Hi!

[Jojo]

Hello Everyone, Im Jojo and happy to have found this forum!
I can count myself since a week to the proud group of hamster parents with my little boy called Cappuccino. He is still very shy and skittish and I have to be honest I´m a bit scared he will stay that way, but deep down I know I will just need a lot of patience and everything will work out well between us.
Sending love and some sunflower seeds to you all and see you around
Jojo with Cappu

 

[Member ID2]

Hello and a very warm welcome Jojo and Cappuccino!
What a gorgeous little boy!
Don't worry, it's very early days and hamsters need a couple of weeks just to settle in. There's a lot of information on here including tips on taming.
I'm very much looking forward to hear more. Love your avatar.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Hello Jojo. Welcome to the forum. Cappuccino is adorable! I love his dig box. It is lovely to have you both here.

 

[Coco61]

Welcome to the forum Jojo.
Cappuccino looks like a very handsome boy indeed. I am sure he will settle down in his new home with you.

 

[Jojo]

Thanks guys
I do feel very welcome here and its good to have contact to some people who know all that stuff about hammies!

 

[RainbowBrite]

Did you design your avatar? It is adorable.

 

[Jojo]

I didnt, but its a great idea, maybe I will design my own one at some point! But yea I really like it too

 

[RainbowBrite]

It would be lovely if you start a thread for Cappuccino in the Syrian thread. Lot of us have diaries for out hamsters. You can tell us all about him and share pictures and videos.

 

[Maz]

Hello and welcome That is such a gorgeous photo of an adorable hamster! He looks like he's still a baby! He will grow in confidence over the next few months.

 

[Jojo]

Yeah he is just about 6 weeks old! I adopted him from a woman who had a litter of surprise hamsters... I was planning on getting a hamster and did watch and read a lot about appropriate hamster care already, so I had a cage and much stuff ready at home. And when I read that promt about the baby hamsters I knew it was the right time to adopt one and here we are now
I hope he will grow in confident because as of now he would withdraw every day a little bit more since he arrived here about a week ago.
But as Rainbow said I will start a thread about that little fella and keep you guys updated and I will for sure have some questions too in the future about proper hamster care.

 

[Maz]

So glad you adopted one of the babies - he's lucky to have a good home As Beryl said it takes them two weeks to fully adjust to a new environment and to their cage. During that time he will be scent marking everything to familiarise it for him and will develop a bit of a routine and have built a nest somewhere. It can take them a couple of days to decide where to build a nest. The main thing in that first couple of weeks is to not disturb things in the cage or do cleanouts while they're settling in and scent marking. If the pee gets a bit whiffy after a week just take a handful of substrate out (they usually have a pee corner) and put another handful in (which is spot cleaning).

Yes it's time and patience! At this stage I just talk to them through the cage regularly so they get familiar with your scent, presence and voice. And you could also do the tissue trick. Which is putting some sheets of toilet paper up your sleeve and leaving them there for a bit, so they have your scent, then tear them into strips and add them to the cage. The hamster takes the strips of toilet paper for their nest so they become familiar with your scent that way and associate it with feeling cosy

Also maybe giving the odd treat through bars perhaps.

 

[RainbowBrite]

He is very lucky you found him. It is great you did research before you found him. I also did research before adopting my little munchkin. I am really looking forward to reading his thread.

 

[Jojo]

Good idea with the tissue trick I will definitely do that! Sadly I dont have bars, I tried to give him a little fruit treat the other day but since I only have acces from above it just scared him when I slowly put my hand into the cage so I decided to give him more time. Really not that easy for me but its something I can learn from him, being patient and trusting in the power of time!
The cleaning will be tricky because he decided to build his nest beneath a platform in deep substrate and I also think he pees somewhere there so Im scared that I will have to destroy some of his house, but I think I will also wait a few more days before taking on that challenge

 

[RainbowBrite]

I wouldnt think you would need to spot clean for a while yet. One week is still very early so do not worry.

 

[Maz]

I wouldn't worry just yet either - it's better to just let them settle. You'll smell it eventually! Sometimes they will actually chuck the smelly stuff out themselves - although babies take a while to get into good toiletting habits.

Yes it's tricky with top opening and they can get scared by a hand in the cage at first. Once he's had some settling in time, it can be easier to tame them out of the cage - just letting them walk into a tube you lower in and lifting the tube out (hands over each end). I put a smelly treat in the tube At the end away from them. They soon get used to knowing the transporter if they want to come out and hop into it.

 

[Member ID2]

They are all very different and a lot depends on their personality. In time you will get to know him. At the moment he's a scared baby who needs to get comfortable in his new world first.

It took my Syrian Rodney a good six weeks until he started to trust me and his confidence kept growing from there on.
It took a lot of patience and time on my part.

He grew into the most confident, funny and tame hamster i've ever met.

There were times when i thought he's never going to trust me but then it happens and often out of the blue. You'll see.

 

[Maz]

If he's hiding away a bit in his cosy nest under the shelf, one thing that can tempt them to explore the cage a bit and get used to it is to scatter a bit of their food mix around. I would still put the food in the bowl as usual - same amount. But scatter a tiny bit extra around. They then go foraging for it. Sometimes I just scatter a few pumpkin seeds - they love those!

 

[Jojo]

Thanks a lot for those tips and shared experiences! It´s helpful to hear and I can relax a little now after reading about experiences
I just started a thread about him aswell incase you are interested.

 

[Maz]

Off to look ...............

 

[Riven]

Cappu looks so cute. He's still quite new to everything so give him chance to get settled. You're doing fine and have had lots of great advice already.