I had a nice cuddle this morning!

[Scarlett Empress]

Smokey gets up every morning for a bit of porridge and a slice of veg. Sometimes she likes to come out for a quick play, sometimes she just goes back to bed if she's had a busy night or she has housework to do!

This morning she just went back to bed - but an hour later, she was out again, looking for attention, even though I could see she was sleepy. I picked her up and went to sit on the settee with her - first of all I just had her held to my chest and stroked her, and she sat there a while, then she climbed onto my shoulder and snuggled against my neck. It's the first time she has done that, and she sat there for ages - it was so lovely, and I just stroked her and chatted to her.

My mum actually asked if she was OK, as she's not used to seeing her sit still!

It was just so nice to have a little cuddle with her!

[Purdy Bear]

Awwww sounds like some great bonding time.

[Snowz]

Firstly, hamsters are aloud porridge? I thought porridge was the same type of consistency of peanut butter. So wouldn't it get stuck in the hamsters cheeks?

Wow, congratulations! that is so sweet, I loved hugging Snow (Rip) against my chest! Oreo likes to cuddle against my chest too! but she has never going and snuggled up again my neck. :D

Can I ask what time did you get a cuddle with her? I always find it difficult on time to be able to hug her! :)

[Scarlett Empress]

Thanks Purdy Bear yes it was really lovely!

Snowz I have seen porridge on safe food lists and have also seen a lot of people on this forum giving their hamsters porridge, so as far as I am aware, it's fine. She never pouches it, she always eats it off a spoon right away. I give her peanut butter sometimes too, a tiny bit - I make my own so I know there's nothing in it but peanuts. She usually gets up for breakfast about 6am so it would have been about 7am we had our cuddle.

[WinnieTheHam]

Aw, That's so lovely. I remember when Hammy would do that all the time, he'd just sit still on my hand or lap and fall asleep a lot with me, he was very comfortable and i didn't even tame him, i just left him alone for a couple days. (This was when i was younger around 8 - 9 years old) I didn't know much about hamsters then, i just had a little booklet.

I'm excited for when the day comes that Winston or Myrcella does this. They're very hyperactive natured so i'm not sure if it will, i don't mind, but it's such a lovely thing to have a connection like that! :)

[Scarlett Empress]

That must have been so nice WinnieTheHam to have Hammy go to sleep on you! I hope you will have it with Winston or Myrcella - it was quite unexpected with Smokey as she's always on the go.

We've had a few nice moments recently actually - the other day she was out playing, and I needed to put her back home but she was under my shelf unit and I think she was dozing, I couldn't hear her - so I called her a coupel of times and she came out!

And then yesterday when she was playing, I was tidying up her cage and she must have been ready to go home, she was dancing round my feet and tugging the hem of my pyjamas!

I don't think I knew anything about taming when I had my last hamster either, twenty years or so ago - like you say, just left him alone to start with - it's nice to know how to do it so it's not so hard on the hamster! Although I didn't have to do anything woth Smokey, she was already tame when I adopted her and not at all fussy about who handled her!

[Pebbles82]

That sounds really lovely! I think when they're tired they're happy to snuggle up on you - a bit like toddlers really! When toddlers are full of energy they don't want cuddles but when they're tired they do. Charlie was very cuddly in the winter but a bit less so at the moment although he did sit on my arm for a stroke last night for a good four minutes!

I was the same - my last hamster (shared with a boyfriend) was many years ago and we didn't know anything about taming. He lived in a 3 storey rotostak which was seen as new and innovative, but he had the freedom to come and go as he pleased and would run around the room all night. I remember wanting to hold him and stroke him and giving up because he'd only sit still for about 5 seconds then wriggle and run off. i cringe when I think how we would laugh when we saw his little face popping out of the top of the curtains (he could have fallen off! But we just thought he knew what was safe for him - dur!)

[Scarlett Empress]

Serendipity7000 yes I think a snuggle is much easier when they are sleepy! I wonder if Smokey will like more cuddles in the winter?

Oh I'm imagining your last hammie peering out from the top of the curtains! Smokey held an ambition to climb my curtains for a while - she kept going behind them, they hang about three inches off the floor, and I would see her jumping up and down on her little back legs, and hear her scrabbling at them - but luckily she couldn't get a grip! Although of course she DID manage to get a grip on the hems with her teeth - ! I think the lace edging she made looks quite pretty...she doesn't get to run in that part of my room now as she then started trying to pull tufts out of the rug.

I would love if I could cuddle her more - I have kept guinea pigs for a lot of my life and they are perfect for a snuggle, but I don't have room for them now, which is why I decided to have another hamster - I really missed having some sort of small furry. I think watching their funny antics goes a long way towards making up for the lack of cuddles though.

[Pebbles82]

I think so too - and they give you looks as well! I think when they're not tired they're just so fast! I keep hearing about hamsters having porridge and can't imagine how they eat it lol. Don't their faces get messy?! I tried Charlie with some scrambled egg once but he won't touch anything soft and mushy - I think he's keeping his whiskers clean.

[Scarlett Empress]

Ha ha! Yes they definitely give you looks!

Smokey eats her porridge off a very small spoon I found - she sort of licks it up daintily and doesn't get at all messy! It's one of her favourite foods - that and mashed potato, and she does like scrambled egg too. She's very adventurous with food, I think the only things we've found that she doesn't like are raspberry and asparagus. Oh and dried mealworms, she wouldn't even try those, just sort of looked at me like she couldn't understand what I was trying to give her.

[Pebbles82]

Hmm might try some on a small spoon then :) I don't think Charlie will lick daintily though ;) I suppose it was a bit much to expect him eat it scrambled egg off a small plate without getting his feet in it :rolleyes:

[RubyDG]

I would definitely try the porridge on Charlie Serendipity, Spike is really fussy and won't eat most things but he absolutely loves his porridge :D. Try a clean Pringles lid, I use that or a plastic spoon to feed it to him.

[Scarlett Empress]

We grind up our porridge oats before making Smokey's porridge - probably makes it a little less messy to eat! She likes her other fresh food in her food bowl - my sister likes to make her up a little 'dinner' every night! Just to be clear, she doesn't have her hamster mix in her food bowl! I scatter it for her and mix it into her substrate - she likes digging for it now, but I think when I first starting doing it, she thought I had gone crazy!

She's had a Big Clean Out today - I got her some aspen to try under her wooden house - so far, she hasn't expressed an opinion.

[Pebbles82]

Goodness she sounds as spoiled as ours lol! Charlie is having a piece of fresh coconut tonight! He goes potty for it - I get the little packs from the supermarket which are with the mini fresh fruit salad packs. The pack only lasts a couple of days so he gets it two days on the trot and I eat the rest. :) I give Charlie a little dinner on a saucer when we have a roast dinner, but we don't have roast dinners often at the moment - more a winter thing. I save some of our cooked veg for him though sometimes, instead of raw.

I'm still thinking about trying Aspen - what brand did you get? And does it seem dusty at all?

[Scarlett Empress]

She is rather spoiled! Serving her dinner has become a spectator sport - she has tiny bits of several different things every night, we all gather round when I put the bowl in to see what she grabs first - if she's got mash, it's nearly always the first to go! We have roast chicken probably a couple of times a week so my sister likes to make her a little roast - we tend to give her the veg raw, but she does like cooked too.

Oh I was looking at packs of coconut in Sainsbury this morning and wondering! I will try her on some - it's actually a great excuse to buy these things, isn't it, and eating the rest yourself is no hardship ha ha! My mum and sister do the shopping, and they have been buying more variety of veg since we got Smokey - they are not bothered about veggies, but I love them, so it's working out great for me.

I got the Aspen from eBay - hope it's ok! - Premium Aspen Bedding 10 Litres Snakes, Birds & Small Mammals **FREE POSTAGE** | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131538727238?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT) - I just wanted to try a small pack, and it looks lovely, nice and soft and it doesn't seem dusty at all. Usually she has woodflakes mixed with Aubiose - my sister buys Aubiose for the rabbits, but by the time we've stored that and all their hay, there's no room left for me to store a big bale of anything different for Smokey!

[Pebbles82]

Shame I didn't wait for that link lol! I just ordered so pro rep Aspen from Amazon as it had 100% 5 star reviews (but that was from snake owners!). If it isn't soft and dust-free I'll try your link!