got a new rescue hamster yesterday!

[thelittleteacup]

hello everyone ,

i went to pets at home yesterday becuase it was payday and fell in love with one of the hamsters in their rescue centre bit! she is female and a red eyed argente campbells she is really pretty and fluffy i called her Ruby!

however i am having some problems with her! she just seems really wild! nothing like the other hamsters i have had, the one i got from the rspca i thought was untamed but nothing like Ruby! she will not let you touch her she bares her teeth if you come close, if you try to touch her gently or let her sniff you she rolls on her back, lifts her paws and opens her mouth really wide ready to bite i think! this is teamed with the loudest squeak i have ever heard from something so small!

i think i am out of my depth here! she has scared me! i know shes tiny and muc more frightened of me than i am of her! but i just dont know where to start i have never owned or come across a hamster like this! all my others have just been really receptive and wanting human attension.

i thnk i made a break through last night she took a couple of sunflower seeds from my hands whilst i was talking to her softly, i have read a couple of things on the interent which i hope are untrue about campbells being less tame than ww's and the females in particular less tame!

has anyone got experience in campbells or own them!? she is my first!

also she is in a really large bin cage with lots of toys ect.

the man in PAH also said something which is worrying me now!, he said they thought she might be pregnant when they got her in but that was over a month ago now, i adopted her at the time anyway because i fell for her so much. the reason why i think he might be telling porky pies is because i went to the same pets at home the day before with some friends because they dont have a car to get there, and she wasnt there. I am hoping that they had her out the back? but part of me is hoping she is pregnant and that will explain the funny behaviour! her tummy seems lumpy but not fat particulary, but she is so small!

i will try and get some piccies for you guys! just been wanted her to stay calm and quiet.

thanks for everyones help in advance x

[fluffymunchkins]

Congrats on your new addition
keep a very close eye on her, I don't mean to worry you but increased agressive behaviour can be a sign of pregnancy!
Otherwise, she might not have had to best start to life and it will just take time Its not true that particular species of hamsters are less tame than others, every hamster is an individual.
Your a star for taking her on x

[thelittleteacup]

thanks Mel she seems a bit calmer this morning! i think she's enjoying the space of her bin cage, im regretting buying expensive cages for my other two now as the bins so great! and she picked me i think she just meerkatted me and that was it! x

[racinghamster]

She sounds as though she`s a bit stressed by the move and a bit grumpy! Rolling onto her back and baring teeth? Wow, no wonder you were concerned! I hope she mellows a bit once she`s settled in, I`m sure she will. I just read the other day that the red eyed campbells are the most likely to show aggression. I had a male rrussian dwarf and he was a lovely little thing, but he`s the only dwarf type I`ve owned in the past and he had black eyes.

Sometimes you get one that is just set in their ways and it can take a long time to get them to accept you, but if it works, it`s worth the patience and the effort. x

[Lucinda]

She's probably terrified, god knows what happened to her before!
I have two russian dwarves and they can be tamed, but I think with this little lady you'll just have to take baby steps.

[Gillzy]

I have had two campells, one with red eyes. They were nothing like my Syrian with regards to coming out, and the red eye was very territorial in his cage. It may be Ruby feels the same - if she's had a bad life, and is now stressed with a new home, she may just not want someone coming into her cage.

My advice: leave her for a couple of days, just talking gently and dropping in treats with your hand (ensuring she sees it) and maybe try giving them to her, but try not to do anything she's not happy with. Doc (red eye) had to always be taken out of his cage with a toilet roll tube (or his ball)- which he soon learned was the elevator to playtime, and I could feed him seeds through the bars. So put a couple of toilet roll tubes in the cage so she can get used to going in them and feeling safe to do so. Then in a couple of days when she is calmer you can try placing the tube in front of her and let her walk in, if she doesn't you could try using something to push her bum in. But dont take her out the cage for a while. Then when you feel she's ready take her into a playpen/box/bath in the tube, and see if she's any better, and you can then start the training tips which can be found on the HC wiki.

Just try talking just now - read her a book or something.

Congrats on your new ham, she will hopefully warm to you over time but taming can take months with some hamsters.

Also be sure to keep an eye on her in case she is pregnant. Might not hurt to read up a bit on what to do (and what not to do) if she does give birth.

Good luck, keep us posted.

[thelittleteacup]

thanks everybody for advice she seems quite happy tonight! she has taken sunflowers from my fingers! not one squeak or hiss so thats good i have been talking to her constantly just her name and telling her how pretty she is! ^-^ she has been meerkatting at me lots and doesnt seem angry or scared!

she has however built a large nest i have given her lots of extra bedding and made sure shes warm and in a quiet area, she isnt sleeping in the nest though :/

also she is itching and sratching herself and nibbling at herself, like you would expect a dog or cat who had fleas to act, so i got some of that spot on stuff from the petshop but i dont want to upset her by putting it on! however if she did have mites...i cant see any fleas upclose and she gave birth would they harm the babies!?

xx

[Hope]

The do scratch and preen quite a lot, dwarfs more so than syrians I have found. Keep an eye out for red patches of skin or bald areas, if you are worried I would take her to the vet for a double check. The spot on will need to be used in conjuntction with a good cage cleaner and all the bedding thrown out and toys throughly scrubbed too, if you do decide to use the treatment.

[thelittleteacup]

thanks hope, will use spot on as a precation anyway...she was dumped on the doorstep of PAH so god knows where she came from.
I did get to touch her today! just a few quick pets along the back but she didnt seem fazed at all....she runs to my hand when its on her bin cage...i think she assoicates me with food now! haha
thanks everyone for the advice! x