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 > Feeding/Nutrition

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-27-2016, 03:45 PM   #1
Saffie
Newborn Pup
 
Saffie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Suffolk, UK
Posts: 12
Default What treats to feed a young Syrian?

Hello!

A few days ago I got myself a Syrian hamster named Bob. He's only roughly about 8 weeks old and rather wary of humans. I want to start taming him as soon as possible and I read that using treats when handling can help a little.
The only downside is whenever I visit pet stores a lot of the treats have a little warning such as 'unsuitable for small animals under the age of 4-6 months'. I was wondering if anyone could recommend alternatives for me as I don't want to upset his tummy

Thank you!
Saffie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-28-2016, 03:15 AM   #2
AmityvilleHams
PM Fluffy for custom title
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 4,545
Default Re: What treats to feed a young Syrian?

Something that might work out better would be using all natural treats like the Rosewood products!The little hearts seem to be a popular one,they're kind of a heart shaped biscuit-style treat.A good thing about the Rosewood treats is that they're all natural and they also are very reasonably priced!Something to keep in mind is that Viovet doesn't give the ingredients and neither do a lot of websites,though Ratrations does give an ingredients list for quite a few of the Rosewood products so that can be a big help in determining which ones are safe and which ones are not.
AmityvilleHams is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-28-2016, 05:03 AM   #3
CMB
PM Fluffy for custom title
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Hertfordshire - UK
Posts: 3,190
Default Re: What treats to feed a young Syrian?

You could take out the peanuts and sunflower seeds out of the food bowl hand feed them. Small pieces of veg and chicken will often be liked.
CMB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-30-2016, 01:57 AM   #4
Saffie
Newborn Pup
 
Saffie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Suffolk, UK
Posts: 12
Default Re: What treats to feed a young Syrian?

Thank you so much for replying!

I sent my partner on an errand for those little hearts treats as he works just around the corner from Pets at Home. Little Bob does like them very much but is still far too wary of us. We do put our hand in with the treat and stay still and he does sniff it a little bit but then runs back to his wheel to play. We give it about 5 minutes before leaving the treat on the floor so he can eat it whenever he pleases. I have done the same with his peanuts but he still gives the same response.

I guess it's just little baby steps! We'll keep trying once a day!
Saffie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-30-2016, 02:15 AM   #5
Pebbles82
Hamster Antics
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: What treats to feed a young Syrian?

It's definitely baby steps with taming I used the Rosewood little hearts as taming treats - you could also use pumpkin seeds for a bit of variety (you can get a small bag of those on the bakery counter in supermarkets).

The main thing is to try not to go too quickly, which is hard when you have a new hammy! The first 2 or 3 days they need to be left alone mostly to settle into the cage and scent mark and start feeling at home in the new environment. After that generally it's recommended to start feeding the odd treat through the bars and talking gently so they get used to your voice, then move onto having a treat on the palm of your hand and see if they walk onto your hand. But - a hand in the cage can freak them out! So if you could do that bit with your hand near the entrance door to the cage and let them come to you that's better.

You can also do the tissue trick which helps them feel familiar and positive about your scent. Put some sheets of plain white toilet paper up your sleeve for a couple of hours (or down your bra) then tear each sheet lengthwise into 5 or 6 strips and put a pile of the torn up toilet paper in the cage somewhere. Your hammy will gradually pouch them to take to his nest to build it up. You might not see this but the pile should go down gradually - so then they have your scent in their nest.

The main thing is that the first two weeks settling in are really important to future progress - so don't clean anything or move things around for the first two weeks. You could add the odd new item if needed. And you can spot clean the wee area every 4 or 5 days (or longer even) just doing it if and when it gets a bit whiffy - ie take a handful of substrate out and put a handful of clean in, and mix it in a bit so it still smells familiar. Always try and leave their nest in tact - at least for the first two weeks. After that, if he has pee'd in his nest and you have to remove it, then leave as much of the old nest behind as you can - the dry parts - they get very upset about having their nest stolen! The same with hoards - don't remove them unless wee'd on and if you have to remove some then put new food back in the same place to replace it (obviously eventually some of the hoard will need removing if it gets too big, during a cage clean, but not too often, plus you need to check there's no fresh food sitting there to go off now and then - I find any fresh food gets eaten straight away rather than hoarded).

My biggest tip to avoid lots of cage cleaning and stress, is to use a hamster potty/litter tray - they tend to just start using it, if you put it in the corner they've chosen as a toilet. Then you just empty the litter tray every 4 or 5 days, wipe it out, refill it, and the substrate stays clean and dry. Our hamster only wees in his potty and very occasionally in his wheel - he's a clean tidy little boy!

Have also added a link to Erin's Hamsters cage cleaning tips video which is full of excellent advice about what kind of method to use to avoid stress to the hamster which can set back taming and just be bad for them generally.

Your new little hammy sounds lovely. Ours was quite slow to hand tame, but your sounds like he is doing well. They are often less territorial about hands when they're out of the cage - in the cage is their territory - so a safe place to put them out of the cage to get used to a bit of handling is a good idea - some people use the dry bathtub with the plug in (with a towel on the bottom and the odd toy to hide in or for interest). They can run around safely in there and not hurt themselves if they jump when you try and touch them. We did the bathtub taming a couple of times a week - so have also added my little video on that - it's not great quality and doesn't show much - but has some tips on how to progress Most of the tips I learned on here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jVnEjrXbww

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjyEme2xcq4
Pebbles82 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-01-2016, 01:54 PM   #6
freyashamsters
PM Fluffy for custom title
 
freyashamsters's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: South-East England
Posts: 1,054
Default Re: What treats to feed a young Syrian?

The little hearts are a great treat and are all natural

Yogurt and milk drops (most popular brand is Rotastak) are good also but aren't really to be used as a frequent treat. One or two every week I'd say to be safe

You definitely just need to have lots of patience with Bob! Hamsters who are wary of humans do take longer to tame but most make loving companions eventually

Little Bob sounds lovely and I can't wait to hear more about him and his progress in taming
__________________
Minion to Daisy, Lily, Harry and Peanut <3
Gone but never forgotten
Willow - 18:27 18th November 2016
freyashamsters is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-05-2016, 01:06 AM   #7
Saffie
Newborn Pup
 
Saffie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Suffolk, UK
Posts: 12
Default Re: What treats to feed a young Syrian?

Thank you so much for all of your helpful advice! It's really been working wonders for little Bob!

Yesterday was a really great day for him, he was finally in a happy mood, took treats from both myself and my partner's hands and got to go in his ball for the first time. We lowered the ball in his cage and let him go on it from his own free will rather than force him in and boy did he have the best time ever exploring the living room! He seemed to act like it was best thing since his wheel and he LOVES his wheel.

Also afterwards he allowed me to stroke him! So we did have a relatively happy ham! It makes me glad we've gotten some progress done
Saffie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-05-2016, 07:24 AM   #8
pinkneon
Pink Glittery Hamsters
 
pinkneon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: UK
Posts: 6,037
Default Re: What treats to feed a young Syrian?

My Sweep LOVES walnuts! You could try seeds too. Sweep didn't like those little hearts But you could also try a little bit of veg, though not too much to begin with. Sweep loves peas, broccoli, carrot. He adores strawberry too!
pinkneon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-05-2016, 08:55 PM   #9
Vicki
Hamster Pup
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 89
Default Re: What treats to feed a young Syrian?

Patro'n is young and new to us. She enjoys taking pieces of strawberry, blueberries, & fresh asperagus from me. Now she hears my voice & greats me. I also gave her nuts. She seems to enjoy peanuts in the shell quite a bit.
Vicki is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-09-2016, 02:34 PM   #10
Hamstertoes
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 8
Default Re: What treats to feed a young Syrian?

Quote:
Originally Posted by CMB View Post
You could take out the peanuts and sunflower seeds out of the food bowl hand feed them. Small pieces of veg and chicken will often be liked.
So you can't give young hamster sunflower seeds?
Hamstertoes is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
treats, syrian, small, unsuitable, stores, downside, visit, pet, lot, animals, warning, months, upset, tummy, alternatives, recommend, 4-6, age, wondering, bob, named, hamster, roughly, young, feed

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 09:39 AM.