Almi
08-05-2013, 02:00 AM
Well, after quite a while now of not ever seeing my winter white (though food disappeared), I decided to dig her out of her little hidey hole. She promptly yelled at me for doing so, and so as not to aggravate her further, I decided to put the clay pot back where it was. This made her dart across the cage to the other end of it in the back corner.
I stuck my hand in the cage maybe eight inches away from her, and asked her to come out while tapping the floor of the cage with my hand. She continued yelling at me, but her curiosity got the better of her and she inched up to me for a sniff. She'd back off and then come back again. She just sniffed me (no nipping) and eventually brushed against me a few times. I actually got her to stop yelling at me periodically while she continued to check my hand out.
After something had spooked her (my silly husband coming for a peek), I was able to put my hand up to her again without her running away, though she was still nervous and vocal towards me! Normally a hamster this scared would run away as fast as it could and dart into the nearest hole or corner. But I have never kept a hamster in such a setup as I have. I wonder if she feels safer because it's not a big open space, and she now knows her space well, so she feels comforted knowing that she knows exactly where to dart to if need be.
Anyway, it was very interesting to me to see this sort of behavior in a hamster. The best way to describe it was that she actually seemed to have some confidence. I noticed a lot of behavior that was different about the last hamster I had too, as he had a similar setup but not quite as elaborate. (Different, as in, he acted differently than almost every other hamster I've had.) He tamed down like it was nothing, and he started coming out every time he heard someone next to his cage. It was almost like this little guy had a zest for life that I've only ever seen in a few individuals. (And confidence!) The more I think about it, a lot of domestic hamsters seem to get depressed, or they become neurotic (particularly ones that are in pet stores and/or have been there a while). It makes me wonder just how much stimulation hamsters really need, especially seeing as they are great wanderers, as we all know!
P.S. I named the hammy Penelope!
I stuck my hand in the cage maybe eight inches away from her, and asked her to come out while tapping the floor of the cage with my hand. She continued yelling at me, but her curiosity got the better of her and she inched up to me for a sniff. She'd back off and then come back again. She just sniffed me (no nipping) and eventually brushed against me a few times. I actually got her to stop yelling at me periodically while she continued to check my hand out.
After something had spooked her (my silly husband coming for a peek), I was able to put my hand up to her again without her running away, though she was still nervous and vocal towards me! Normally a hamster this scared would run away as fast as it could and dart into the nearest hole or corner. But I have never kept a hamster in such a setup as I have. I wonder if she feels safer because it's not a big open space, and she now knows her space well, so she feels comforted knowing that she knows exactly where to dart to if need be.
Anyway, it was very interesting to me to see this sort of behavior in a hamster. The best way to describe it was that she actually seemed to have some confidence. I noticed a lot of behavior that was different about the last hamster I had too, as he had a similar setup but not quite as elaborate. (Different, as in, he acted differently than almost every other hamster I've had.) He tamed down like it was nothing, and he started coming out every time he heard someone next to his cage. It was almost like this little guy had a zest for life that I've only ever seen in a few individuals. (And confidence!) The more I think about it, a lot of domestic hamsters seem to get depressed, or they become neurotic (particularly ones that are in pet stores and/or have been there a while). It makes me wonder just how much stimulation hamsters really need, especially seeing as they are great wanderers, as we all know!
P.S. I named the hammy Penelope!