Popcorn

[caro317]

A little update on Popcorn's taming: I can now pick him up by holding a treat in the palm of one hand above his head and when he reaches up to get it I can scoop him up and he will sit in my hands and take the treat. I can then start hand walking with him and this is successful apart from when my hands are near the ground in which case he'll choose to jump off. So he's not delighted about it but I can actually sit on the sofa and hand walk with him for a while, although I'm still quite nervous that he'll jump off. Definitely not ready to let him just climb all over me on the sofa as I still can't really just pick him up and move him, he's still very squirmy. When I go to the cage sometimes he'll freeze but stay nearby and when I open it come over to see if there's a treat, but other times I'll say hello and he'll jump a mile and flash off into his tubes. Overall I think this is good progress although I've had him almost 2 months now. We're still getting to know each other but I think he's generally a lot happier than he was .

[caro317]

Here's a couple of photos from tonight's playtime, I invested in a playpen although when I put him in it he does spend most of the time running around like crazy, he seems actually happier when he's in my hands. Tonight for the first time I was able to scoop him up with both hands while he was eating a treat from the playpen

[caro317]

Hahaha I put that last photo on facebook last night and a guy I know who really isn't that much of a softy has said 'is his face seriously that cute or have you photoshopped this in some way to increase adorableness?' Awww <3

[caro317]

Last night I actually dreamt about this thread, that is so weird. Maybe I'm spending too much time on the forum haha

[caro317]

Tonight Popcorn was allowed his open-sided ball in his playpen, and spent most of the time running in it but we did have a good cuddle too. This is when it's time to get out of the ball, 'do I *have* to go home mummy??'

[hammy2]

I've never seen an open sided ball before where do you get them from? I'm also thinking about getting one of those play pens but unsure about escapeability, can the hamster climb the bars easily? Obviously I'd be watching Zoe but she's a right madam and always looks for the naughtiest thing to do every night, I'm sure of it lol. Your friend is right though Popcorn does have a cute face keep the taming sessions up your doing great!

[caro317]

Thanks! Yes I do always watch him closely in the playpen but they can't climb out as the bars are designed so there's nothing to grab onto. Only thing is they're not very tall so if you have a toy or anything they can climb onto near the bars that's when they can get out, even if the item is only a couple of inches high so I leave a good couple of inches gap between all the toys and the edges.

The open sided ball is brilliant, I got it at P@H, it's just a normal ball with closed sides but it comes with a frame and one open sided clip so you can clip it into the frame and use it like a free standing wheel. He loves it!