New Russian Dwarf Owner, Settling In and Taming Tips

[CMB]

Just a case of time. Keep doing what you are doing. He should get braver.

[cypher]

I think it will just take time too, some are more cautious & take more time & patience to gain confidence but you're doing all the right things, I don't think there's anything much you could do differently tbh.

[Euan]

An update on taming Nugget, so he is definitely more confident with us being about in the room generally it's only if we make sudden big movements or noises that spooks him (which is understandable). So he is happy to potter, albeit a bit cautiously, about and do his thing which is nice to see. Both my wife and I have managed to get him to consistently take food from our hands which he generally seems none to bothered by and seems happy to slowly approach and sniff even without food on offer.
The next step will be laying our hands out with food and see if he will step in and get the food. Any tips on what do if he's a nibbler/biter? As I don't want to jerk away and freak him out and undo all the good work that's been done so far.
Thanks for your help and encouragement so far!!

[CMB]

Nugget is getting braver A long piece of millet held in your other hand, over your flat hand may help distract him from bitting.

It can be hard, but try not to react. Some minor nibbles may occur, but they don't hurt. If he bites hard, move your hand away. It may startle him, but keep practicing. He will likely stop nibbling/bitting in time.

[cypher]

Good to hear that Nugget is progressing & getting braver

If you lay your hand flat you may get an exploratory little nibble or two but that's not really like biting & if you keep your hand still with a treat maybe just on your fingers within easy reach to begin with he will most likely just take it, if he's ok with that then try the treats up on your palm & he will probably soon be climbing right onto your hand.
If he does bite just try not to react, move your hand away very slowly so you don't startle him & he should be fine.
If he's approaching your hand already then it's not that likely that he'll suddenly begin biting.

[Euan]

Thanks again for your wisdom, a bit of a confidence booster. Just our last ham which we adopted from someone else which we suspected was never socialised and would always go to town on anything new he could chew on including hands, hence the cautiousness about biting. Though strangely would let you pet him no problem, just as soon as it was in front of his face, we never quite worked that one out.

[cypher]

I can understand you being a little cautious after your previous experience but there doesn't seem to be anything to suggest that Nugget will be a biter, shame about your last ham but you never really know what sort of life they've had when you take them on from someone else, glad you were able to give him a nice home though, in spite of the chewing habit!

[Euan]

We managed to get him into my hand last night, just held flat with a pile of sunflower seeds in the middle. He was very cautious but no nibbling, even licked the crumbs from between my fingers haha.
Though once he got off and started exploring along my arm which was also flat on the substrate he had a nibble on my arm which was fine, he was quite gentle actually. I moved my arm away slowly when he started to nibble and he seemed none to bothered. I assume this is part of the way hamsters explore their world by their mouths and nibbling on things? Should I discourage this nibbling behaviour at all by just gently moving away or just leave him to it?

[cypher]

That sounds like great progress! I wouldn't worry about a little nibbling tbh, they do tend to do that when they explore new things but generally grow out of nibbling hands, fingers etc as they grow up, it's not the same as actual biting so you probably don't need to do anything to discourage it.

[Euan]

Ok great, I'll just bear with it for now then. I had my hand in his cage with him last night, without food and he was happy to come up and have a bit of a nibble of my hand. We shall see what happens!