McFluffyPants update!
So we're not calling him McFluffyPants but we STILL haven't decided on a name
. I don't feel a sense of urgency about it yet though, I'm happy to take my time and get to know him better first. Personality wise he's a sweet and curious little man-ham. Not as fearless and gung-ho as Spike was, with him it seems almost like his curiosity just gets the best of him. He's done really well with taming. I can't pick him up yet but he's quite happy to walk into a tube and run around me in the playpen. He's also accepting treats from my hand, the ones he likes anyway. Spike used to turn his head to the side and act like I was trying to feed him something vile if I offered him something he didn't like. Baby literally does not do anything. I've even touched a treat gently to his lips and he didn't move - not frozen in fear, more like a toddler that's refusing to open his mouth
.
So far we have a weird list of likes and dislikes. He does not like apple flavoured anything. I find that odd. He doesn't like the dried chicken and duck, which is fine as he liked the fresh piece of chicken I gave so he just doesn't like it dried which I can't blame him for. He does not like peanuts. Seriously. Not in the shell or out the shell or even slightly honey glazed. What hamster doesn't like peanuts? The dried banana chips he can take or leave but he loves the
Johnsons Nutty Honey treat, although he won't eat the peanuts in it. He does like sunflower seeds although he's not in love with them and prefers pumpkin seeds. He really likes the
Millet sprays I ordered and have about the cage which is brilliant. What he loves most though are mealworms! Not kidding. McFluffyPants loves him some mealworms, he even eats the dried crickets in the Rodipet mix! Which I think is weird for a Syrian but I'm not complaining, means I have an easy peasy way to make sure he gets enough protein
Video:
The Harvest
The first time I took him out I picked him up by hand and he freaked out. I don't know why I thought he wouldn't but when I picked him up out his carrier when I first brought him home he was totally fine with it. Should've known better
. He seems to have forgiven me for the scare though and now we use a shortened Pringles tube as transport, which he's fine with. He really is a calm little guy. I bought a
Skyline Arizona Ranch playpen which is big enough for me to sit in (I'm not small so that's surprising). He was running about having a proper sniff and explore from the very first time which I think is great. He even climbed up my leg a few times, although I suspect more as an attempted means of escape more than anything else
. We are not at the petting and picking up stage but I think we are making excellent progress. Interestingly enough last night when I took him out I got out the playpen after 20min (my legs were cramping
) but I added in a few toys to fill the space I was sitting in. After 2 or 3 minutes of exploring the new toys though he started to freak out a little and running around the pen which he'd never done before - I think he had gotten used to me being in the pen with him and didn't like being in there by himself. I decided that was enough and put him back in his cage.
Videos:
First Playtime Part 1
First Playtime Part 2
One thing he seems to really love is digging. He loves his big sandbath/litter tray and he loves making tunnels and sleeping in his burrow. All proper hamster behavior. I'm a proud mommy. Except for the licking. He licks EVERYTHING. New toy, lets lick it first. Bendy bridge, lets lick that too. Mommy, lets definitely lick. It's like anything new has to be lick tested first. I wish I managed to get a video of his first time on the flying saucer, lick lick lick