I could use some help

**Hamtastic** · 04-06-2011, 02:07 PM

I recently adopted Lucy, a dwarfie, who spent a good portion of her life without a good home. She is about 5 months old and has been in a quiet home setting for a week now. Before that, she was at a bright loud store for a while and before then, who knows... I have given her lots of toys, good food, and paper to make nest.

I'm wondering how to approach her correctly so that she will be less intimidated and won't hide as much. Normally I come up to her cage and speak with her softly. She usually hides somewhere but I know she can hear me (I hear rustling sounds). Sometimes she comes out but doesn't play for long. I think she's still very timid and prefers the comfort of dark enclosures.

In the store, the person who took care of her was able to handle her with some degree of success. With me, she takes a seed from my hands, tries to nibble me (not hard) and moves away to hide. I'm wondering if the transition from bright and loud to quiet and darker is causing her to be more afraid too.

I decided it wasn't a good idea to pick her up and get her used to my hands until she starts being comfortable with me sitting next to her first.

Any suggestions for taming and comforting her with her history? (I really can't wait for more cage toys too, come on international mail!)

fluffymunchkins · 04-06-2011, 02:15 PM

I would certainly carry on with what your doing now until she starts to show sign of improvement.
It may be worth trying out how she reacts in different places outside the cage environment as sometimes they become a bit more curious and willing to interact in a place they are comfortable with. You can transport her into a playpen or the bathtub using an exercise ball or a box when she crawls in on her own accord.

I feel due to her not having socialisation when she was young, it will simply take time

samincittagazze · 04-06-2011, 02:23 PM

I'm a similar situation with my adoptee Max. He is still very nervous even whilst in his cage: he rarely comes out when I have the light on and he can here me sitting here. I have managed to handle him though: via getting him out in a ball then taking him to the bathtub, and more recently on the living room floor. He pancakes his way through any open space as it's a complete foreign concept to him, but he will run through my hands and tonight he even sat and chilled for a little while, letting me stroke him. So it's taking some time but there are little improvements.

I'm letting him have the full run of the floor even though it makes him nervous, because I figure it's the only way he'll learn. Obviously I wouldn't do it if he was absolutely terrified, but I put a few tubes down and he runs in and out of them, explores out a little way, and runs back, just building up his confidence.

I hope you get some luck with Lucy! It's so rewarding every time Max takes a step forward, I feel like it's one step closer to a happy, contented life for him.

**Hamtastic** · 04-06-2011, 08:50 PM

Ok, I brought her to the tub with nothing but a toilet paper roll and a dish of food. She was actually very responsive to handling. Not really jumping at the opportunity, but walking on my hands when I had them in front of her and she wanted to go in that direction. After 15 minutes I was able to pet her with my hand over her without her running away. I did give her an unshelled peanut to keep her busy if she wanted a treat. Overall I'm pretty happy

From my brief experience with Lucy and my 2 robos, I'd say when taming, don't give them too much space. Lucy pancaked in the large drawer I used for her as temporary home when I brought her home, but she's comfortable in her reasonably sized cage now. My robos were really uncomfortable in the bath tub, as it's pretty huge for them but liked a large bin fine. I'm guessing that they should feel reasonably close to you without too many toys to distract them or large spaces to make them feel like they have no safe cover.

Gizmodo ^_^ · 04-07-2011, 12:02 AM

Great that it went well

, and yeah i've noticed that a lot of dwarves are scared of large spaces

samincittagazze · 04-07-2011, 12:29 AM

*nods* Frohike and Max don't like a large open space, Langly is cautious but will enjoy it once she's assessed the danger, and Byers has no concept of danger from anything ever, I give her the full run of the room and it's still not enough for her!

**Hamtastic** · 04-08-2011, 09:06 PM

I was giving Lucy some sunflower seeds, and then she walked to her food bowl. I showed her her new wooden house (she was ignoring her old one and sleeping in a tunnel under her wheel, so I thought I'd point out the new addition) and she froze up, poor thing. For like 5 minutes. I guess I startled her by pointing haha. I rubbed her back softly and tried to soothe her and offered another sunflower seed right under her nose, but she just kept sitting completely still. Then eventually she darted to one of her tunnels.

Also, I'm sort of wondering if Lucy's eyes are really bad. She rarely looks directly at me and seems to look around a lot when she's in the cage. I'll have to test it more.

mangoandmimi · 04-09-2011, 02:19 AM

i agree with everyone elses taming advice
but hamsteres eyesight is not good; they smell things instead

so especially in the light they wont be able to see much

**Hamtastic** · 04-09-2011, 11:03 AM

My robos stare right at me, very directly when I talk to them. Lucy's strangely not looking at me as much but rather looking around when I call her. She'll move her head left and right and do a lot of sniffing until she gets to the cage bars. That's what made me wonder if her eyes are really bad.

**Hamtastic** · 04-10-2011, 05:43 PM

It's been 10 days since Lucy came home with me, and she's taken to living almost entirely in the tunnels she's made in her bedding. She avoids going to a wooden house I've stuffed with toilet paper for her and instead has a nest under the bedding with an entrance under her wheel. She comes out a few times a day very very briefly--maybe a couple of minutes, and then goes back in. She might be out at night for some time, but not long. I've been going to sleep very late, and she's mostly not out when I check. I don't have any bright lights around her or loud sounds.

I sure hope she gets used to her cage soon, because she's got toys in the mail to make it more fun! (hopefully) We keep joking that I accidentally got a mole instead of a hamster.