Oaky's Diary

[Maz]

A complete contrast to your previous hamster then! I have a soft spot for the crazy active ones! Does she shred a lot of cardboard as well? I believe most female Syrians like to shred cardboard.

 

[Hamster Haven]

COMPLETE contrast... After a while with our last hamster, I actually didn't change up the cage often because he had only 2 or 3 things he liked and he had no interest in new things and no interest in chewing anything other than food and Whimzees. He did enjoy flax sprays and a variety of foods, but he would just hoard them and then stay in his hidey hole until we went to sleep and then come out to use his wheel most of the time.

Oaky comes out anytime she wants, and if she's in the mood and she sees us she'll keep stretching and reaching, like you're gonna help me get out of here, right? She makes lots of burrows and tunnels, chews at fabric during free roam time, chews at cork and Palm leaf bowls in her enclosure- basically tons of things.

When we first got her, she was very anxious about hands or being held and would sometimes be very jumpy, and do like a 180° turn if she got nervous about a hand being near her or about being picked up.. Now she crawls right into my hand and patiently hangs out, mostly because she understands that I'm her ticket out of that enclosure. But she is, so i'm bold that I have to be very careful. Yesterday, I was transporting her in an upside down, igloo and looked away for a brief second and she jumped right out, and I was so worried because I was standing up, but luckily she was okay, and now I know in the future to watch more closely. She will launch herself, though. She has no fear.

 

[Maz]

That's lovely she walks onto your hand now! Yes she sounds very fearless! I still use my rat tube for transporting. One end against my stomach and a hand over the other end. Tino pushes hard against my stomach so I need to get from the cage to the "let out" area quite quickly

 

[Socks' Mum]

Yes, I was amazed by how hamsters can ping into the air quite high. I suppose it's a reflex that helps them to escape predators like snakes in the wild

 

[Hamster Haven]

It took me 5 months, but Oaky finally won me over. My husband enjoyed Oaky immensely from the start, because he loves watching her hamster antics, which we could never see with Cinnamon because he would hide from us most of the time. But I love being able to pick up a hamster and give it a quick cuddle, and Oaky was incredibly hand-shy- even fearful for a long time. I think I wrote about this, but she would sometimes get startled and do this abrupt 180 degree spin that would startle me. I missed Cinnamon's sweet fluffiness and how easy he was to pick up and that he would sit in my hands for a few seconds, even though I knew he was just putting up with me.

But now, after months, Oaky completely understands that our hands aren't a threat to her, and even more so, she realizes that we are able to let her out, which, unlike Cinnamon, she loves to do. Many times she'll climb in my hands and up my arm and wait patiently to be lifted out (I still use a transport for long transfers, but sometimes I just lift her for a snuggle or quick transfer to a box right next to her enclosure). She's totally calm in hands now. It's AMAZING

 

[Maz]

Oh that's wonderful! I think it's natural, when the hamster is so different, to miss the previous one at first, and especially when a new hamster isn't that tame. And then suddenly you fall in love with them

 

[Tulsi]

Aww what a brilliant update.