"Pip" Pipsqueak's Diary

So...though we were mourning Oaky, we couldn't help beginning to look for local adoptions.

Serendipitously, or at least coincidentally, a couple of weeks prior to Oaky passing away, a couple who lived about 40 minutes from me had adopted 2 hamsters (housed separately now) from a pet store closing. One had been mis-identified as a female while at the pet store, and within a short time of bringing their first female home, she gave birth to a litter (coincidentally, they had loved a second "female," went back for him a day after adopting the first one, and it turns out he was dad). They wanted the babies to go to good homes and had posted on a regional hamster adoption/ rehoming page. She had posted on March 9th even though the babies were not yet ready to be adopted. They were born roughly around March 1st.

Because they were so close to me, I reached out to see if any of the babies had not been spoken for. It turns out there a female unaccounted for. The babies had recently been separated by sex and were starting to be picked up.

So, this may be the youngest hamster I have ever adopted or will ever adopt, as she was about 28 days old when we picked her up. If her coloring was different, she would look like a dwarf hamster! She can fit her whole body in our small food dish

She stayed hidden yesterday after we transferred her to her new enclosure. On a whim, soon after we turned the lights out at night, I shone my phone light on the cage just in case she'd come out. She had! (of course, likely waiting until the lights were off and she didn't think we were near) Luckily, though she was a bit cautious when we came near the cage (and with a light), she decided to stay out and let us watch her for awhile. She very much foraged all over and did not seem like a picky eater. She nibbled at various sprays, a dried flower bud, freeze-dried chicken, a dried meal worm, seed mix, etc. She got in her sandbath a bit, too, but I didn't see her use the wheel. Our Bucatstate wheel is on the small side for a Syrian (10 inches), but clearly fine for her now. We had a Silent Runner that was 12-inches for our past 2 hamsters, but I felt like it got a bit wobbly, and the bottom had to be taped down because it doesn't have that cork bottom, so I'm thinking of upgrading to a new 12-inch wheel when she gets bigger- if anyone has a wheel recommendation let me know!

I'll post a number fun shorts below and some photos. I put deep bedding in her carrier for travel, and she almost immediately burrowed down to the very bottom, and between her falling into a deep sleep, being so small, and matching our natural paper bedding, we couldn't find her when we first got home! I eventually had to start gently removing bedding from the carrier, because she wasn't stirring and I didn't want to accidentally move her in a rough way.

Any particular advice to such a baby would be helpful! I think our Cinnamon was around 6 weeks old when adopted, but this is even tinier!

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Photo dump!

Oh my goodness, she's adorable Very happy for you and it was a lucky adoption process. She's a tiny baby and still very young! She will be fine though although maybe a bit timid at first. It's unusual for them to be rehomed before 6 weeks, but if the owner couldn't manage .......... Tino was about the same age when he came and I didn't know until the night before I was about to go and pick him up. Apparently the boys had been fighting and she decided to rehome them straight away rather than just put them in their own cages for two weeks. He was always quite timid, but she looks quite chirpy!

Yes, little Pip seems to know her own mind, but she is so cute. I'm sure she will be a very sociable hammy

Your daughter sounds so happy and excited I am sure you will have many happy times with Pip I bet she's loving her new enclosure. It looks like she's used to being handled as well

Maz said:

Oh my goodness, she's adorable Very happy for you and it was a lucky adoption process. She's a tiny baby and still very young! She will be fine though although maybe a bit timid at first. It's unusual for them to be rehomed before 6 weeks, but if the owner couldn't manage .......... Tino was about the same age when he came and I didn't know until the night before I was about to go and pick him up. Apparently the boys had been fighting and she decided to rehome them straight away rather than just put them in their own cages for two weeks. He was always quite timid, but she looks quite chirpy!

Click to expand...

Yes! She definitely seems timid, but will stay out when we are present if the room lights are low and we don't enter we cage space (yesterday I opened the lid to drop some food in while she was out and she made for her hideaway- but when I came back later and DIDN'T open the top, she was fine).

And yes, I think the couple who had them had very little space- I think the two they adopted were their first hamsters, and they at least found someone to coach them through the birth and splitting up of the sexes after a few weeks. Does it make a developmental difference to be split from siblings before 6 weeks?

Maz said:

Your daughter sounds so happy and excited I am sure you will have many happy times with Pip I bet she's loving her new enclosure. It looks like she's used to being handled as well

Click to expand...

She probably is used to being handled since they split up the babies, but we've definitely avoided putting our hands in the cage other than having to transfer her for these first couple days. Hopefully, there will be a payoff long-term with our patience, and she'll be as comfortable as Oaky- or more so!

Hamster Haven said:

Yes! She definitely seems timid, but will stay out when we are present if the room lights are low and we don't enter we cage space (yesterday I opened the lid to drop some food in while she was out and she made for her hideaway- but when I came back later and DIDN'T open the top, she was fine).

And yes, I think the couple who had them had very little space- I think the two they adopted were their first hamsters, and they at least found someone to coach them through the birth and splitting up of the sexes after a few weeks. Does it make a developmental difference to be split from siblings before 6 weeks?

Click to expand...

This is something I was curious about. I could see the reasoning behind rehoming him early as to have moved the boys to their own cages for just two weeks would have been a double cage change adjustment and added stress, and she thought they would be better settling straight into a new home, which makes sense.

I don't think it's affected Tino developmentally - he bonded with me and has been very affectionate (although he was a shy male for a while).

Technically that last two weeks is supposed to teach them social skills - living with their siblings, and the 6 week date is because after that they can start fighting and definitely need separating by then.

I don't think it did Tino any harm. She will have had some socialisation with her siblings and Mother already And she will probably just build trust and bonding with you. She seems to know how to forage and nest instinctively already

Hamster Haven said:

She probably is used to being handled since they split up the babies, but we've definitely avoided putting our hands in the cage other than having to transfer her for these first couple days. Hopefully, there will be a payoff long-term with our patience, and she'll be as comfortable as Oaky- or more so!

Click to expand...

NHC breeders usually tell you to handle them daily when they're babies for taming, but I don't do that, because it can stress them once they're in their own home. It might be different when they're all in together. I just did the same thing as usual and talked to him the first two weeks and offered him treats, and then after two weeks, tempted him into a tube for bathtub time. It maybe then took another 3 weeks before he was sitting on my hand eating from it and I could pick him up. Then another 2 or 3 weeks before he got really comfortable with being picked up.

She will continue to develop normally At first if Tino saw me or I spoke he used to stick his head in the substrate Sort of Ostrich mode - I can't see you so you can't see me. Once they are in their own enclosure alone, they develop the territorial instinct just like any other hamster.

She seems fine and healthy and will just socialise with you instead At her own pace.

Maz said:

This is something I was curious about. I could see the reasoning behind rehoming him early as to have moved the boys to their own cages for just two weeks would have been a double cage change adjustment and added stress, and she thought they would be better settling straight into a new home, which makes sense.

I don't think it's affected Tino developmentally - he bonded with me and has been very affectionate (although he was a shy male for a while).

Technically that last two weeks is supposed to teach them social skills - living with their siblings, and the 6 week date is because after that they can start fighting and definitely need separating by then.

I don't think it did Tino any harm. She will have had some socialisation with her siblings and Mother already And she will probably just build trust and bonding with you. She seems to know how to forage and nest instinctively already

Click to expand...

Yes! It's only been a couple days, so I haven't lifted the lid to check out where she's going to the bathroom. But she definitely has picked out some hidden space for her nest and she is loving foraging. Last night we saw her going after all the flax seed.In addition to the other foods available.

She has such a gorgeous little face Those ones of her sitting in her food bowl

I think last night we had some progress. I have a pet cam, so I went upstairs when she first came out, but she was still timid. I offered her a piece of food through the top of her cage, but she didn't want to take it and after holding still for a few moments, snuck back into her hideaway. However, later that night she emerged even when my daughter had the overhead room light on (she had avoided coming out with that much light during the previous two nights), and this time she stayed out when we came in the room. We saw here forage around and we just chattered to her.

She came out again when we turned the lights off before bed, but I was peeking for her emergence with my phone light. She foraged around and then "hid" herself behind the wheel while she cleaned herself. So now I'm starting to think about how to introduce our scent and when to offer food by hand as next steps.

Slow and steady, I hope. Pipsqueak is really rather timid still around us. I tried to keep the lights low in the room she is in (just a corner lamp) for a few hours, and she did not come out. Finally, before bed, I turned the lamp out even though there were still some LEDs that my daughter has strung up turned on. Within a few minutes, she had come out- this is why I think it's not just time of night, but she's shy to come out while we are out.

I tried to offer her a strawberry top (a very small piece with a few leaves attached) with my fingers. She was still for a moment or two and then made a mad dash (truly fast) toward another corner of the enclosure. She seems to think that if she goes in the corner, behind the largely translucent Bucatstate wheel, that she will not be seen. I was determined to wait her out- not to handle her, but to wait until she took a chance on staying out while we were visible and chatting to her. I put the strawberry piece near her hiding spot, hoping that she would recognize it had come from my hand. Funnily, when she finally came out she ate the leaves first rather than the fruit piece!

After that, she did seem to warm up to moving about the cage with us nearby, though she was not confident enough to use the wheel in our presence. She went and sat in it briefly and then got out. I heard her using it in the middle of the night though. Cinnamon always used to avoid using it when we were in the room. Some of them must feel vulnerable then, but I'm hoping that she will warm up more than he did, eventually.

So that is our story. I've put a few tissues with my scent in the cage and I put a few food items on the tissue for the past 2 nights, hoping again that I could associate my smell with positive offerings. I'm going to try the strawberry leaves or other food, if not hand fed, then at least putting the food near her when she is awake, for the next few days and still avoid transporting her until she is a bit more confident. We only picked her up last Saturday, so it hasn't even been a week! I have to remember that.

Yes it's still early days Another week and she might be ready for a bit of bathtub time

Last night Pip avoided us entirely (sigh). I've been sticking to a routine of refreshing her food between 7 and 8PM, and for the first few days she would emerge around 8, but not last night. I tried a few times to lower the lights in the room, but I think she was very keenly listening for us and waiting to be all alone...or maybe it was just a coincidence. Eventually, we went to bed, and I left a little strawberry bit on a tissue I'd attempted to rub my scent on.

I'm hoping we'll get luckier today with catching her out, especially since I think I need to spot clean her hideaway. I started to notice a smell last night when I was updating food and water. I'd prefer to spot clean if she's already out, of course, but I wonder if I took the top off while she's awake and then waited to see if she moves on her own? I also need to consider if I should bring back a litter tray or not. We had one for Cinnamon and then at first for Oaky, but she would chew it and only use it some of the time, so eventually I threw it out and just didn't worry about it for her.

Aw. It's such a difficult time. We never know whether to leave them alone for a day or two to do their own thing or keep trying. It could be worth leaving her one day and trying the next That first two weeks is so hard.

It could be worth trying a litter tray. Baby hamsters can take a while to adopt good toiletting habits! I actually think it was much easier when they only had 6" of bedding and a litter tray as they'd use the litter tray and then it didn't disturb their nesting when you just had to empty the litter tray during the first week. Even then it depended where you put the litter tray as to if they would use it!

With Tino I put it next to his house. He inspected it and ignored it. He never did really get toilet trained - about the only one who wasn't neat and tidy in that respect. But he did eventually start doing it in his sand bath.

It's very difficult the first spot clean. We can feel around under the bedding and not find anything sometimes. Good luck with that! It's bound to freak her a bit, so maybe give her a day undisturbed after that perhaps.

Maz said:

Aw. It's such a difficult time. We never know whether to leave them alone for a day or two to do their own thing or keep trying. It could be worth leaving her one day and trying the next That first two weeks is so hard.

It could be worth trying a litter tray. Baby hamsters can take a while to adopt good toiletting habits! I actually think it was much easier when they only had 6" of bedding and a litter tray as they'd use the litter tray and then it didn't disturb their nesting when you just had to empty the litter tray during the first week. Even then it depended where you put the litter tray as to if they would use it!

With Tino I put it next to his house. He inspected it and ignored it. He never did really get toilet trained - about the only one who wasn't neat and tidy in that respect. But he did eventually start doing it in his sand bath.

It's very difficult the first spot clean. We can feel around under the bedding and not find anything sometimes. Good luck with that! It's bound to freak her a bit, so maybe give her a day undisturbed after that perhaps.

Click to expand...

Yeah, the smell wasn't that bad, but I'm guessing she has a corner somewhere in her hideaway. I'm thinking that (whenever she comes out and I have an 'in' to spot clean), maybe I could put the litter tray wherever she was going and perhaps leave a smidgeon of smelly litter in there to encourage the transition.

Tino seemed to pee for England in his house I couldn't believe how much he pee'd and assumed it was that as a big hamster he had a bigger bladder. At least it was easy to find though!

Oh my what a gorgeous little hamster so sweet! I am happy for you and your daughter