Ozzy the Lucky Dip hamster

[Vierville]

He's so beautiful!

[Ria P]

Ozzy is such a shy little creature but i can tempt him out by rustling the substrate then offer him a mealworm which he eats there and then and being nosy he walks into the mug. I do feel that i trick him a bit but its not easy to make contact with a shy hamster.
I don't think he's afraid, just very shy. Must be part of his nature. He doesn't seem to bite which is a plus and i'm really curious to see what kind of character and personality he's going to grow into.
I tempt him out every third night and only for a short time until he starts to feel more comfortable around me.
Has anybody else got a shy young dwarf?

[Thin Lizzy]

You've not had him long Ria, some hamsters take longer. You're doing a great job and it does make Ozzy even more adorable because of his shyness.

[Ria P]

Ozzy's main cage was getting a bit miffy so i did some cleaning and added a splash of colour ( for me) while he was asleep in the house in the connecting playcage.
He got up a couple of hours later, walked through the short tube and had a thourough sniff around his cage, had a drink from the bowl, ate some seeds, nibbled some millets and went back to his bed in his playcage house then got up again five minutes later.
Ozzy is still shy unless i'm mistaken and he simply has a placid, reserved nature because he didn't seem stressed or frantic after his first cage clean.
He has the same fluffy type of coat Percy had and now he's climbed into Percy's lookout! First time i've seen him doing that. The lookout is a plastic tub i fixed up near the ceiling of the playbin cage which can be accessed via a ramp leading onto a platform (cut to size from Henry's Alaska cage) and our late Percy used to sit in there a lot or peek over the edge of the cage from it when the lid was off.
I put some Kaytee in it earlier and now Ozzy has made it into a bed. They do sleep in unusual places sometimes.

[Vierville]

He's really lovely Ria P. Norman has a nature similar to Ozzy I think... More quiet and reserved but doesn't bite. I think they all have very distinct and different personalities that's all.

His bin cage looks very stimulating and I'm sure he has lots of fun exploring all his toys!

[Ria P]

Ozzy moved in exactly two months ago.
Ozzy has started to respond to my voice and i feel that he is beginning to trust me. When i rustle his substrate late in the evening and call him his little face appears and he walks into his mug. If he doesn't poke his nose out then i leave him be and try another night.
Tonight i sat on the floor with him and he walked all over me sniffing. At one point he got spooked and run up my arm to sit in the crook of my elbow. I'm quite flattered that he sees me as a place of safety.
He also climbed up to my shoulder and sat there for quite a while while i talked to him and stroked him then had a quick wash. Ozzy also sat on my arm while i stroked him. None of my other hamsters ever sit still for long enough to get petted like that so its a new experience for me and Ozzy.

Its so interesting getting to know a hamster and they really are all so different.

[Ria P]

Right from day 2 i had the feeling that the double bin cage set up which totals a floor length of over 120cm wasn't right for Ozzy.
His favoured sand pit was in the play bin which was connected by a very short tube the same size as any play tunnel but he always rushed through the long main cage. There was plenty of overhead cover and a tunnel en route so he wasn't exposed. He never hang around and stayed mainly underground.
I believe that the bigger the better doesn't apply to every hamster and that there is the odd hamster who prefers a small cage. I made the decision, hopefully the right one and moved Ozzy and all his favourite things into a smaller cage, the p@h xl. The set up is as close as possible to the original one and so far i have not seen any signs of stress behaviour.
I've watched him for a while this afternoon when he came out for a drink and a spot of foraging then disappeared into the corner house. I saw the substrate move so he must have been tunneling across the cage to his big house.
Some people may disagree with me for downsizing a hamster so i'm quite interested in opinions.

[Pebbles82]

Ozzy's set up looks wonderful! I am sure he is very happy in there. The cage is a good size for a dwarf hamster. I am no expert in dwarf russian hamsters but it is commonly thought that their need for space is not as much as for other species - depending on the hamster. Robos tend to need quite a lot of space.

I have always felt that one cage set up right is better than two adjoining ones, for them to have normal behaviours and Ozzy has a very nice habitat there in your set up in the PAH XL.

You might remember I downsized Pickle's cage. He doesn't like noise, height and top access. He is quite happy in an 80 x 50 cage. I do wonder though if I had started him off in the 80 x 50 and then upgraded him (some people do this -start them in a smaller cage and then upgrade them) if he might have been happier in the Barney cage. But sometimes it is just their personality. Pickle needs a cage with a big front door

[Ria P]

Thank you Serendipity.

It can take a while to get to know a hamster's likes and dislikes, pick the right cage and set it up accordingly.

You know Pickle best and if he likes a big front door the Barney wouldn't have worked for him as an upgrade.

They do know what they like and let us know when they don't. I remember a couple of tantrums Henry threw when i was trying to suss out the best set up for him.

[Pebbles82]

Good point it wouldn't have worked anyway with that noisy top door. I do wonder if I should have got another savic plaza though and just reduced the height by increasing the bedding. That is still an option but he's happy where he is right now.

I know some dwarf hamster owners say a shy dwarf can be happier with a smaller cage. Whereas for Syrians 70 x 40 ish really is an absolute minimum really.