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SnowballJ · 10-16-2018, 02:28 PM

Hello everyone,

My son and I recently became the owners of our first Syrian hamster, a cute little white and tan guy called Snowball.

I'm a complete beginner when it comes to hamsters, so I did lot's of research first (this forum has come in useful more times than I can count for answering all the questions that we came up with before we bought our little friend.) And I have to say, I thought I was doing pretty well.

We got a nice big cage with lots of things to chew, tubes to scuttle through and places to hide. I found out all about what to feed him and what signs of illness to look for.

I thought I covered it all. But, of course being a total newbie, I've still managed to find a problem, that completely flummoxed me.

So, I was hoping you guys might be able to give me some advice.

Snowball and I are getting on very nicely, he's comfortable with me being in the room, comes over to investigate me and is happy to take food from my fingers. He's climbed onto my hand a couple of times quite happily (I should say we've had him for just over 2 weeks). The problem comes when I try to bring him out of his cage.

Today, he sauntered over very confidently when I opened the cage to do a bit of spot cleaning, and started climbing up to the front of the cage. He got onto my hands and I lifted him out. However, he then started to scuttle about very rapidly, slipped out of my hands and ended up on the floor (Which I was sat on, so he didn't injure himself). We then had a panicked scramble, where I tried to catch him and he tried to get away. I eventually managed to get hold of him and put him back into his cage. He wet himself because he was scared, and I felt awful, for freaking him out. (He is fine now, he's playing on his wheel, happy to take food from me and be stroked).

I think I have two problems, one that he's so fast and wriggly, that he's really hard to keep hold of and two that everyone I spoke to before we got the hamster told me tales of how their hamster escaped/got lost/disappeared under the floorboards/ended up in next door's kitchen, etc.

I guess I'm freaking out too much because of all these tales of woe, so I was hoping for some sensible advice from some more experienced handlers.
How can I approach little Snowball and get him out of his cage, without stressing us both out?

Thanks in advance

10-16-2018, 02:28 PM
SnowballJ Join Date: Oct 2018 Posts: 1	Intro and Question Hello everyone, My son and I recently became the owners of our first Syrian hamster, a cute little white and tan guy called Snowball. I'm a complete beginner when it comes to hamsters, so I did lot's of research first (this forum has come in useful more times than I can count for answering all the questions that we came up with before we bought our little friend.) And I have to say, I thought I was doing pretty well. We got a nice big cage with lots of things to chew, tubes to scuttle through and places to hide. I found out all about what to feed him and what signs of illness to look for. I thought I covered it all. But, of course being a total newbie, I've still managed to find a problem, that completely flummoxed me. So, I was hoping you guys might be able to give me some advice. Snowball and I are getting on very nicely, he's comfortable with me being in the room, comes over to investigate me and is happy to take food from my fingers. He's climbed onto my hand a couple of times quite happily (I should say we've had him for just over 2 weeks). The problem comes when I try to bring him out of his cage. Today, he sauntered over very confidently when I opened the cage to do a bit of spot cleaning, and started climbing up to the front of the cage. He got onto my hands and I lifted him out. However, he then started to scuttle about very rapidly, slipped out of my hands and ended up on the floor (Which I was sat on, so he didn't injure himself). We then had a panicked scramble, where I tried to catch him and he tried to get away. I eventually managed to get hold of him and put him back into his cage. He wet himself because he was scared, and I felt awful, for freaking him out. (He is fine now, he's playing on his wheel, happy to take food from me and be stroked). I think I have two problems, one that he's so fast and wriggly, that he's really hard to keep hold of and two that everyone I spoke to before we got the hamster told me tales of how their hamster escaped/got lost/disappeared under the floorboards/ended up in next door's kitchen, etc. I guess I'm freaking out too much because of all these tales of woe, so I was hoping for some sensible advice from some more experienced handlers. How can I approach little Snowball and get him out of his cage, without stressing us both out? Thanks in advance