My Little Dwarfs :)

[TNTWORX]

Very cute!

[MsAdler]

Hey guys,

So the taming of Ophelia is going well. She will readily climb into my hand now and then proceed to crawl all over me. Celia, however, is an entirely different kettle of fish. She will climb into my hand eventually but when I bring her to my bed and sit her on my lap she freezes completely. Her ears go flat to her head and she just looks terrified. I've tried the bathtub method and I've offered her food while she sits on my lap to show her I'm not a threat but she eats it then goes stiff and scared again.

Anyone got any tips on how to help her relax? I've been doing the tissue up the sleeve method and I've tried holding both girls together because I thought of she saw her sister confident with me it might encourage her. I've been working with her for a month now and she's still scared stiff. I did rescue them both so do you think it could possibly be a bad experience in her previous 'home'?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Sara x

[Cinnamon Bear]

I love the red eye hammies! They both look very tame! Nice hammies! Seems you are making progress already to me. I don't let mine on my lap cause I'm afraid they will escape. I think your doing real well. With time things will only get better with the nervous one!

[cypher]

Have you tried Celia in a play bin? A smaller space where she can run around a little preferably with a few familiar toys might be less intimidating & you can introduce your hand to her more gradually rather than putting her on your lap or bed which could all be a bit too much to begin with, I think the bath tub is a bit too much for many dwarfs too tbh, start small & work up!

[MsAdler]

So I've just done a deep clean of both my dwarf hordes cages. I've changed then from wood shavings to care fresh ultra as they were all really itchy. Hamlet was starting to get a little scratchy bald patch. Was this the right Thing to do? They've all freaked out a little bit xx

[cypher]

They're bound to be a little bit stressed by a complete cage clean & different substrate but given Hamlet's problem it probably was the best choice, just leave them to settle again & see how it goes, hope the change solves the problem.