Sweetie

[Lorena]

Hello, I’m introducing Sweetie. She is I believe approximately 4 months old now, and she is my second Russian dwarf hamster I ever had. My first hamster was Piretto and I was 15 years old when I got him, unfortunately I was ignorant about hamsters and his cage was small and not enriched enough. Now I’m 39, thank God we have internet and YouTube and before bring Sweetie at home I did loads of research and when I decided to get another little friend I wanted to give him/ her a beautiful life, full of love but also the environment they really deserve.

The first couple of days I had Sweetie I didn’t touched her but I was near her cage talking to her and try to offer food, I was very nervous and she was skittish, kind of cage aggressive. After three days I decided to picked her up with a mug and handle her with gloves, she kept nibbling me . She loves free roaming in my bed and enjoy it better than the playpen. When I decided to let her “free roaming “ in my body and especially my neck she stopped nibble me. Sweetie know exactly when and where want to come out of her cage as she come straight to the gate put herself up and look at me, this usually is early in the morning or evening but at night she doesn’t want to be disturbed as she is busy with her staff lol
Sweetie loves butternut squash seeds more than sunflower seeds and broccoli. Now she is becoming white and more “glowing”.

I hope she will live long and full.

 

[RainbowBrite]

I am happy you have started a thread for Sweetie. She is so cute and I can tell how much you love her. I like that she loves butternut squash seeds more then sunflowers.

 

[Lorena]

I am happy you have started a thread for Sweetie. She is so cute and I can tell how much you love her. I like that she loves butternut squash seeds more then sunflowers.

She is a huge help for my anxiety. As emergency worker I come across very often to the very dark side of humanity and just the fact that I take care of her bright my days or nights…lol

 

[RainbowBrite]

She is a huge help for my anxiety. As emergency worker I come across very often to the very dark side of humanity and just the fact that I take care of her bright my days or nights…lol

I can imagine what a difficult job you do. It is so lovely you have Sweetie to come home to.

 

[Member ID2]

Yes, i can imagine that after a stressful shift a cute little hamster like Sweetie helps you to unwind and enjoy the pleasant side of life.

I'm looking forward to hear and see more of Sweetie.

 

[Maz]

Lovely to see Sweetie's thread! She looks very happy and healthy. They are wonderful pets to soothe us when life becomes stressful - I think we have a lot to be grateful for with our hamsters. We look after them - but they also look after us.

 

[elusive]

Lovely to meet Sweetie
Sounds like you’re both taking care of each other, it is something special to have a little ham to ease our troubles.

 

[Lorena]

Hello, I’m introducing Sweetie. She is I believe approximately 4 months old now, and she is my second Russian dwarf hamster I ever had. My first hamster was Piretto and I was 15 years old when I got him, unfortunately I was ignorant about hamsters and his cage was small and not enriched enough. Now I’m 39, thank God we have internet and YouTube and before bring Sweetie at home I did loads of research and when I decided to get another little friend I wanted to give him/ her a beautiful life, full of love but also the environment they really deserve.

The first couple of days I had Sweetie I didn’t touched her but I was near her cage talking to her and try to offer food, I was very nervous and she was skittish, kind of cage aggressive. After three days I decided to picked her up with a mug and handle her with gloves, she kept nibbling me . She loves free roaming in my bed and enjoy it better than the playpen. When I decided to let her “free roaming “ in my body and especially my neck she stopped nibble me. Sweetie know exactly when and where want to come out of her cage as she come straight to the gate put herself up and look at me, this usually is early in the morning or evening but at night she doesn’t want to be disturbed as she is busy with her staff lol
Sweetie loves butternut squash seeds more than sunflower seeds and broccoli. Now she is becoming white and more “glowing”.

I hope she will live long and full.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Sweetie is so cute!

 

[Lorena]

She is getting whiter and whiter

 

[RainbowBrite]

She is getting whiter and whiter

That is so cute! I wonder if her colouring will change again in the summer.

 

[Lorena]

I don’t know, let’s see. Now I’m so excited as her new pawhut cage arrived today and I’m at work so can’t wait to settle everything I got new for her

 

[RainbowBrite]

I don’t know, let’s see. Now I’m so excited as her new pawhut cage arrived today and I’m at work so can’t wait to settle everything I got new for her

Woo hoo! I am excited too! I hope it is not difficult to put together. Did you buy anything to water proof it?

 

[Lorena]

Not really as the cage is waterproof itself as they say…Sweetie use her sand bath as toilet and doesn’t pee around. When I’ll pull all together I’ll post a picture

 

[RainbowBrite]

Not really as the cage is waterproof itself as they say…Sweetie use her sand bath as toilet and doesn’t pee around. When I’ll pull all together I’ll post a picture

I look forward to the picture.

 

[Maz]

Also looking forward to seeing it Do you know all the tips for cage moves? So it doesn't stress her. Eg not cleaning anything before the move and trying to keep the layout similar (some of it anyway - eg house same end, wheel similar position). And moving all the old substrate across so it all smells familiar.

I also let them play in the new cage the day before moving, so they can scent mark it and familiarize. Not essential but I find it helps them settle much quicker.

 

[Lorena]

Also looking forward to seeing it Do you know all the tips for cage moves? So it doesn't stress her. Eg not cleaning anything before the move and trying to keep the layout similar (some of it anyway - eg house same end, wheel similar position). And moving all the old substrate across so it all smells familiar.

I also let them play in the new cage the day before moving, so they can scent mark it and familiarize. Not essential but I find it helps them settle much quicker.

Thank you for this suggestion.
I also ordered moss because I want to have a natural environment for her, but I never used it before and the moss I have now look humid inside… how this work?

 

[Maz]

Moss can cause some humidity so probably best not to use it if it seems a bit damp/humid. You could try leaving it somewhere to dry out a bit?

 

[elusive]

Moss does need to be quite wet in a humid environment to stay green & alive, dried out it can still give them a different texture to explore but. personally I don’t think wet moss in the cage is a good idea.

 

[Member ID2]

I think the moss you have is for pets who need a moist environment like frogs, some lizzards etc.
The only moss i know of that's suitable for hamsters is the dried moss Rodipet sells.

A green substrate topper like green Carefresh or green Bucatstate could be an alternative for a natural look.

You can easily achieve a natural look set up by using wood, cork, seagrass, wicker etc furnishings, maybe some rocks, lots of different millets, different substrates and the likes without moss you are not sure about.

I'm sure that Sweetie will be very happy in her new and bigger home. I find that setting up a cage is often work in progress because we need to find out what the hamster does, likes or doesn't like first.