Rescue Project

flogging_molly · 07-16-2006, 08:38 AM

There's a pet shop where I take any excess hammies from my litters that if I haven't homed privately myself they get babies and in return I get hamster food

When I was in there today there was a little Campbell's male - well I say little he's quite big now because he's been there for a while and is very nippy so the staff haven't been able to hold him.

So I spoke to the manager and told him that I'll take him at the end of the month when I'm dropping off babies to him.

He's a gorgeous satin coated Normal or Argente, I'm not sure which. My tactic is going be to use gardening gloves for a few weeks to get him used to being handled again.

SnuggleHam · 07-16-2006, 08:52 AM

That's nice of you to take him flogging_molly. Is it difficult to gain a dwarf hamster trust and get them use to being handled once they are adult?

flogging_molly · 07-16-2006, 01:20 PM

well I'd say I'm not as experienced with Campbells dwarfs as I am with Winter Whites. Campbells can be quite nippy especially if they are not used to being handled, they can also be very territorial so I will have to start over with him.

red_hot_chili_peppers · 07-16-2006, 04:50 PM

yeah, I'm not one for Campbells really. I have them, but find they are generally not very nice. I have a few Black Eyed Whites that you can hold okay though..

**babyboos** · 07-16-2006, 07:21 PM

I am sure you will do great Debs you shouldn't downplay your experience with Campbells. Good for you helping this wee guy hopefully learn to enjoy a relationship with humans again.

flogging_molly · 07-17-2006, 04:14 AM

Yeah I hope I can tame him, if not he'll have a home with me forever instead of him being stuck in the pet shop not being homed because of his nippyness.

racinghamster · 07-17-2006, 04:50 AM

That's my attitude as well. If I have a rodent, whether it be a mouse, a gerbil, or a hamster that doesn't particularly enjoy being handled, I respect that and do what I can to make him/her comfortable, without actually handling the animal. Persuasion to hop into a tube or a hand-held box is used to transfer the animal from it's cage to play-pen with a little sweet talk in-between! Doing things on the animal's terms and not mine!

**babyboos** · 07-18-2006, 07:41 AM

Very, very true words indeed
Most hamsters can be tamed with patience an kindness. The ones who have been most resilient to my partner and my attentions have tended to have some health issue. But in general even the tamest of hamsters should only ever be handled on its own terms.
If a hamster doesn't become trained to come to the door to get out I feel I have done something wrong, especially with the Syrians. A hamster should learn to enjoy his/her time out of the enclosure and welcome it. If you need to chase your hamster around the cage to get them out then you need to work some more on your technique. Of course this doesn't usually apply to Roborovski who I think would happily never be touched by human hand if they could get away with it

though thankfully have never nipped me in all my years of caring for them.

racinghamster · 07-18-2006, 08:59 AM

I've read so much about Roborovski hamsters and I would love to have a few one day! I already have two glass aquariums that my lovely gerbils reside in, but when I'm eventually down to two gerbils and have a spare tank going, it would be lovely to give a few Robos a home! I could then use my larger tank for gerbils and my 24" inch long tank for a couple of Robos.

They sound like a lot of fun and the fact that they are more watchful than being handled suits me fine.

**babyboos** · 07-20-2006, 09:22 AM

Yeah they are great to watch I have 3 darling little rescues just now who are so super speedy and really the smallest Roborovski I have ever seen. Almost half the size of my usual adults.