Taming Help

[Obie's Mum]

So, I have had Obie now for a month, but getting him tame is taking too long, so I'm after some advice, please.

One problem is he gets up very late at night, and at the moment, I'm having to have early nights because my husband has just died and the grief is leaving me feeling exhausted

The other problem is, I've tried stroking his back gently and mostly he ignores this. Twice I've had him jump and act surprised, but I may have startled him. He's never bitten.

I've progressed from this to holding my hand out flat, palm up. Whenever I do this he gingerly nibbles one of my fingertips, like an exploratory, "What is this?" nibble. When I pull my hand away a little to stop the nibble turning into a bite though, he either runs off, or has a second gentle nibble and then runs off.

I should add that he accepts mealworms hand fed to him when he's in his cage (the touching I've done in his playpen). Whenever I move anything in his cage, he used to come to watch what I was doing, but now he just stays in bed.

Generally I'm finding that I'm seeing less of him as time is going on, rather than more. I'm worried that I'm losing vital taming time as he's growing up, although my current early nights aren't helping this. I am getting up early in the mornings though, so maybe this might be a better time to interact with him?

Please do offer me any advice that you can. Thank you.

 

[Maz]

I am so sorry for your loss. Of course you're tired if you're grieving. It sounds like you're both a little nervous of each other. You pull your hand away when he nibbles and that scares him and he runs off. This is reasonably normal in the early days. Some dwarf hamsters get up during the day or early evening or around 8pm. They vary. I suspect he would get up earlier if he was feeling more confident maybe. What time do you put his food and piece of veg out? You can usually get them into a routine of waking up at feeding time the same time every night, then when he's up you could offer him a tube to walk into (putting a strong smelling treat at the far end helps - eg cucumber or a tiny bit of cheddar cheese). Then with your hands over the end of the tube, lift him out in the tube and carry him to a hamstersafe area like a playpen or the dry bathtub, or even a large plastic storage bin initially, set up as a playpen. Taming is usually done best out of the cage than in it as they behave differently out of the cage.

They can push against your hand when they're in the tube which could make you jump - instinct to avoid being bitten - and then it risks dropping the tube or taking your hand away and the hamster escaping, so if you're worried about that, have a large box (eg cardboard box) right next the cage, and put the tube down in that and then carry the box to the playpen or taming area.

Big hugs to you and remember to look after yourself.

 

[Socks' Mum]

Very sorry to hear of your tragic loss. Take care of yourself, it must be a very difficult time It sounds like Obie is settled and content, but not interacting that much. Could you try putting treats onto a tin lid to start with so his exploratory nibbles (and any potential harder toothy nibbles) go onto that rather than your fingers, but he is still having your hand near him and learning to take food from you? Feeding him his mealworms is also excellent as he is learning you being good things and hands are good

 

[Socks' Mum]

Sorry, that should be "you bring good things" not "you being good things"

 

[Obie's Mum]

Thank you @Maz and @Socks' Mum for your replies. I will give both your advice a go tonight. I feed Obie at around 7pm each night, and usually turn out the main light then, leaving just lamps on, to make it feel darker for him. So I'll use that time to see if I can get him out into his playpen, without the option of running back up his tube into his home!

 

[Obie's Mum]

I did it! I handled him tonight!

So, I went to bed, having not seen him all evening, but leaving the door to the room he's in open, so I'd hopefully hear him in his wheel.

Well, at 11:45pm I heard his wheel, so got up and went to say hello. He was easily enticed into a tube with one end blocked off. He calmly turned around in the tube, and walked out onto my awaiting hand! No nibbling, no biting, no panicking.

I gently lowered him into the playpen so he could climb off before he felt any anxiety. I then repeated this procedure a few minutes later, and it went equally well.

He then mooched around, took a mealworm from my fingers, ate it, unpouched some food in one of his (clear plastic) tubes and ate it, before scuttling back up the tubes to bed

I am very happy! His little feet on my hands felt wonderful I think he's got a lot of fluff, as he felt very light in weight. I have got scales to weigh him on further down the line.

Just wanted to share my good news

 

[Maz]

Yes that lovely feeling of little paws on your hand Very happy for you. He sounds fairly tame actually - just needs a routine now.

 

[Obie's Mum]

Yes that lovely feeling of little paws on your hand Very happy for you. He sounds fairly tame actually - just needs a routine now.

Any advice about getting him into a routine? Should I be guided by him? I.e. try the same thing tomorrow night at around the same time? No wonder he never woke up at 7-8pm when I fed him, if his internal body clock gets him up at midnight!

 

[Socks' Mum]

That's really wonderful, especially the part where he unpouched and ate with you nearby. It's a sign that he is very comfortable. Getting Obie to come out earlier might be tricky though. You could use a voice prompt, like dinner time Obie when he's eating his mealworms, and then try using it to call him out at say, 10:30 pm. The clocks going forward soon makes things a bit more complicated though. He clearly associates you with food and dinner time, so that is impressive