Quote:
Originally Posted by Chesterspal
Seems we may never get beyond this.
I have tried working in the room I have his enclosure in during the day but he refuses to even come out.
If I go into the room in the morning, when I know he is up and out, he hides under the cover to his sand box with his back to me.
He may then run away and down the hole to his house.
Any suggestions?
|
If you want to try another approach then continue reading. If not, that’s okay.
I know and heed the importance in washing hands before and after handling my hamster, however, I have taken this knowledge much further into my own daily interacting routine. What I do is apply some homemade liquid to my hands and rub it all over my hands like I am applying hand sanitizer. This homemade liquid is what I created for my personal use and have it near her cage always.
I purchased Nature’s Miracle Cage Cleaner and poured some inside another container (hand soap dispenser) along with water. The measurements are One Part Cage Cleaner to Four Parts Water.
Yes, it pumps out very watery but it will cover and clean your hands. The scent is also one that my hamster is familiar with (it’s used to clean her cage and toys thoroughly once a month) and this familiar scent is how I am able to interact with my hamster; even during those ‘no touch me’ moments she has. Similar to your hamster hiding and scurrying off to hide from you, mine does that at times. But I keep my hand in there while talking and moving a few things to spot clean. She eventually comes out and smells the scent of ‘not there to harm’.
I chose this hand sanitizing method because I feel the antibacterial hand soaps as well as mild hand soaps are too strongly scented to wash first with before handling/interacting with my hamster. Of course, after finishing our interacting with one another I would wash my hands thoroughly with antibacterial hand soap.