Name: Anonymous 2009-09-29 23:19
We have a young 'Teddy Bear' hamster who would absolutely chew my arm off if it was a larger animal. We have spent a few weeks now, night-after-night offering it sunflower seeds, and trying to get it used to our smells and our voices, and all those things that help you tame a hamster. We approach it with clean hands and treats. We speak softly to it. We lay our hands flat at the bottom of the cage only to get bitten repeatedly. This hamster bites hard.
Cleaning the cage is an adventure. I acually have to coral the creature into a big, plastic cup, turn it upright, toss her some seeds, and thats where she stays for the 10 minutes it takes to wash, dry and setup her cage. Every other night I use the same plactic cup routine to transport her into her excercize ball. In either case, we let her walk back into her cage on her own by holding either the ball or the cup up to the cage door. She is always real happy to get back in that cage because she wants nothing to do with us.
Also, I know they are nocturnal, but this one goes to sleep at around 4:30am and can stay that way until almost 9:00pm. What if it needs to go to the vet or something and we have to wake it up? What do you do with hamsters like this one?
Cleaning the cage is an adventure. I acually have to coral the creature into a big, plastic cup, turn it upright, toss her some seeds, and thats where she stays for the 10 minutes it takes to wash, dry and setup her cage. Every other night I use the same plactic cup routine to transport her into her excercize ball. In either case, we let her walk back into her cage on her own by holding either the ball or the cup up to the cage door. She is always real happy to get back in that cage because she wants nothing to do with us.
Also, I know they are nocturnal, but this one goes to sleep at around 4:30am and can stay that way until almost 9:00pm. What if it needs to go to the vet or something and we have to wake it up? What do you do with hamsters like this one?