New hamster questions!

[gracefulhamster]

Hi everyone,
Yesterday I brought home my adorable 10-11 week old Syrian hamster Pip. He looks very healthy and is active. I have bought the Savic Sky metro cage which measures 50*80*50 cm and he seems to be enjoying all his new toys!
I am feeding him Harry hamster complete muesli and gave him a small piece of carrot yesterday. However, he doesn't appear to have had any of his water - I have checked and the bottle is working! Should I worry?

Also, I was very excited to meet him and despite knowing that I should leave him to settle in for 2-3 days I put my hand in the cage, so he bit my finger! It's completely my fault but I am worried that I have affected the taming process!!

He is so cute and I already love him - I will try to upload pictures soon.
Thank you for your help!

[MeganAndMisty]

Originally Posted by gracefulhamster

Hi everyone,
Yesterday I brought home my adorable 10-11 week old Syrian hamster Pip. He looks very healthy and is active. I have bought the Savic Sky metro cage which measures 50*80*50 cm and he seems to be enjoying all his new toys!
I am feeding him Harry hamster complete muesli and gave him a small piece of carrot yesterday. However, he doesn't appear to have had any of his water - I have checked and the bottle is working! Should I worry?

Also, I was very excited to meet him and despite knowing that I should leave him to settle in for 2-3 days I put my hand in the cage, so he bit my finger! It's completely my fault but I am worried that I have affected the taming process!!

He is so cute and I already love him - I will try to upload pictures soon.
Thank you for your help!

Hello, congratulations on your new hamster! Pip definitely sounds like he has a big personality already
I wouldn't worry too much about not seeing him drinking, they only drink tiny bits at a time, so if you're changing his water everyday it can sometimes be difficult to see just how much they've had. If you're really worried though you can try giving him a tiny bit of cucumber (not too much!) as it's high in water content, it can help keep him cool too since it's been really hot lately. Just be careful as feeding too much of cucumber or feeding it too often can cause diarrhea in hamsters.

As for the taming, I'd probably wait a few more days before trying to interact with him again, I know how hard it can be when you first bring them home they're just too cute. You could try rubbing your hands on his bedding so he gets more used to your scent.
I can't wait to see some pictures of Pip!

[cypher]

Congrats on your new ham!
They don't drink very much so you may not see him drinking but do make sure the bottle is easy for him to access, not too high or low.
I wouldn't worry about the little incident when you put your hand in the cage, it's unlikely to set back taming as long as you give him a little time to settle now & don't try to rush things he should be fine.

[HamsterHugger777]

Aw congratulations on getting Pip and welcome to the forum!

[Rads]

Welcome along, Pip sounds great our last Hammy was called Pip and she had a great personality.
As Cypher has said they don't drink huge amounts of water, I feed Ghost high fluid content fresh food every day so that is always a help.
Try Pip on some melon if you can it has a high water content and has essential minerals and vitamins etc.

Ghost prefers Canteloupe Melon but then he is a snob I think, oh and he adores some cold yoghurt too.