Hello I'm Liz

[Lizchewy]

Hello I'm Liz. I'm helping my 9 year old son with his rescue hamster Chewbacca (Chewy). He was 12 weeks old when we got him. He is now 16 weeks old. He is sandy coloured all over. My son calls him a tennis ball with a face. A few times I've looked for him in his home (savic plaza) and not noticed him camouflaged in his sand bath! He didnt have a good start we were told but we are managing to feed him from flat hands now and he runs to see us to come out for playtime. He hides when he hears my partner's voice (previous owner a man ) but comes out for me and my son and daughter. I'll send a pic when I get a good one!

[cypher]

Hi Liz, welcome to HC
Chewbacca sounds adorable & it’s lovely to hear that he’s found a great forever home now with you & your family.
Look forward to seeing pics.

[Savannagh]

That's so good that Chewy runs over for playtime. Hopefully he'll get used to your partner, given time.

[Petite]

Welcome to Hamster Central. Hope you find us friendly and helpful. It's lovely to hear you've got a rescue hamster. How did he come by his name?

[Lizchewy]

Hello. My son is a big Star Wars fan so was going through the names from there until he settled on Chewbacca and then shortened it to Chewy. He is a lovely hamster. Not tame enough to stroke yet but if I call him in the evening he will come out of his house and jump straight into his travel box which we use to carry him to the playpen so I think that's a good sign. He also doesnt seem to mind me having my hands in the cage and he will eat off our hands but still jumpy if we touch him so holding off on that for a bit and just feeding him and chatting to him whilst he plays.

[Ria P]

Hello and welcome to HC!

What species of hamster is Chewbacca? Love the name.

I also just talked to my rescue ham at first and then gently stroked his back while he was busy eating to slowly introduce him to touch.

Its great that he runs to you and eats from your hand which shows that he is learning to trust you.

Your partner could try the tissue trick by putting tissue up his sleeve for a few hours then tear it up and leave it in Chewy's cage so he gets familiar with his smell.

Looking forward to see and hear more from Chewbacca.

[Lizchewy]

Hi Ria. Chewy is a Syrian hamster. Thank you for the tissue tip. We will try that. I actually used some tissue with my scent on it to try and help a problem that happened last night but I will post that problem in the housing section as it will be more relevant there. Thanks again.

[Pebbles82]

Hello and welcome. I just posted on your other thread Tennis ball with a face ha ha. We nearly had a Chewy once (Chewbacca) but stepson settled on Newt (Fantastic Beasts) which became Newtus Hamsterus (he was doing the Romans at school).

[Lizchewy]

Ha ha I love the name Newtus Hamsterus! Chewbacca was first called Kevin by my son but after a couple of days he said "he just doesn't look like a Kevin" so he changed it to Chewbacca. To be honest, being sand coloured, he doesn't even look like a Chewbacca but my son is happy. He won't come out tonight to play but he has been sniffing his new house a lot so I hope he will move in tonight as it will be the second night it's been in there. Fingers crossed!

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by Lizchewy

Ha ha I love the name Newtus Hamsterus! Chewbacca was first called Kevin by my son but after a couple of days he said "he just doesn't look like a Kevin" so he changed it to Chewbacca. To be honest, being sand coloured, he doesn't even look like a Chewbacca but my son is happy. He won't come out tonight to play but he has been sniffing his new house a lot so I hope he will move in tonight as it will be the second night it's been in there. Fingers crossed!

I'd put a big heap of torn into strips plain white toilet paper next to his house to encourage him to build a nest in it.