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Old 04-23-2013, 07:02 AM   #1
Katie138
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Exclamation Hamsters ignoring us since new pet

Hi All,

I have two hybrid dwarf hamsters, Diego and Harry. My partner and I have worked very hard with them and they are incredibly tame, they usually run over to us when we walk in the room and jump on our hands and happily play and steal sunflower seeds off us like they're hoover's.

On Friday we bought a new family pet, a little pug puppy called Trevor. Since getting Trevor the hamsters have both completely ignored both of us, refuse to take sunflower seeds and don't want to come out to play at all, it's as if they are both protesting. The hamsters are in separate cages but their behaviour mimic each others.

We have both ensured to do our best to pay as much attention as possible to the hamsters since having Trevor as we did not want them to feel left out, and now we are both quite upset that neither of the hamsters want anything to do with us!

It isn't that they have heard the dog as we deliberately chose a pug as they rarely bark and I can't say we have heard him bark once since getting him.

Has anyone seen this before? Or have any suggestions in order to get them back on track?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Katie.

Last edited by Katie138; 04-23-2013 at 09:46 AM.
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Old 04-23-2013, 07:05 AM   #2
Seedless
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Default Re: Hamsters ignoring us since new pet

They may be able to smell him, or smell him on you if he's not in the same room. Have you tried washing your hands and changing your clothes before handling. This is what I have to do with my nervous ham if our cat has been climbing on me.
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Old 04-23-2013, 07:12 AM   #3
Katie138
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Unhappy Re: Hamsters ignoring us since new pet

Quote:
Originally Posted by Seedless View Post
They may be able to smell him, or smell him on you if he's not in the same room. Have you tried washing your hands and changing your clothes before handling. This is what I have to do with my nervous ham if our cat has been climbing on me.

Hi Seedless,

Yes, we have tried this as this is what we first thought but no luck
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Old 04-23-2013, 08:09 AM   #4
souffle
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Default Re: Hamsters ignoring us since new pet

I agree that they can just smell him around the room. They will probably get used to it given a few weeks and eventually not notice it at all. Make sure he doesn't snuffle round the cages or bark near them in case they get frightened
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Old 04-23-2013, 08:14 AM   #5
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Default Re: Hamsters ignoring us since new pet

I have a dog (before I got my hammies) so my Syrian Sirius was used to her smell as it was already present, but when my partners daughter comes with her dog Harry, Sirius becomes a bit more shy & nervous pos because he doesn't know Harry's smell. Harry doesn't need to be in the same room for this to happen just in the flat.
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Old 04-23-2013, 08:57 AM   #6
Katie138
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Default Re: Hamsters ignoring us since new pet

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Originally Posted by souffle View Post
I agree that they can just smell him around the room. They will probably get used to it given a few weeks and eventually not notice it at all. Make sure he doesn't snuffle round the cages or bark near them in case they get frightened
The hamsters are up high on a table so he can't get near them and never barks anyway. Hopefully they will improve within the next few weeks. It's just so upsetting considering how good they were!
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Old 04-23-2013, 08:58 AM   #7
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Default Re: Hamsters ignoring us since new pet

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Originally Posted by Scampi16 View Post
I have a dog (before I got my hammies) so my Syrian Sirius was used to her smell as it was already present, but when my partners daughter comes with her dog Harry, Sirius becomes a bit more shy & nervous pos because he doesn't know Harry's smell. Harry doesn't need to be in the same room for this to happen just in the flat.
This seems like the same thing here, they're the same whether he's been in the room or not. Hopefully he improves within the next few weeks by getting used to his smell.

Do you so anything to encourage your hamster when Harry is about?
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Old 04-23-2013, 12:13 PM   #8
jesselle
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Default Re: Hamsters ignoring us since new pet

I think they're just scared of the predator. They don't think in the same way that we do re feeling left out
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Old 04-23-2013, 12:23 PM   #9
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Default Re: Hamsters ignoring us since new pet

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Originally Posted by Katie138 View Post
This seems like the same thing here, they're the same whether he's been in the room or not. Hopefully he improves within the next few weeks by getting used to his smell.

Do you so anything to encourage your hamster when Harry is about?
At first I didn't get Sirius out much when Harry is around as Harry is interested unlike my dog Whisky (I think Harry would like to get hold of Sirius). After a while I have got him out for a short while and once (last night) had him in his ball whilst Harry was in the room, i made Harry sit down and he lost interest. Sirius is still a bit nervous but when he's out he is ok.
Even though he is used to my dog if either dog walks into hammies room Sirius will stop dead in his cage and listen, sometimes dart up his tube, but this is because he hears what could be a predator.
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Old 04-30-2013, 08:27 AM   #10
Katie138
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Default Re: Hamsters ignoring us since new pet

Just an update...

Both hamsters are gradually getting used to the smell of dog around and are now accepting sunflower seeds again!

I'm happy they are getting back to their old selves!

Thanks everyone for their advice!
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