Hi - where to buy a hamster in London? - Page 2

Elliiy · 03-05-2016, 09:13 PM

well congrats. im sure otis will come out soon i cant wait to hear more along with see photos of the little guy

Pebbles82 · 03-06-2016, 03:05 AM

How is the little guy doing? Take it slowly the first week. It's important not to do any cage cleaning for the first two weeks while your hammy is working out a route and scent marking around the cage. If it gets really stinky you could spot clean by taking out the odd handful of substrate and replacing it with another handful and mixing it in. Also adding a potty litter tray (if you don't have one) will help with keeping the cage clean. Hamsters tend to use them if you put them in the area or corner they have chosen as a wee area. There's usually one particular spot. I have this one

Hamster Potty corner Litter Tray for Mice Hamster Gerbil Cage House. Size: 16 Ã— 7 Ã— 12/12 cm: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies

You can put Chinchilla Bathing sand in it

Amazon.co.uk: Buying Choices: Supreme Petfoods Science Bathing Sand 1.5 Litre

After a week you could try some bathtub taming. It's an area they can run around safely while you gradually get used to handling them. I used to get our hamster out in a tube, with the other end in his ball, and then carefully carry the ball up to the bathtub, put it in gently and take the lid off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjyEme2xcq4

Pebbles82 · 03-06-2016, 03:06 AM

How is the little guy doing? Take it slowly the first week. It's important not to do any cage cleaning for the first two weeks while your hammy is working out a route and scent marking around the cage. If it gets really stinky you could spot clean by taking out the odd handful of substrate and replacing it with another handful and mixing it in. Also adding a potty litter tray (if you don't have one) will help with keeping the cage clean. Hamsters tend to use them if you put them in the area or corner they have chosen as a wee area. There's usually one particular spot. I have this one

Hamster Potty corner Litter Tray for Mice Hamster Gerbil Cage House. Size: 16 Ã— 7 Ã— 12/12 cm: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies

You can put Chinchilla Bathing sand in it

Amazon.co.uk: Buying Choices: Supreme Petfoods Science Bathing Sand 1.5 Litre

After a week you could try some bathtub taming. It's an area they can run around safely while you gradually get used to handling them. I used to get our hamster out in a tube, with the other end in his ball, and then carefully carry the ball up to the bathtub, put it in gently and take the lid off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjyEme2xcq4

I've also added Erin's Hamsters cage cleaning tips video. It is really helpful for cage cleaning without stressing out your hamster

For when the time comes. The main thing with this is having enough substrate. You need at least 3 or 4 " depth of substrate for a hamster anyway, but ideally 6" or more (ie fill the base). This worked really well with our nervy hamster, who doesn't mind cage cleans now (other than a huff for a couple of days). Because he uses his potty I only really need to do big cleans about every 3 months now, with spot cleaning a bit in between and even then I only do 'partial' cleans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jVnEjrXbww

Sophs · 03-07-2016, 07:40 AM

Hi everyone!

Serendipity - thanks so much for such detailed information! I have watched Erins video about cleaning already so I will use her and your advice! On the potty training, he does already have a sand bath which he used a little bit as a potty in one corner. I have transferred the soiled sand into a potty we have and put it in another corner of the cage. The problem is I think he must be using a corner in his house for the toilet because there is very little poo or wee to be found anywhere else. I don't want to lift up his house and disturb his nest or anything. So we will just have to wait and see if he starts using the potty in the corner I have placed it. The cage doesn't smell at all yet though so that's good.

I have a question about protein and babies. I have been leaving a meal worm in his bowl every couple of days, not sure if he likes it yet as one dissapeared and the other hasn't. Is it OK to start feeding a 1cm piece of chicken - if so, how often? I looked into dog bones, but I have no idea which ones are safe and which aren't? I have been giving a 1cm size piece of veg everyday (carrot or celery). Also is it necessary to give a mineral lick like you sometimes see?

OK so about taming. As I said, Otis was really alert and up and about exploring his cage in the late evening the first two nights we had him. But since then he only seems to want to come out if we turn all the lights out and stay really quiet. Last night we did this and when he came out we talked to him softly and managed to feed him some seeds through the cage bars. But I am not sure how to make him feel safe enough to come out when we are obviously around (lights on and chatting). I am worried because I accidentally woke him up when he was sleeping a few days ago when I had to move something in his cage, I am concerned I really frightened him. We really want him to feel happy and not afraid. We have done the tissue trick. I think tonight we will try again with the lights off and see how we go. Don't think we are ready for bathtub taming yet!

Thanks so much for all your help!

Pebbles82 · 03-07-2016, 07:44 AM

Aw - he's just finding his feet - I'm sure he'll be a bit more confident soon. You're doing all the right things. Yes plain chicken is fine - he might even take it from your hand if he can't resist it! I wouldn't give dog bones. There are some chews that are ok for hamsters which are called Antos (the mini ones) - if you type antos into the viovet search box and scroll down you'll find the mini toothbrush chews.

Sophs · 03-07-2016, 08:39 AM

We think so! I think he just needs a bit of time. I'll keep you updated!

CMB · 03-07-2016, 01:35 PM

The potty should go in the corner the hamster chooses, you put the potty in a different corner so the hamster didn't use it.

They can take awhile to use the potty, when young the sometimes go in different places to start then get better as they get older.

Pebbles82 · 03-07-2016, 04:00 PM

As CMB says, it's best to put the potty in the corner they choose - but if your hammy is using his sand bath as a potty that's fine too! If he has chosen a spot in the house as a wee corner that can be a bit more tricky. Our hamster did this when I got him a bigger house. He stopped using his normal wee corner and made a new one in the corner of the house at the opposite end to his nest. Luckily the house was big enough to put the potty inside. It just shows that if they have the chance they like going to the loo in private lol and having a toilet near the bed! Then he didn't have enough space for hoards and his hoards started spilling over into the potty, so I got him an even bigger house. He now has a large house/nesting box, with his potty in one corner and plenty of space for a big nest and hoards. He seems happy with it like that. It means the house needs plastikoting inside but he's so tidy he never sprays over the edge of the potty lol. And he puts substrate on top of it if he thinks it's getting whiffy.

Just see how things go, while your hammy works out a little routine. It's not a good idea to change anything too much for the first couple of weeks (or even longer), but if the house gets soiled you might need to. He's probably just using the sand bath as a potty - sand soaks it up well and there often doesn't seem to be much of a wet patch.

Sometimes as well, if they've wee'd in their house, they will dig out the smelly stuff and chuck it out of the house door, and take some new substrate in there. So if you find a smelly mound of substrate in front of the house door, that's probably what's happened

Enjoy your learning curve with your little hammy and look forward to the next update.

Sophs · 03-13-2016, 04:28 AM

Hi guys!

Just a quick update. Otis is doing really well! He is still nervous as expected, but he generally doesn't hesitate to take food from us now and has let us stroke him. We have laid our hands flat in the cage with food on them a few times and he has walked over them... but we need to practice this more until he is happy to eat food sitting in our palm.

He still wakes up very late and only with low lighting, but we are hoping he will start coming out a bit earlier once he grows to trust us a bit more. Once he is more confident with eating off our palms we hope to start bathtub bonding.

The toilet thing... he seems quite happy to be using a corner in his house, he must bury it under the huge pile of substrate because there is no sign of urine inside his house and there is no smell really.

He has grown so much and so quickly it's quite amazing really!

This is an old photo of when he was much smaller, I will try and upload a current one soon.

flowerfairy · 03-13-2016, 06:34 AM

Awww what a gorgeous boy. So glad he is settling in well and letting you stroke him. You sound really caring.