Rosie & Bloom

[Amethyst_ice]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

I'm definitely glad that these two seem so easy to convince into trying new things so far. It also seemed to help give Bloom some extra confidence & trust with me holding the bowl most of the time - she's getting much better in general but loud noises and sudden movements can still make her be jumpy or run away a bit but she easily comes back a lot of the time!

You really will progress much quicker with outside cage taming than trying to do door of cage trust etc.

Talking of smells.. gave mine sardines in ketchup with spring greens last night... I have many scented candles on today

[AmityvilleHams]

Originally Posted by Amethyst_ice

You really will progress much quicker with outside cage taming than trying to do door of cage trust etc.

I've definitely noticed that. They seem so much more squirmy most other ways but if they're on my lap or near my chest being held much closer they seem to calm down a lot, I guess it might be more secure feeling compared to being handled other ways.

[Amethyst_ice]

Like hamsters, they can be different in the cage.

Pelias my siamese. currently runs away from my hand in the cage but in free range he is all over me. That's why I suggested leaving the cage taming and work on getting them out in the hoody and snuggie pouch.

having a bog cage with levels and hiding places wont help either so you have to sort of forget your hamster taming techniques and reverse them lol

[AmityvilleHams]

My two are getting much better with being pet and especially having their heads touched, but I definitely have to be careful not to startle Rosie too badly still.

They definitely require a much different approach than hamsters for a lot of things. I find some differences to be very nice though - for example how much more genuinely friendly they seem to be along with at least in my experience the lack of plastic chewing.

[Engel]

Hey Amity how's Rosie and Bloom doing?

[AmityvilleHams]

There hasn't really been too much to update on, but things are going fairly well.

I'm still working on getting them better with handling and while they're not perfect I've made a lot of progress - mostly Bloom still being squirmy but not so much when held very close to me, and she still can be a bit skittish about getting picked up.

They've also been getting a lot better at coming to me outside of the cage. I've also had moments with handling where a rat will settle down for a short period of time for what can only be described as the rat equivalent of cuddling, and that has been very reassuring. Of course, sometimes I do get a bit of clothing licked(mostly by Bloom).

I don't think I mentioned anything about them getting their grape vine branch but they really enjoy that even with it just being on the bottom of the cage. At first they went a bit crazy chewing it but they've settled down on that, but it also makes a really good place for scattering bits of food. I might get another in the future and set it up more like a perch on the cage bars.

I don't think there's anything else to update on for the rats, but I should definitely try to post more once there's anything new.

[Engel]

Hey Amity hows Rosie and Bloom? Taming going ok?

[AmityvilleHams]

Taming is going fairly good - they've started getting used to others in the household now which is definitely something I'm happy about. There hasn't really been any major change or anything worth updating on though.

[Engel]

Hey Amity how'd Rosie and Bloom getting on?

[AmityvilleHams]

They're doing really well, I don't have much in terms of updates unfortunately. They've become fairly good with interacting with people other than me within the household though over time, and I definitely can't complain about that.