Well we have had the little fella 48 hours now and I've seen him for less than 5 minutes he did a recy on his new domain then disappeared into the substrate. Thankfully after reading other posts on here I knew this could be the case so wasn't massively disappointed but oh its so hard knowing he's there but out of sight. I even came into the room at 1 a.m hopeing to see him because I'd been up to the loo (sorry if that's too much information) I heard him on his wheel so crept in without turning the light on but it went quiet and it was too dark to see if he was still out of his hidey place. At least he takes the food and obviously uses his wheel so I know he's o.k
Little Pete update
- Thread starter Jain
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elusive
It can be so hard, especially with your first hamster waiting for them to make more of an appearance but it sounds as though he’s making himself at home in his cage & settling in so hopefully he’ll start getting braver before too long.
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It's just time and patience 
But yes oh so frustrating! Do you talk to him? It does help to talk gently to them through the cage regularly, even if you can't see them! It helps them get familiar with your sound, scent and presence. It can take a good two weeks for a hamster to fully feel at home in a new environment and that's when you start to see them being a bit more confident in the cage and out more.
One tip - if you give him fresh veg every day. When I had a shy Syrian I used to put his veg on a separate plate at the other end of the cage - it meant he actually had to go across the cage to get it and he soon got in the habit of that and got more confident about being out.
Maybe you'd like to start a sort of diary thread for Little Pete? There's a section for each species of hamster where people have their diary threads where you can follow updates on the hamster etc.
But yes oh so frustrating! Do you talk to him? It does help to talk gently to them through the cage regularly, even if you can't see them! It helps them get familiar with your sound, scent and presence. It can take a good two weeks for a hamster to fully feel at home in a new environment and that's when you start to see them being a bit more confident in the cage and out more.One tip - if you give him fresh veg every day. When I had a shy Syrian I used to put his veg on a separate plate at the other end of the cage - it meant he actually had to go across the cage to get it and he soon got in the habit of that and got more confident about being out.
Maybe you'd like to start a sort of diary thread for Little Pete? There's a section for each species of hamster where people have their diary threads where you can follow updates on the hamster etc.
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RainbowBrite
It is such a good sign he is using his wheel.
You may like to get a camera so you can find out what he gets up to at night. It took a while before I saw my hamster in the day but I loved being able to watch everything he got up to at night.
You may like to get a camera so you can find out what he gets up to at night. It took a while before I saw my hamster in the day but I loved being able to watch everything he got up to at night.
Yes I talk to the substrate I tell him he's cost me a small fortune and the very least he could do is come out and say hello occasionally ( joking about the subject but I do sit and say his name and generally let him hear my voice) the veg idea is really good but I thought they can only have veg or fruit 1cm cube every 3 days please can you qualify quantity for me and is defrosted frozen veg ok I read somewhere it's fine if defrosted and not too cold.It's just time and patience
One tip - if you give him fresh veg every day. When I had a shy Syrian I used to put his veg on a separate plate at the other end of the cage - it meant he actually had to go across the cage to get it and he soon got in the habit of that and got more confident about being out.
Maybe you'd like to start a sort of diary thread for Little Pete? There's a section for each species of hamster where people have their diary threads where you can follow updates on the hamster etc.
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Initially it's better to only give it about every 3 days, but after a couple of weeks you can start giving it every day. It's just to give their digestion chance to adjust to veg if they've not been used to it. They love their veg and look forward to it. I don't use frozen veg personally. I tend to usually have broccoli and cucumber in the fridge - and they last quite a while in the fridge - so they get a bit of that or raw carrot. None of them seem too keen on carrot though - I think they prefer the green veg. If we've had frozen peas cooked with a meal I save a couple of those to give them. There's a list on here of safe and unsafe veg. I only get the cucumber for the hamsters! Nodoby else likes it!
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elusive
I give veg every couple of days maybe for the first week but find they soon get adjusted to it & haven’t had any problems with it so I go to daily fairly quickly.
They all have different likes & dislikes so you might have to experiment a bit, broccoli is a favourite with most I’ve found, peas, green beans, red pepper & cucumber tend to be popular here too.
I’ve found with mine that apart from peas they don’t like defrosted veg much & tend to ignore it.
I don’t ration my portions to any particular size, they never seem to eat too much if I give them large pieces & it’s easier to remove any left over veg, they don’t hide it away if it’s fairly large pieces!
They all have different likes & dislikes so you might have to experiment a bit, broccoli is a favourite with most I’ve found, peas, green beans, red pepper & cucumber tend to be popular here too.
I’ve found with mine that apart from peas they don’t like defrosted veg much & tend to ignore it.
I don’t ration my portions to any particular size, they never seem to eat too much if I give them large pieces & it’s easier to remove any left over veg, they don’t hide it away if it’s fairly large pieces!
Good point about them hiding it away I hadn't thought of that I wouldn't be able to disturb him by doing a search at the moment and could end up with stinky veg. I mentioned frozen because I can only eat tiny amounts of veg due to IBS and OH dosent eat any so it tend to be really wasteful in this house but will be buying a fresh broccoli and cucumber today for Pete in case he rejects captain Birds Eye
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I don't know if dwarf hamsters tend to have different habits with their veg. My robo will only eat what he wants of the veg and leave the rest on the plate. Syrians tend eat what they want and if there's anything left, take it to their hoard. Which is why I just give the tiny piece - it's all they need and they eat it straight away. And then you don't need to worry about food going off It may be a bit of trial and error. If you don't regularly keep veg in the house then a cucumber and some broccoli in the fridge is probably the way to go .
It may be a bit of trial and error. If you don't regularly keep veg in the house then a cucumber and some broccoli in the fridge is probably the way to go .
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elusive
My Russians & Chinese have been ike Pip then, they rarely seem to carry veg off & hide it like Syrians do, the only issue I had was with small pieces getting lost in the substrate so bigger bits tend to be easier.
Sorry goofed again meant to put comment he is peeping at me I think he is waiting for me to go to bed by the way he has 5 inch of substrate now in a large portion of his cage and easily tunnels so I can't even tell where he is probably add more when he gets a bit bigger
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elusive
Aw hello Pete, lovely to see you 
F
Frida
Hello Pete, you're very cute 
Someone (no name mentioned ) suggested I try Pete in his playpen so coaxed him out with his current favourite thing - cheese - I very gently scooped him up and placed him in his playpen with a few little treats scattered aroundI didn't try to keep him in my hands he immediately started exploring here is the result. I'm sure his playpen can be improved on at a later stage. Hope you can assess the videos I'm hopeless at this kind of thing.
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Aw that sounds good If you uploaded the videos to youtube, then you need to set them to "unlisted" so the links open up on here. If you set them to private then only you can watch them. If you set them to public then anyone can see them. But unlisted means they can only be seen where you paste the link (eg on here). Unfortunately that's the only way to upload videos on here, via a link.
If you uploaded the videos to youtube, then you need to set them to "unlisted" so the links open up on here. If you set them to private then only you can watch them. If you set them to public then anyone can see them. But unlisted means they can only be seen where you paste the link (eg on here). Unfortunately that's the only way to upload videos on here, via a link.
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Hello little Pete He's a lovely colour! He looks like he's enjoying exploring there. And likes that little red ball. I watched all of it. I think a noise made him jump just before he shot inside the brown tube. But he got over that. He looks quite chilled to me. And clearly enjoyed the wheel as well. More progress . I tend to only do playpen time every two or three days at first, so they still keep their habits in their cage. Did you try offering a treat on the palm of your hand when he was in there? Gradually he may start walking onto your hand after a few times of doing that.
He's a lovely colour! He looks like he's enjoying exploring there. And likes that little red ball. I watched all of it. I think a noise made him jump just before he shot inside the brown tube. But he got over that. He looks quite chilled to me. And clearly enjoyed the wheel as well. More progress . I tend to only do playpen time every two or three days at first, so they still keep their habits in their cage. Did you try offering a treat on the palm of your hand when he was in there? Gradually he may start walking onto your hand after a few times of doing that.