Hamster Central - View Single Post

Pebbles82 · 01-26-2017, 01:58 PM

Aw - it really hurts as well! What we used to do when Charlie was in the bath was stroke him with a toothbrush (not one you use lol) at arms length at first - because if you tried to touch him he jerked his head round as if he would bite, which scared us off. We needed to build confidence and not show fear to make progress but we were scared of getting bitten. When he was slithering up and down the side of the bath we would gently stroke him on the back once or twice with the brush. His head would jerk round and we'd take it away again. Then do it again maybe 5 minutes later. Then leave it till another session. It can take time and patience. We did the bathtub taming sessions about twice a week and I started to find it a bit of a hassle! But we kept going. We moved onto using a finger instead of the toothbrush. He jerked his head round and I moved the finger away, but a few minutes later, he accepted the stroke from the finger (he started as if to jerk round and then didn't as if to say - ok I'm used to that now and it's safe). That was the turning point - when we could stroke his back without him threatening to bite (while he was slithering up and down the side of the bath that is). We then moved onto cupping a hand under him while he walked around in the bath. You just cup your hand under the tummy, lift about a centimetre and let him walk off, don't try to hold him. We did this a few times and suddenly he was tame and we could pick him up and he was sweet as anything! Never threatened to bite since. So it's about building familiarity, them getting used to you and that it's safe to be touched and then you turn the corner. It took us 6 to 8 weeks to get to that point, but once he was hand tame it was virtually instant. We could all hold him, I popped him in my dressing gown pocket while we sat down and he was used to us. For a long time he used to sit between me and OH on the sofa

Or fall asleep on my knee under a blanket.

Re the shelf. A gap they could get stuck in isn't good as you say. If you had the shelf on top of the house you wouldn't be able to get the top off, but it would be a useful bit of shelf extension maybe. I guess the alternative would be to move the shelf up a bit higher - but then access to the shelf might be a bit steep? Adjusting the height of the substrate one way or the other in that area might help to jiggle it all about. (Best done while she is out of the cage

I use the pet carrier for things like that - pop him in it upstairs on the bed with a blanket over and then do what I need to do to the cage.

01-26-2017, 01:58 PM
Pebbles82 Hamster Antics Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 23,533	Re: Rearrange cage for syrian hamster Aw - it really hurts as well! What we used to do when Charlie was in the bath was stroke him with a toothbrush (not one you use lol) at arms length at first - because if you tried to touch him he jerked his head round as if he would bite, which scared us off. We needed to build confidence and not show fear to make progress but we were scared of getting bitten. When he was slithering up and down the side of the bath we would gently stroke him on the back once or twice with the brush. His head would jerk round and we'd take it away again. Then do it again maybe 5 minutes later. Then leave it till another session. It can take time and patience. We did the bathtub taming sessions about twice a week and I started to find it a bit of a hassle! But we kept going. We moved onto using a finger instead of the toothbrush. He jerked his head round and I moved the finger away, but a few minutes later, he accepted the stroke from the finger (he started as if to jerk round and then didn't as if to say - ok I'm used to that now and it's safe). That was the turning point - when we could stroke his back without him threatening to bite (while he was slithering up and down the side of the bath that is). We then moved onto cupping a hand under him while he walked around in the bath. You just cup your hand under the tummy, lift about a centimetre and let him walk off, don't try to hold him. We did this a few times and suddenly he was tame and we could pick him up and he was sweet as anything! Never threatened to bite since. So it's about building familiarity, them getting used to you and that it's safe to be touched and then you turn the corner. It took us 6 to 8 weeks to get to that point, but once he was hand tame it was virtually instant. We could all hold him, I popped him in my dressing gown pocket while we sat down and he was used to us. For a long time he used to sit between me and OH on the sofa Or fall asleep on my knee under a blanket. Re the shelf. A gap they could get stuck in isn't good as you say. If you had the shelf on top of the house you wouldn't be able to get the top off, but it would be a useful bit of shelf extension maybe. I guess the alternative would be to move the shelf up a bit higher - but then access to the shelf might be a bit steep? Adjusting the height of the substrate one way or the other in that area might help to jiggle it all about. (Best done while she is out of the cage I use the pet carrier for things like that - pop him in it upstairs on the bed with a blanket over and then do what I need to do to the cage.