Lilo making strange noises

Dave1995 · 02-25-2015, 07:52 PM

Hello all.

Lilo is a hammy that me and my partner saved from a pet store. She was in a extreamly small cage without any toys or wheel. Just a food bowl, water and some bedding on the floor. She was very fat and is extreamly shy.
We have done our best to try and help Lilo with her shyness however it hasn't worked very well, she's very hard to handle as she reverses out of your hand when holding her. She will try and back off while touching her too.
We have noticed too, when giving her food she will pull it out of your hand extreamly fast and puts it in her bed.
She spends hardly anytime out of her house that we have noticed.
She has a Detolf cage full of lovely toys, sand bath and a lovely wheel that she hardly uses.

She has always made a noise that I am very worried about because none of my other 3 hamsters do this. I have attached a video link to this page Video here!

Does anyone have any advice to this sound or know what it means? Also does anyone have any tips to making Lilo less shy, she means the world to me and my girlfriend.

Thanks for reading, have a lovely day!

- Dave

cypher · 02-26-2015, 12:14 AM

As far as I can tell it just sounds like chattering which is a noise a lot of hams will make especially when nervous or disturbed by something, they can also do it if they get a bit excited so my guess is she's still just nervous.

If she's has a bad history & doesn't like to be handled I'd take a step back & give her as long as it takes to get more settled, just talking to her very quietly a lot, putting tissues with your scent on into the cage, gradually introducing your hand when you think she's ready but always wait for her to come to you rather than forcing your hand on her.
She's probably going to take a lot of time & patience but I'm sure she will come round.

velma · 02-26-2015, 12:52 AM

If she was in a tiny cage for a while & now has all that lovely space I the detolf, do you think she's a bit weirded out by it? I know a few people recommended to me that a smaller cage can help with the taming process. Would it help to half the detolf 'til she's settled,do you think?
But mainly, like Cypher said, let Lilo set the pace. good luck!

Piebald · 02-26-2015, 12:52 AM

Aww poor thing. Glad she has a good home with you. How long have you had her?

Thin Lizzy · 02-26-2015, 01:59 AM

I had to listen to her a couple of times and it sounds like chattering, twinkle made this noise a lot when she was a baby and playing on her saucer.

Dave1995 · 02-26-2015, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by velma

If she was in a tiny cage for a while & now has all that lovely space I the detolf, do you think she's a bit weirded out by it? I know a few people recommended to me that a smaller cage can help with the taming process. Would it help to half the detolf 'til she's settled,do you think?
But mainly, like Cypher said, let Lilo set the pace. good luck!

We've had her for about 4 months now. not much progress.
She was first in a bin cage, then half a detolf and now full detolf. She's more settled in a whole detolf because she kept trying to escape when she was in anything smaller.

Dave1995 · 02-26-2015, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piebald

Aww poor thing. Glad she has a good home with you. How long have you had her?

Thank you

and about 4 months

velma · 02-26-2015, 03:39 PM

Ah, right oh. For some reason thought she was newer than that. Oh well, I like to approach very angle! Cleo was quite a nervy ham when I first got her. She was young though & hadn't been through a bad start like Lilo. She didn't want to take treats from my hand to start with. One of the things that seemed to work for me & helped get her a but more trusting was getting a strip of something like pepper or apple & holding one end so she had to sit & eat bits of the end. She couldn't take it & run. But, as between me & her was that strip of vegetable, she seemed a bit braver. Of course when they ar bigger you have to grip quite firmly so they don't grab the whole thing & leg it!

Thin Lizzy · 02-26-2015, 06:07 PM

In time Lilo will slowly trust you, it may take a while but I can tell how much you and your girlfriend adore her and want to help her. Talk to her and praise her whenever she comes out or near you.

Piebald · 02-27-2015, 11:27 AM

Ah well she's had a lot of changes in those 4 months so it's understandable she needs some time to settle and gain confidence that everything won't change again.
I didn't know anything about the noise she was making so I wanted to see what the others thought but my first reaction was it wasn't an unhappy noise. If she had been in a confrontational situation making that noise I would think it was nervous or an attempt at a threat (lol) but chattering away to herself in her house seemed to me almost like purring. However, I have to defer to those with greater experience. She knows how much you love her so just relax.