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02-03-2019, 01:08 PM
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#1
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Newborn Pup
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 1
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First time hamster questions!
Hi ☺️ We’ve had our lil Syrian for 2 weeks now and we seem to be making good progress but there’s one or two things I’m a little unsure of...
The first thing is he is nibbling in the plastic of his cage but only on the bits where plastic is sticking up to guide the wire into place. He hasn’t nibbled into the main part of the plastic yet so no holes in the cage but I would like to know if there’s anything I can do to stop it getting to that stage? He has several different chew toys and a big wheel to run on... I think he seems quite happy and does play with the other toys. He does climb the bars and do monkey bars across the top but we think this is just him having fun?
The other question I had is I’m not sure how to go about taming any more. He did take treats off our hands but in the process we have had a few finger bites and I think it’s genuinely just because he thought our fingers were food as he didn’t seem scared. He was quite inquisitive and didn’t screach like he did on his way home from the pet shop. We decided to stop giving treats on our hands because we weren’t sure he could see exactly where the treat was. He is more than happy to let me stroke him in his cage and will climb on my hand with a sock over it and let me move him around the cage but does have a tiny bite of the sock first! Any advice on what to do next? We always wash hands with unscented soap first. I don’t know how long it normally takes and I think we have make progress but not sure if we will be able to stop the biting? Is it just a question of taking it slower or should we keep trying as he doesn’t seem scared?
Thank you in advance ☺️🐹🥰
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02-03-2019, 11:13 PM
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#2
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Dwarf whisperer
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Wales UK
Posts: 24,789
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Re: First time hamster questions!
I'm not quite sure which bits on the cage you mean he's chewing but if there are little bits of plastic he can get too then he's probably just chewing them because he can! Lots of enrichment to keep him busy will usually help with most chewing issues, try giving him a whimzee dog chew (most hams love them) & scatter feed rather than using a bowl.
If you can post a photo of the cage & where he chews that would help.
A little bit of nibbling is quite normal to begin with, if you just persevere with hand feeding they soon get the hang of what's food & what's not, the nibble things to explore & that can include hands at first, they do usually get over it quickly enough though & putting a sock over your hand won't help him get used to your hand & scent which he needs to do.
Have you got a playpen (escapeproof!),or a large enough safe play area where you can interact with him out of the cage? Some people use the bath with a towel in the bottom & some toys to explore in there.
Start getting him out for a short session each evening, he may be a little nervous at first but as he gets more confident you can keep him out for longer, sit in with him & he'll probably want to climb on you & just run around giving you the chance to interact & get him more used to handling, go at his pace, don't try to rush things & he should be fine.
__________________
Slave to Zak.
Always loved, never forgotten, forever in my heart
T'ycor, Ziggy, Zephyr, Flynt, Mickle, Little Whisp, Zen, Zeki, Tinwë, Zylvan, Míriel, Calyanwë, Gusto & Meri ❤️
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cage, stop, plastic, hands, toys, happy, question, scared, didn’t, sock, bars, treats, climb, there’s, progress, i’m, weren’t, treat, stroke, hamster, questions, giving, shop, lil, we’ve |
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