Very shy Nino

Aliciacyh · 09-28-2014, 10:21 AM

Hi all
I had Nino for nearly a month now. He is still so shy and worried. He sleeps all day and only woke up when i go to sleep. Due to my irregular hours of work, i am unable to set him in a routine (eg. wake him up everyday at the same time) but i try my best to take him out and let him get familliar with me almost everyday. He is like still so scared of some thing but i had no idea what. He is only about 6months old. Also when i let him out to roam in my room, he does not go to explore. He would just go to a corner and sit down to sleep. He is not food motivated either so giving treats does not work. His cage is in my room but I had never ever seen him play in his cage also. All i see for this whole month is him walking from one hide house to the other very slowly and very carefully as if he is afraid someone might hit him if he is noticed. In case you did not read my previous thread, he is a rescued ham whom is very bullied by other hams that he was housed with before the rescue. He was also according to the fosterer badly wounded also but had already make a full recovery when i adopt him. i feel so sad that he is not even enjoying himself in his own place and i can't see him play the toys that i had put for him at all to see if he likes them or not. His toys remains at the same place everyday so i do not know if he played with them or not.

As it had been a month already and he is still not improving, so any ideas how i could open him up or at least get him to be more comfortable in his own cage?

**kyrilliondaemon** · 09-28-2014, 10:34 AM

Could you get him out in a small box instead of letting him have free roam at all for now?

Also, could you possibly put loads more toys, tunnels e.t.c in the cage? If you really, really crowd things he may feel more secure out and about because he can hide between things easier

Aliciacyh · 09-29-2014, 10:23 AM

ok, i will try to add more toys but i am also afraid if i add too many things then it would make it harder for me to get him out to play coz he would refuse to come out of hiding places and he is not attracted to food. Anyway i am trying to put in more platforms so that he can climb and i can mayb put more things in also but still be able to reach him easier.

Ridley33 · 09-29-2014, 10:30 AM

Awwww he is so adorable. Keep trying. He will soon realise he is safe with you.

amie · 09-30-2014, 11:19 AM

Good luck with taming Nino. He is very cute.

Do keep us updated on progress.

**ianpallen** · 09-30-2014, 11:28 AM

He is cute. he looks just like my Ginger. What treats do you try him om. How big is his cage. If his cage is a massive one, try him in a slightly smaller cage if possible. try different treats to see what he will do anything for. I found out Ginger does not like mealworms, but loves dried cat food biscuits. I have just gave her some cooked spaghetti. She quite likes it. Cant give too much as it is starchy and I think it is fattening. Some hams like cooked rice or porridge oats cooked or dry. Try him on a piece of cheese or a small bit od veg, ie carrot, cucumber, pea, bean, small piece of chicken. Hams love chicken, at least mine do.

There will be something that he will find to really like.

Aliciacyh · 10-01-2014, 10:31 AM

he is in a 20+gallon tank. the biggest i can accomodate since he is in my room as my mum dosen't let me put him else where where there is bigger space. I had tried strawberry, hamster yoghurt drop, varies petshop treats, pomelo, lettuce, canberries, chestnut, carrots and my dogs' kibbles. he will take watever i offer to him and then 2 chews and he will throw it aside or just take it from me and throw it away straight away and eat them up only at his own pace. I will try to offer some other food that is suggested and see if he likes. He really like to pee in his wheel. I tried to bleach the wheel and didn't give him for a few days but when i give it back to him he started it again. All my previous syrians do not do that but that was like years back. Luckily he is not a chewer so i stick a layer of pee pad onto the wheel to absorb the pee and change the pad every other day. Also his stool is quite small. its smaller then my winter white's. Is it normal? even his appetite is smaller then my dwarf coz i gave them the same amount of food and my dwarf will finish faster than him. I'm pretty sure my dwarf didn't hide its food coz everytime i changes his cage no food was found else where. only shells. Nino is 105g and does not feel skinny. So i guess its normal?

Aliciacyh · 10-20-2014, 08:29 AM

It had been some days and thought i would update the taming progress with nino. Although he is still very reluctant to come out for playtime but once i got him out of his cage he will start walking on my hand and had been very well behaved when on my hands. Today i think i made a big progress. He actually stayed still in my hand for more than 30mins and he is falling asleep!!!! I so wish i could hold him in my hand til his little nap is over but as i was sitting on the floor, my back is getting more and more tired as time passes and so i had no choice but to very very reluctantly wake him up and put him back to his cage.Here are some pics of his sleeping progress in my hands.

Ridley33 · 10-20-2014, 08:38 AM

Awww well congrats as that is the ultimate taming prize we all seek to get!

Skeever · 10-20-2014, 09:17 AM

Really! Your ham trusts you to sit and fall asleep like that? He's not afraid of you, obviously....

One of my hams is not at all afraid of me. I think he got into a wrestling match with my hand today.....like he wants to try and be alpha ham.....it was adorable...but he doesn't fall asleep without somewhere to hide usually, or in his cage.

As for his being afraid of everything? So is mine. I think mine is hyper vigilant about sounds and lights and smells and ......very high strung. The reason I don't worry is although he is hyper with me? He doesn't ever bite, or run away from me, or shy from being handled or taken out of his cage. The rest of the world to him, it seems , is a place of danger and excitement. Only ham I've seen to run away from a piece of banana.

Don't focus on what you want him to do. Let him have the hidey places in his cage. If he has his safe zone....his cage and his hidey places, he is more likely to get bored and come out more....NOT hide more. If he is always finding places to hide ....a GOOD INSTINCT in HAMSTERS!....then , he's too exhausted to think about much else. Make his home his home, and let him come out to you to play. Sooner he settles down and feels he can defend his turf, the sooner he'll want to explore the big bad world more often

Adorable little critter....he looks fine. He's just being a hamster