Hector

velma · 08-20-2014, 01:58 PM

Hello! This is Hector, my rescue Robo. I picked him up on Monday & he's been mostly settling in since. He's been a bit timid of my hand in the cage but today he was brave enough to take a sunflower seed that I held out for him. He's currently in the Mini Duna that I found in a local pet shop, which will ultimately be his cleaning/holiday cage. I plan to get him a Duna Multy for his permanent residence soon.
Hector had gotten a little bashed about by his cage mates & been separated so ended up for adoption. Now he's come home with me!

**DrKMcK** · 08-20-2014, 02:02 PM

What a pretty boy Hector is

. It's fine to have him in the smaller cage for now. In fact, it's better for taming purposes. In a bigger cage he would have too many hidey places to run to. Let him stay in the smaller cage while you go through the taming process. Then once he's comfortable with you, and he is coming to see what you have for him, you can move him to a bigger cage. I keep all my hams in a smaller cage for taming.

velma · 08-20-2014, 02:08 PM

Thanks DrKMcK! I didn't stress about getting his bigger cage straight away for that reason. Although he has made his nest under the shelf so we'll have to see about those hiding places! My last hamster was a rescue robo but he didn't want to be handled at all. He didn't mind your hand in the cage but that was about it so we left him to it rather than stress him out. Will be interesting to see if Hector is any braver!

velma · 08-22-2014, 02:54 PM

So Hector has completely destroyed his seed cookie thing in his picture. He loved it! Also a big fan of his milk bone. Glad I picked up that tip from here & YouTube. He's getting braver. He's not only taking a sunflower seed from me, he's also coming up his ramp to get it. Will get him more confident with that & then see if he'll take it off the palm of my hand. He is absolutely adorable.

**DrKMcK** · 08-22-2014, 03:10 PM

It sounds like a nice gentle taming process, which is great, especially with robos. Have you ever seen the great info and video on Erin's Hamster's? Really good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ttU...YsRErdRJXghyug

I hope Hector keeps on doing so well.

velma · 08-23-2014, 02:00 PM

Thank you! I'd seen some videos from Erin's Hamsters - I think that was how I found Hamster Central - but I'd not seen that one.

cypher · 08-23-2014, 11:31 PM

Congrats on your cute little rescue

Sounds as though he's settling well already, look forward to seeing more photos.

Nerys · 08-24-2014, 02:31 AM

Hector is adorable! Love his name too

I've kept all my rescues in mini dunas until they get more confident, seems to help them settle in.

velma · 08-25-2014, 01:19 AM

Had a little cage reshuffle yesterday. Nothing major so I didn't disrupt him too much. Took out the plastic house that came with the cage. Apart from removing the bedding from it, Hector had shown no interest in it. Replaced it with a log instead. And took out his hide 'n' seek cube & put a Trixie corner house. It has a couple of ramps & a flat roof so he has somewhere else to explore. It's been fun working out what treats he likes. Sunflower seeds are a big hit but he has no interest in banana chips. I didn't think he was going to be a wheel hamster (apart from peeing in it) but last night, a week after bringing Hector home, he learned to run in his wheel

velma · 08-25-2014, 01:20 AM

Oh dear, Hector's photo is upside down! Oops!