Register FAQ Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
Navigation
Front Page
Forum
Gallery
Wiki

Ads by Google


Go Back   Hamster Central > Hamster Central Forum Topics > Behaviour

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-03-2019, 01:08 PM   #1
Nugget92
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 1
Default First time hamster questions!

Hi ☺️ We’ve had our lil Syrian for 2 weeks now and we seem to be making good progress but there’s one or two things I’m a little unsure of...

The first thing is he is nibbling in the plastic of his cage but only on the bits where plastic is sticking up to guide the wire into place. He hasn’t nibbled into the main part of the plastic yet so no holes in the cage but I would like to know if there’s anything I can do to stop it getting to that stage? He has several different chew toys and a big wheel to run on... I think he seems quite happy and does play with the other toys. He does climb the bars and do monkey bars across the top but we think this is just him having fun?

The other question I had is I’m not sure how to go about taming any more. He did take treats off our hands but in the process we have had a few finger bites and I think it’s genuinely just because he thought our fingers were food as he didn’t seem scared. He was quite inquisitive and didn’t screach like he did on his way home from the pet shop. We decided to stop giving treats on our hands because we weren’t sure he could see exactly where the treat was. He is more than happy to let me stroke him in his cage and will climb on my hand with a sock over it and let me move him around the cage but does have a tiny bite of the sock first! Any advice on what to do next? We always wash hands with unscented soap first. I don’t know how long it normally takes and I think we have make progress but not sure if we will be able to stop the biting? Is it just a question of taking it slower or should we keep trying as he doesn’t seem scared?

Thank you in advance ☺️🐹🥰
Nugget92 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2019, 11:13 PM   #2
cypher
Dwarf whisperer
 
cypher's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Wales UK
Posts: 24,789
Default Re: First time hamster questions!

I'm not quite sure which bits on the cage you mean he's chewing but if there are little bits of plastic he can get too then he's probably just chewing them because he can! Lots of enrichment to keep him busy will usually help with most chewing issues, try giving him a whimzee dog chew (most hams love them) & scatter feed rather than using a bowl.
If you can post a photo of the cage & where he chews that would help.

A little bit of nibbling is quite normal to begin with, if you just persevere with hand feeding they soon get the hang of what's food & what's not, the nibble things to explore & that can include hands at first, they do usually get over it quickly enough though & putting a sock over your hand won't help him get used to your hand & scent which he needs to do.

Have you got a playpen (escapeproof!),or a large enough safe play area where you can interact with him out of the cage? Some people use the bath with a towel in the bottom & some toys to explore in there.
Start getting him out for a short session each evening, he may be a little nervous at first but as he gets more confident you can keep him out for longer, sit in with him & he'll probably want to climb on you & just run around giving you the chance to interact & get him more used to handling, go at his pace, don't try to rush things & he should be fine.
__________________
Slave to Zak.
Always loved, never forgotten, forever in my heart
T'ycor, Ziggy, Zephyr, Flynt, Mickle, Little Whisp, Zen, Zeki, Tinwë, Zylvan, Míriel, Calyanwë, Gusto & Meri
❤️
cypher is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
cage, stop, plastic, hands, toys, happy, question, scared, didn’t, sock, bars, treats, climb, there’s, progress, i’m, weren’t, treat, stroke, hamster, questions, giving, shop, lil, we’ve

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.43 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Copyright © 2003-2022, Hobby Solutions
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 03:06 PM.