Taming Lil diary

[CMB]

Hope the playpen build goes well and Lil enjoys it when it's finished.

You could try two panels high if needed. I'm not sure how stable it would be though.

[BethandLil]

Taming update -

So Lil runs to the doors of the cage any time I'm near. When I open the doors, I let her climb onto my hands and she happily scuttles between both of them.
I vary between flat hands and cupping my hands into a tube for her to crawl through.

She is still ever so energetic, which is only a problem when she nearly leaps off of my hands! She doesn't wait for my hand to appear to keep moving forward. She's fearless!!

Also, if I let her crawl on my lap, she often won't crawl back onto my hands and gets a bit skittish.

I can preempt your advice that I could let her crawl on me/the floor freely, within the confines of a play pen big enough for the both of us, for her to get used to her surroundings. Unfortunately I'm yet to replace the storage units to create the playpen.

Is this how you all moved passed this stage?
Does your hammy hang out with you without making a mad dash for freedom?

Any additional advice would be much appreciated

[AprilPearl]

Sounds like Lil is doing brilliantly could you maybe sit with her in the bath until you can get your playpen finished? Or, is there a room in your house that you could hamster proof so that it is safe to let her run around freely while you sit on the floor?

As for your other question, Quigley will usually sit by me in the playpen and let me stroke him now rather than running all over the place and he often sits still in my hands anyway because he’s not really so zippy anymore.

[Treacle_08]

Originally Posted by BethandLil

Taming update -

So Lil runs to the doors of the cage any time I'm near. When I open the doors, I let her climb onto my hands and she happily scuttles between both of them.
I vary between flat hands and cupping my hands into a tube for her to crawl through.

She is still ever so energetic, which is only a problem when she nearly leaps off of my hands! She doesn't wait for my hand to appear to keep moving forward. She's fearless!!

Also, if I let her crawl on my lap, she often won't crawl back onto my hands and gets a bit skittish.

I can preempt your advice that I could let her crawl on me/the floor freely, within the confines of a play pen big enough for the both of us, for her to get used to her surroundings. Unfortunately I'm yet to replace the storage units to create the playpen.

Is this how you all moved passed this stage?
Does your hammy hang out with you without making a mad dash for freedom?

Any additional advice would be much appreciated

Sounds like Lil is around the same stage that my Amber is at. I get greeted at the cage and she wants out but once she is out, she is very speedy and eventually becomes a bit too 'hyper'. It is like she is in sensory overload, it is just all too exciting and scary at the same time!
I have a tank style cage and I use it a bit like time out. If Amber gets to hyper for me to keep up with or she starts to look for mischief, she gets put back in for 5 minutes to calm down or run it off in her wheel. Then we start it all again. I've gone from having her on my lap for 30 seconds to the length of a TV advert break in the past two nights.

Sorry, I don't have any great tips to help you and Lil but if I have any breakthrough's with Amber, I'll post. I think it is just time and perseverance but I'm an impatient *cough*.

Good luck!

[BethandLil]

AprilPearl- yes, I'll try the bath tub. Unfortunately all of my house isnt easily ham proofable. I really must get on with the playpen
I'm glad Quigley has mellowed. I'm sure it's due to your patient approach.

Treacle- glad to hear I'm not the only one struggling with a hyper ham
I also put her back when she gets too much.
Good luck with Amber too

[BethandLil]

Just constructed a playpen with the correct storage units and i'm chuffed with the open space it provides.
In the room it's currently in it's approx 3ft wide and 12ft long!!
Can't wait for Lil to wake up so I can finally let her roam

[AprilPearl]

Sounds fab. I am sure Lil will love it. Hope to see some pics

[BethandLil]

Taming update -
The big playpen worked wonders!! She spent the first 20 minutes or so running round the edges of every panel joint and sniffing furiously through the small gap. She also tried to dig into the carpet in the corners and made some attempts to lift the panels but couldn't manage it.

After that, she finally started showing some interest in eating her fresh food, running in her wheel, burrowing under towels and crawling on me

She's got much more used to me picking her up from above. Having such a big open space gave me an idea of how I would approach her if she escaped into an open space, so I feel a lot more confident about that.

Also, she was a lot more receptive to strokes that ran from her head down her back. Before now, she's only liked me to pet her back but looks uncomfortable if I touch her head.

All in all, I think we're nearly at 100% tame

[AprilPearl]

Think you're being a perfectionist she sounds 100% tame already to me!

[BethandLil]

Originally Posted by AprilPearl

Think you're being a perfectionist she sounds 100% tame already to me!

Haha thanks AP

You might be right. She can still be a occasionally skittish around me but perhaps that is to be expected/not tamable