Jas, the hamster formally known as Jasper

[Hank]

Hi everyone, I thought I would start this thread for Jas, just to keep everyone updated. For those who haven't seen my other thread, I got Jas(per) in January, and I wish I had joined the forum before I got her. I was told I had a male syrian, and that the Savic Metro was suitable. Turns out, she is a very demanding female and thanks to great advice from this forum, she is now in a Plaza.
We had a lot of issues with chewing bars, but since Friday (which I know isn't long) this seems to have slowed, dramatically. She usually wakes up about 6:30pm and wants playtime, and she stays awake until we go to bed (and after), sometimes there is a quick power nap in the evening, but she seems very sociable. I'm actually getting her out again around 9:30 for a little bit.
She isn't tame, but is used to us, so will happily let us stroke her and if she needs help, she doesn't mind us if we need to intervene. I know she is much more confident, and I think she is calmer, but she has so much energy.
I hope the link works, the photo is a little older now, but wanted to test it first.

 

[elusive]

Great to see Jas has her own thread now, really looking forward to hearing more & seeing more of her.
That’s a really nice photo of her, she’s a lovely ham.
You can upload photos directly here if you want to.
She sounds quite tame to me really & it’s lovely to hear how much happier she is in her new cage.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Oh she is beautiful! It is so lovely to see her. What lovely markings she has.

You say she is not tame yet but for you to be able to stroke her and intervene if she needs help is wonderful. It is so nice she wakes up in the early evening so you can see lots of her.

 

[Hank]

Jas really is so sweet, she just has a lot of energy. I think she prefers the new cage, as I she hides under the shelf behind a hide, but as soon as you go near the cage, she wants out, which is now just running to the door, not always chewing it. We managed to get a large running disc for her playpen, for some variety, she was trying to run at max, before she had really mastered it. She's changed from a quiet, timid little hamster to a confident, no fear hamster!

 

[RainbowBrite]

This is so lovely to hear! She sounds so happy. You have done wonders with changing things for her.

 

[Maz]

She is absolutely gorgeous! So glad she's enjoying the Plaza cage.

Some info here about pasting photos in the message box There are various methods of resizing the file size of the photo before uploading. Max file size is 2mb. I use paint on Windows which is quick and easy. Approx 600 pixels wide.

Once the photo is "attached" on the forum page, you can click on it in edit mode and drag it bigger and smaller.

How to add links and media to forum posts

If you wish to add a web link in your post, just paste it into the body of the message and it will "unfurl" to show the details of the link, after posting. To attach photos or other documents, you just click "attach files" - the tab at the bottom of the message, select your file or photo on...

www.thehamsterforum.com

 

[Hamster Haven]

So exciting to hear about her progress. She's beautiful!

 

[Hank]

This is so lovely to hear! She sounds so happy. You have done wonders with changing things for her.

Thank you. I'm really trying, but I think it's actually all of you on this forum that deserve the credit!

 

[Member ID2]

You made it all happen though. Jas is a gorgeous, lovely looking girl.

What's your definition or expectation of a tame hamster then?

I only ever had one hamster i didn't consider tame. He bit me any chance he got!

 

[Hank]

I was probably thinking that a tame hamster would be one that happily gets picked up and will sit on you, without trying to escape, but that's because of the hamsters, I've looked after before. If she is comfortable with us, that's fine by me. It's probably different for all hamsters, depending on their personality, Jas doesn't want to sit still, there's too much to explore!

 

[elusive]

I’ve found that kind of tame comes with age, older hams are often happy to just sit on you & be stroked or handled, young hams generally have way too much energy for that kind of thing.

 

[Member ID2]

I've heard of hamsters who will sit and hang out with their humans but have never met one.
Jas sounds like a typical, young, lively and healthy Syrian girl who just wants to explore. It's great that she lets you stroke her and she sounds a friendly and confident hamster.

 

[Maz]

They vary hugely. My first lazy boy used to happily sit for stroke or doze off on me. Some will sit for a stroke for a minute or two and then want to be off doing something. I think of tame as when you can actually handle them and they are used to hands and don’t ping or frantically wriggle free. But there are degrees of how tame they can be.

A lot of that depends on how much bond and interaction the hamster develops with the owner I think. Some older Childrens pets can surprisingly be very tame as they get so much attention.

So is Jas short for Jasmine now?!! Or just Miss Jasper!

 

[Hank]

Oh, I didn't even think of Miss Jasper, that is good. We just shortened it really. To be honest there's a lot of beautiful girl and gorgeous girl, she probably thinks her name is beautiful

 

[Frida]

Lovely photo of Jas. Great to hear how well she's doing

 

[Maz]

Oh, I didn't even think of Miss Jasper, that is good. We just shortened it really. To be honest there's a lot of beautiful girl and gorgeous girl, she probably thinks her name is beautiful

Yes that happens here too. Nugget used to get called Nuggety wuggety. Newt used to get called Newtie Pootie. Pip gets called toodle pip . Raffy - well there is no other word to describe him lol. He sometimes gets called little boy.

 

[Hank]

I've decided to get Jas a bigger play pen, it's the one RainbowBrite had suggested. As it has a plastic floor, what can I put on the floor? I'm thinking about the speed she gets up to on the disc and while there hasn't been a fall yet, there could be and I think the plastic could be a little hard or am I overthinking it?
I've also got sprays for tomorrow, they are coming out of the freezer today, is there anything I should watch out for, as it's her first time if having them? I'll try to get some photos when I give her them, she's not the easiest to get a photo of, unless you like a bit of her back, or what I usually get is an empty sand bath or wheel

 

[RainbowBrite]

I would pop a blanket down. Something like the cheap fleece blankets you can get. You will supervise Jas so you will see if she chews it.

How exciting you bought some sprays. Pop them in the freezer for a week just to ensure there are no bugs. Apart from that you do not have to do anything.

 

[Hank]

I would pop a blanket down. Something like the cheap fleece blankets you can get. You will supervise Jas so you will see if she chews it.

How exciting you bought some sprays. Pop them in the freezer for a week just to ensure there are no bugs. Apart from that you do not have to do anything.

They went into the freezer a week ago, so I'll get them out today and hopefully, they will be okay for tomorrow

 

[Maz]

I'm not sure what people put on a plastic playpen floor - I know some people put cardboard on the floor inside playpens (just to protect the carpet!). I don't think you're overthinking that at all - it could be a bit slippery. A fleece blanket like Rainbow suggested could be good as well, but wondering if that might also slip around on the plastic. Cardboard might be good and/or a blanket!