him and his cage mate fought =/ all that means is that s/he's more dominant, not that s/he's a bad hamster.

He's really fluffy though, I mean..my other hamsters have fluffy paws (being 'russian dwarves' also, but his are like...really fluffy...am scared that he may have long nails too...and he bit the assistant in the shop....I don't think this is a bad sign..I'd have bitten her too if I'd been cooped up in a cage with just a house and water bottle, and food.

Anyway...any advice anybody could give me for pre-owned hamsters...(who are probably pretty distrustful) would be handy :)
I love him already though..

(also, his eyes seem fairly closed...don't know whether it was the woodshavings in his cage getting in them or something..do some hamsters have like...squinty eyes? or is it probably a bad sign?)

[Podling]

Awh that's great :) I'm no expert on hamsters but as Fudge is so timid I've been trying just to get her to take treats off my hand so she gets used to the idea of it not being a threat (she's really into porridge and wild berry yogurt drop - not mealworms apparently though!)
Good luck :)

[KatiePillow]

I'm leaving him//her (I think it's a him, but his underside is reallly fluffy)
I left the box we got him in in his cage, I think it will help him settle in, I know it'll probably take longer to get him to trust me (I have pillow and sandy sussed, pillow - needs time...sandy-doesn't like hands, but is fine outside cage :) )
but I felt so sorry for the fluffy little thing..I have enough treats etc to make him a happy boy :) and enough space (and a nice pink cage :D )
he loves his wheel, but he's pretty slow...feel sorry for him being stuck in p@h without a wheel =/ but he's settling in ok
I just wanted to adopt an older hamster, give it a forever home :) just hope he's not too hard a biter :p

[Humphrey Furball]

Aww, good luck with him, it's nice of you to offer him a home; I'm sure he will settle in if you take things gradually :D

[KatiePillow]

I got some photos of him pottering around his cage :)
http://i54.tinypic.com/k4xvdz.jpg


http://i56.tinypic.com/2ak9pnd.jpg


he's a cutie...grey with a stripe around his tummy and super fluffy...don't know what the colour is called...any ideas? D:
(obviously it's grey...but I more meant..like the funny hamster colour name thing D: )

[KatiePillow]

Aww, good luck with him, it's nice of you to offer him a home; I'm sure he will settle in if you take things gradually :D

Thanks :)
I'm sure he'll be lovely...and if he's a bit of a nibbler...it's ok..I know he's had a tricky life, but he's got a nice home now. :D

sorry for late reply...cross posted >.<


And I am going to take things slowly.. think he's going to take some settling in.. not sure how great his eyesight is either >.<

[fluffymunchkins]

awww s/he is lovely :D
Sometimes all it takes its an understanding, more confident owner to change a hamsters attitude towards people.
Porridge was very nippy when i first brought him home from his old home, i don't think he'd ever been corrected so he just kept doing it. But he knows he'll get blown in the face here so it stopped :)

Best of luck x

[KatiePillow]

OOh, blowing on their face, that's a great idea...i tapped my hamster on the nose (like it said in hamster lopedia) but then she bit my hand next time I put it in because it was the hand that'd hit her D:

And he was returned because he was with another dwarf and they'd fought, =[ poor thing...it's their nature..not one of their faults =/

[Womblehands]

he's a lovely looking fluffy thing..:) awwwww....how old is he?

[KatiePillow]

I don't know..I got him from the adoption centre...I think he's fully grown, but he also looks old, but I think that's the grey fur..:p

He isn't as fast as my other hamsters though, so for all I know he could be really old..
I think he's probably about 6 months..but I don't know how long before the people before got rid of him.
He can't make a nest to save his life though :p

[Hope]

Aww look at him - little mini chubster! :-)

Boris was returned to P@h for biting and being a bully and he turned out fine - just take it slowly and dont take any nonsense off them either! Be firm with him if he starts biting or being naughty, I find the blowing technique works well too as mel said.

[KatiePillow]

He is veryyy skittish, he rolls all over the place, falls over etc...anything to avoid a hand..
I've been taking it slow...having to wear gloves though as he drew blood and bites over and over...I've just been having him sitting in my hand, nomming millet..
but while I was out of my room..my boyfriend picked him up o.o
apparently he was wandering over his hands...so I don't know if it's TWO giants that make him uneasy..or just me
(he bit the bf while I was in the room, but walked onto his hand when I was out D: )
but then when he tried to show me, he kept jumping off his hand etc..
(he apparently nearly jumped off the first time but the bf caught him)

So..there's hope, :) he just needs time, love, and millet.
He's loving his wheel too :)

he's currently licking water off the bfs hands too..so maybe I just need to get him to love me more D:

[KatiePillow]

oh my god..I am so happy >.<
This morning he was drawing blood, and I've just had my first successful out of cage handling of him..
I decided to go for the intensive handling, because he's obviously not been treated great in the past...I think he just needs to learn to trust me.

I am so so happy...he hasn't bitten..or anything. He just ran around on my lap, over my hands, and let me scoop him up to put him back in his cage
>.<

I can't believe it...I thought this morning that I'd not be able to give him the life he deserves,
I realise he can still regress, and needs constant love and attention, but this is a major boost >.< also makes me extra sad that he was driven to being the biter he was this morning..he obviously has a soft side..but it's been bullied out of him/into submission..
anyway, I'm happy :D

[Podling]

That's great news, he's so cute, he looks like he's quite fluffy in the neck area? I don't know if it was just the picture or me being blind or what not though... I'm glad he's shown that he has the potential to not be a biter, it's a shame that events have led to him being the way he is but at least now he has someone to look out for him and give him a better life ^_^

[KatiePillow]

He is sooo fluffy...he looks like he's wearing leg warmers..it's so cute though >.< he has very small eyes though, and falls over a lot..like..goes up on his back legs and topples over onto his back..which I find odd, sandy has never fallen over.
He also can't build a nest at all..I've had to put bedding in his house, but he's nice.. named him Alfonse after Alfonse Elric from FMA, because he is big and grey, looks scary, but is nice inside :D
that, and I like FMA :)
hoping we continue to make progress :)

[Hope]

Aww Katie thats great news!! See, under every bully is a softy side!

Sounds like you are making really good progress with him - keep it up! :-)

Loving the name choice too!!

[KatiePillow]

I'm not going to rush it, am going to start from basics again today... but I have confidence that he wont bite again.. (at least not hard hopefully)
yesterday I had my hands in his cage with rubber gloves on on he spent 5 minutes biting them..but as soon as he realised I was bringer of food, he was ok..guess he really is a chubster :p

Also, dealing with him has made me a lot more confident with my hamster sandy, who nips..but has never broken the skin.. because I'm like 'i've been bitten worse..haha!' :p

[anorak]

So..there's hope, :) he just needs time, love, and millet.
He's loving his wheel too :)



Haha! That sounds like Noodles. She bit me (winter white), but now she is a Mummy's girl. All she needed was time, love, millet and her wheel too! (oh, a broccoli!)

[KatiePillow]

Haha! That sounds like Noodles. She bit me (winter white), but now she is a Mummy's girl. All she needed was time, love, millet and her wheel too! (oh, a broccoli!)


Oohh..broccoli..will have to try that, he isn't too fussed about meal worms, which confuses me. But I have managed to get him from biting your hand every second if it's in the cage, to out of cage wanderings in 3 days...all due to millet, so I think he's an addict :)

Glad yours tamed well because of millet too :D I'm so glad I bought..A LOT...

[Womblehands]

He certainly is beautiful, if he's falling over a lot he may have slight eyesight issues.. I'm no expert but could be why he's skittish and jumpy...

[KatiePillow]

Yeah, we figured he's probably blind..My aunt pointed out that he looks up to feel with his whiskers whether anybody/anything is there >.<

But now, when he hears me coming into his cage, I put my hand at the same place (at the edge of his shelf) and he comes onto it, if my hand is anywhere else he seems to just walk over it, so I think he's a hamster of habit :)
I'm just glad I adopted him, not somebody else who wouldn't have been able to handle him >.<

[anorak]

Talking about a hamster of habit, Noodles has the entire living room to play with (with supervision) but she ALWAYS goes straight to her corner under the chair near the book shelf! Always!!! I think she has m akred this place and feels safe there. She has been trying to hide under the tinsel around the Christmas Tree base (this scares me as I am not sure if it is toxic) so I keep her away from that!

[KatiePillow]

Silly noodles >.< And the tinsel is probably being eyed up to bring a bit of bling to her bed :)

I keep Al away from anything, because his way of identifying things is to chew them >.<'
I don't have the confidence to give him the run of my whole room, but he gets the run of the mattress, which he seems fine with. He's a lot slower than my other two dwarves too.

[KatiePillow]

Thought I should upload a photo of his little face, since I actually managed to get one :)
http://i56.tinypic.com/1zn90y0.jpg

[Hope]

Aww he IS a little chubster!! :-) I love him, look at that little face!! :D

[KatiePillow]

He has really small eye holes, like..probably from iffy breeding, but he has them closed half the time :)
I've grown so attached to him >.< he looks like a little old man :3
in a cute way.. >.<

[anorak]

Awwwwww so cute! What a cute little face! I love how all our hammies have such different personalities!!!

[RachK]

Awww he is too cute. I love his markings so different. Beautiful little boy :)

[KatiePillow]

I'm so glad I adopted him ^.^ it's so rewarding..he just seems to happy just to have a wheel etc >.<
And yeah, he's bigger than my other two dwarves too..I assumed it was just because he was fully grown, but when I hold him he feels really fragile..so maybe it's just hair.. >.<


Thanks for all the nice comments, will tell him how everybody said he was cute later :D

[anorak]

What is the bedding that you have instead of sawdust? Looks nice!! Like the Mini Duna too ;-)

[KatiePillow]

It's megazorb, really good...it smells kinda weirdly sweet, but can't smell pee at all, and it's only £6 for 85 litres (85 litres = 3 duna multy clean outs, 4 mini duna cleanouts a 70x30 aquarium + 10 litre box I filled up (as storage) and I still have loads left :D) only issue is storage of it. also, if you don't have an equine place near you it's like £11 due to postage :)

His duna is pretty bare because he's blind.. but It's pink, so that makes it all better :) only pink one i've seen...it was the only one left in p@h and since all they've had in is grey and orange :D

[SnickersTheFirst]

My Oscar is in a pink duna too - it was the only one there at the time and I haven't seen one since. I've seen loads of colours recently though; light green, light blue, yellow and white. :D

I'd recommend the Megazorb too, Anorak. :D

[anorak]

Hiya! I think I will get some of that megazorb! It just looks much nicer and kinder to the little hammies fur and feet than sharp wood shavings! Noodles has an orange mini duna. She is a bit of a tom boy and I don't think she would have appreciated pink, bless her! :-)

[KatiePillow]

Alfie doesn't appreciate the pink either I don't think.. Am doing a big cage switch around and putting him in my blue duna multy..and then sesame (my little girl) can go in the pink cage :D
And I'll measure my megazorb bag later when it won't wake up the grumpy bf. :p
I know you have space constraints in your flat, so it might be an issue.