Looking after OH's Mum's Dog.....

[Sandti]

Okay so we started looking after my boyfriend's Mum's dog and Zoro has started acting really weird. She's usually in the kitchen so I had to move her cage upstairs. She completely froze in the tube that she has it in her cage, I actually thought she was dead.

So I moved her into another room and went to see her again and she was just walking around the cage like super slow, so I was talking softly to her.
Then today I moved her to my bedroom and she came out and she was being proper like, cuddly, I couldn't pick her up but she was letting me stroke her alot and usually she lets me but is constantly on the move....

I would just like some advice/ insight into this behaviour please?

Sandti xx <3

[HadleyHam]

She probably sensed the dog and perceived it as a predator so she froze up and acted like she would in the wild

[Cupcake]

I second hadleyham on that, Zoro most likely sensed the dog and since it's not a smell the ham is used to, Zoro probably freaked out a little :( there's not much to do other than keep her away from the dog, which you did...she will eventually loosen up :)

[StuCil]

Agree with everyone! Cil once froze although I dont think there was something going on around her at that time, but it's hamster instinct, so who knows? All we can do is to make them feel safe :D

[Lougarry]

I'm scrupulous about washing my hands before handling the hams, but last night I forgot. I'd just been stroking the dog and when I offered Little Miss Greedy (Dinah) a yoghurt drop, she froze completely, wouldn't take it and just let it drop to the floor. It must be an instinctive prey response to the smell of a predator - 'if I stay really still it won't know I'm here.'

[Sandti]

Thats what I thought, I just wanted another opinion. Doesn't explain her more cuddliness though XD

[StarlightSerenity]

Could she have been on heat? That could be why she was letting you stroke her.

[Sandti]

No she's in heat today, last night she wasn't. :3

[HadleyHam]

Somehow Hadley and my dog, Coady (yellow lab), have not noticed one another yet. Hadley only freezes if she hears Coady's tags or if she's barking in the distance. I think it might have something to do with the ventilation of the bin cage being on the top and I usually keep the cage off the ground.