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Old 01-03-2016, 03:42 AM  
Pebbles82
Hamster Antics
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: My first hamster, help advice needed.

Hi there. Four days isn't very long. It can be incredibly frustrating though when you want to interact with them! Patience is needed It can take a couple of weeks for them to adjust to and familiarise with a new cage/habitat and generally it's best to not disturb anything in the cage during that time and avoid cleaning anything. Certainly don't do a full cage clean during the first two weeks. If it gets really stinky you could take out a handful of stinky substrate and add a new handful and mix it in to the existing substrate so it is less stinky This is known as spot cleaning.

To familiarise her with your scent you could do the tissue trick. Put some sheets of plain white toilet paper up your sleeve and leave them there for a few hours. Then tear them into strips and put them in a big pile in the cage - she will use them for nesting material and will get familiar with your scent.

For now, maybe leave her alone for a couple more days then try putting a treat at the end of a toilet roll tube, in the cage and see if she comes out to get it. After that you can move on to putting one on your hand.

Dr McK's thread in December showed how her new dwarf hamster went from being very shy to more confident over the space of a month and it's still work in progress. Here it is - there might be some tips on there too.

31 Days of December 2015
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