Dragon swoops in.

[bulby]

My newest (and cutest) addition to my family.

Dragon is the first hamster I've ever owned, bought from my local pets at home shortly after work one day as a surprise (I was surprised I left the shop with a hamster). There was some debate at the shop as to whether Dragon is a boy or a girl and so far I haven't been able to tame him enough to find out for sure either way.

He lives in a two story bin cage with a rotastak pod on top and loads of toys and hidey holes yet only seems interested in his wheel, staring at me through the walls, sleeping, or chewing on the bars u_u

Dragon's markings are absolutely adorable and I'd be interested to know if there was a name for this type of colouring?

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13166004_944178475699603_3947480953874336067_n.jpg ?oh=5e9717693c747efae2da4f915299f7e5&oe=579C8AC8 https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t34.0-12/13236282_953975701386547_265325568_n.jpg?oh=09de97 8a8138df9327709bb702c39fbe&oe=57424DA2

[Thin Lizzy]

He's beautiful! Lovely colouring.

[CMB]

He is lovely. The wire shelf would be more comfortable and safe if it was covered. Your hamster could get he's foot or leg stuck in the gaps and hurt himself.

a grass mat or even cardboard could cover the shelf.

[oddlyoblivious]

What a handsome fellow!

[cypher]

Aw what a little beauty, hello Dragon :)

How long have you had him now? If he is indeed a he it will be quite obvious as he gets a little older!

I agree about the shelf, you could put some card or something like a piece of hemp mat on there.

[freyashamsters]

Aw he is adorable :) A hemp mat over the level could prevent bumble foot and injuries :)

[bulby]

Ah, I'll get right on that straight after work today! I was using his bin for gerbils originally and they always had the ledge completely covered with substrate. (Don't worry, it's been fully cleaned and disinfected since). Cardboard will do fine for now, but what would you suggest the best thing to use that it won't matter if it gets slightly wet?

I've had him for 20 days now, since the 2nd of May. To start with whenever I would put my hand anywhere in the cage he would rear up on his hind legs and show his teeth to me but I've read that that's just a sign of him feeling threatened/being nervous?

I'm trying to only clean him out every two weeks even though at the store they told me to clean his cage every week I've heard that can be super stressful, especially after just settling in.

[SKB_Hamsters]

Dragon is beautiful, love his colouring.

Covering the shelf with cardboard would be fine, but you might need to change it regularly if it does become wet, I don't know what other material you can cover it with or could make a wooden DIY cage platform.

It's recommended to do a full clean monthly as this is less stressful as your hamsters scent will remain the cage. But weekly you would spot clean the area he is using as his toilet and change his nest if that becomes dirty (but you can leave his nest longer if it still clean and doesn't smell)

You could try to get a picture of him from behind that might help determine whether Dragon is a he or she. But as Cypher said males get more obvious as they age.

Dragon was probably scared when you put your hand in his cage as this pose - if they were in the wild - would makes them seem bigger and to warm predators not to mess with them also he hasn't had much human interacting before so he was unsure as what you are. Is he still doing this when you put your hand in his cage?
If he is - Have you tried the tissue trick putting a peice of White unscented tissue up your sleeve and giving that to him so he gets to know your scent. Try offering him a treat as Dragon will soon associate you with good things like treats.

Can't wait to see more photos of Dragon as he is adorable!

[cypher]

If the shelf is going to get a bit wet then it might be best to just use card so you can replace it if need be although hemp mat would dry out quickly if it was just a bit damp like you get with the odd drip from a bottle.

You really don't need to clean him out every two weeks, have you found a pee corner or put a litter tray in yet?
Once you know where they pee & they usually settle on one spot you can just spot clean that area daily & only need to a partial cage clean about once a month, the smaller the cage the more it will need cleaning but you should never clean it all at once & if you clean the nest area always put some of the old nest back, the same goes for the food hoard, either leave it be or put some fresh mix back in the same place.
That will reduce the stress of cleaning.

It may be difficult with your set up but always try to approach from the side rather than above when you put your hand in, it's much less frightening for them.
Have you done the tissue trick with him? That's putting some toilet tissue up your sleeve for a few hours then putting it in the cage, repeat that daily for a while & they soon get more used to your scent & stopped being frightened by it.

Hope that helps a bit.

Cross post with SKB!

[pinkneon]

Awwww what a little cutie! Hi, Dragon! My Sweep (Syrian) waves a paw!

[bulby]

Ah! I'm still cleaning too often? I have been spot cleaning (picking out bits of poo i can see and any soiled bedding I notice, I'm assuming that's what it means) I haven't noticed a certain area that he's interested in more than others though. I do know it's possible to train them to use a particular area but I'm not sure quite how to do that.

It's just drips from the water bottle and any pee that might end up there that I'm worried about but it's not like I'm going to run out of cardboard to put on there haha.

I'll definitely try the tissue trick, maybe if I do it with some of his toys too?

I can't stop filming little videos of him, I might have to put them on youtube just to satisfy my obsession and force you guys to see the cuteness in full.

@pinkneon Dragon did a little wave back :)

[bulby]

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t34.0-12/13250338_954666421317475_259628957_n.jpg?oh=a8c7d3 3ab888eb31457aa885e35cf18c&oe=5744E7AC https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t34.0-12/13292875_954666654650785_787478732_n.jpg?oh=c28f1c 97faf251d41f90b829e88fa0f3&oe=5743E1EF

[pinkneon]

Oh! So much cuteness!

[BluerayDarkes]

I think he's a silver grey and a cute one at that

[cypher]

Aww that little face! He really is too cute :)

Spot cleaning is mostly about removing any damp or soiled bedding & checking for any remains of fresh food if you are giving that yet, don't worry about poo so much, it's dry & they eat some of it so you don't need to pick it all out!

[bulby]

He's so adorable, I really could not resist him at the shop.

That makes more sense really, I'd rather touch damp bedding than pick out individual pieces of poo, very time consuming haha.

[Pebbles82]

He is beautiful! Just seen this thread after posting on your other one about the detolf :-)

Re the cleaning - Erin's hamsters has a really good video on cage cleaning tips - it helped me and our hamster a lot as they do find cage cleans stressful - don't worry about poops - they're not dirty and he might make a little pile of them somewhere as an emergency snack pile lol. They eat their poops sometimes for extra vitamins :-) Which is normal. The biggest tip I could give is using a potty litter tray - if you put it in the area/corner they tend to pee in then they usually use it - most people put chinchilla bathing sand in the potty. Then you just need to empty the potty and refill it every four or five days and the rest of the cage stays wee-free (unless you have a hamster that pees all over the place - and most pee in their wheel sometimes).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00178PJ3M/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1463995088&sr=1&keywords=hamster+potty

Check other sellers if you don't want it as an add-on item. It's been repackaged recently as "Tiny Friends" but it needs to be chinchilla sand and not dust.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supreme-Petfoods-Science-Bathing-Litre/dp/B0036768OG/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1463995116&sr=1-1&keywords=chinchilla+bathing+sand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jVnEjrXbww

[Thin Lizzy]

I was told to clean out the cage weekly when I got my first ham many years ago, but, doing s spot check stops the cage getting smelly and less stressful for the hamster.
Lovely pics.

[Pebbles82]

I was told to clean it daily by our pet shop :o I was horrified at the idea so I did a bit more research :) Best thing I ever did was get a litter tray. Charlie is a very clean little boy - I only do partial cleans now (ie not everything at the same time) about every 2 or 3 months and spot clean in between. I do the toys in between occasionally - if a wheel gets pee'd in or the top of the sputniks gather dust!

[Ceretrea]

Hi, Not sure if it's been mentioned but he is definitely a silver grey. Very beautiful lad and I love the name :D

[DrKMcK]

The name Dragon is great! I love it. His coloring is wonderful and he has the cutest face. :-)

[bulby]

Someone has a fancy new cage
https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t34.0-12/13296255_956116097839174_1661231225_n.jpg?oh=731c5 fb8d2a2ad29506eefeef77a44f2&oe=574718A1

[pinkneon]

Oooh he'd better not show my Sweep otherwise he'll be asking for that too! I hope he enjoys it

[bulby]

So far spending a lot of time on the wheel. Seeing it from this angle makes me think a bigger wheel will be needed soon! What would be a nice big wheel for her? (I think I'm gonna stick with she/her for her now as I can't see any *ahem* male parts) She's currently got an 8"

[pinkneon]

I have the 28cm Trixie wheel - or rather Sweep does lol. Only thing is it is noisy! I guess it depends on whether you want a silent wheel or not?

[bulby]

I can deal with noisy, I don't like my room being quiet it makes me feel uneasy haha.

Does Sweep enjoy it?

[pinkneon]

He seems to. Sometimes he stands outside it and turns it with his paws ... Cos obviously he is weird lol. But he does seem to like it. His favorite thing when it comes to his wheel is putting food inside it and then running .... Grrr!
You can only get them online as far as I am aware. You can get them from Zooplus, or Amazon. Amazon is quicker though. They come in 3 colors but you don't get to choose. The red and black is the nicest I think! We have the blue/green one!

[bulby]

Ah, this one used to do that with the small wheel i borrowed from my friend (only used it for like a day or two so hopefully her back will be fine in the long run) I was like "Oh my god, my hamster's a retard" which I still think is true but at least she knows how to use a wheel properly now!

[BluerayDarkes]

My syrian uses a 28" trixie wheel even though she's pretty small for a syrian

[CMB]

So much more space for toys etc. Hope she settles in quickly.

[bulby]

Unfortunately we lost Dragon during the night <3

[Thin Lizzy]

Bulby, So sorry to hear about Dragon.
Big Hugs xxx

[pinkneon]

Oh no. So sorry :(

[cypher]

I'm so sorry bulby *hugs*.

[bulby]

She was on antibiotics for pyometra but we just caught it too late.
Thanks everyone

[flowerfairy]

Really sorry for your loss.

Dragon was a beautiful hamster. Rip.