Heeere's Kage - with a K

Yay! I was sat away from him, I'd had my eyes closed briefly, and when I looked his way I thought I saw him disappear into the Suite. Then I saw the bedding in the corner - his secret burrow had been disturbed.

I left the room for a couple of minutes and when I returned I saw he had walked along the Royal Thoroughfare to the opposite end. I sat waiting patiently, sunflower seed in between my fingers, and as he made his way back towards the Suite, I opened the cage door, gently pushed my hand inside. He simply watched as I held the treat for him. He walked towards me and took it, but wouldn't allow me to touch him. He didn't run away, simply dodged my fingers, and stood his ground.

I didn't attempt to touch him again. I knew he wasn't going to allow me to, and I didn't want to cause him any upset at all.

This is just the second time I've put my hand inside the cage with food in my hand. The first time was to retrieve a piece of banana I had dropped, and he took that from me aswell.

I am so happy about tonight, not just seeing him, but having him take the sunflower seed from me, not through the bars where he may feel safer, but inside his home, Kage's Kingdom, without any physical barriers. As far as I am concerned. this is another step forward in our relationship. Slowly, but surely. I'm not going to rush Kage. We'll take it at his pace, with me perhaps encouraging him a little, so we build up a trust between us.

It's times like tonight, albeit it 3 o'clock in the morning. that really makes me believe we are making progress, real progress, our way, slowly, surely

Things are going well. Once they trust you, hamsters are very affectionate animals

Last night was a memorable one for me. I was about to retire to bed, around 2am, maybe a little later, then I noticed Kage coming out from his secret burrow in the corner. I waited a while, then went over to join him. I watched him toy with a Whimzee, one from a pack that came the day before, then make his way to the far end of his kingdom. I had a plan.

I peeled a banana, which caught his attention, then cut a slice from it, cut that into four pieces and put them in my hand, or more precisely, my on fingers and slid my hand in through the door. I waited. I could see Kage was interested. He slowly made his way along, a little cautiously. I spoke to him softly, trying to assure him this wasn't a trick, and he took a piece before moving on. He ended up going into his Suite - the hideout to the left of his kingdom. I moved my hand closer, sure he couldn't resist the banana for long. I was right. Out he came, sniffing heading to my fingers and the banana, and took the remaining three pieces so gently. I wasn't sure whether he would nip my fingers thinking they were part of the treat, but he didn't.

I was thrilled. For me, that was another step in the right direction towards bonding with my new bestie. I'm still not going to rush him, taking things at his pace, but still encouraging him now and then. Of course I'm hoping, but supressing any expectations I might have... just in case.

Tonight, tomorrow night may see us take another step closer. We'll see. I'm not training him to jump through hoops; I'm encouraging him to form a bond with me, something a hamster would never do in the wild, with another species or one of his own kind, at least I don't think so. What we humans get hamsters to do is completely unnatural to them, but for us, and hopefully them too, so rewarding. Maybe, just maybe, we all appreciate someone or something nearby to share a life with. I know I do

Are domesticated hamsters likely to hibernate?

That sounds like real progress - one day at a time No domestic hamsters shouldn't hibernate. They can actually go into torpor if they get too cold, and rarely come out of it and survive. So the key to preventing that is to keep the room temperature above 16 degress centigrade.

Some people use the words hibernate and torpor interchangeably but essentially it is dangerous for domestic hamsters. I believe in the wild many hamsters don't survive hibernation if they go into it.

Kage posed for his first proper photo shoot this morning at around 3.30am. Because of the red lighting I use, most of them didn't turn out well, even with editing, but here's a couple of the better ones, one in colour, and one in black and white. The colour shot sees him peering out of his sand bath, which he loves, and obviously watching me watching him. In the background is his Half Moon Shack which he does go in, usually, I think to search for food and treats I've thrown in. The b&w photo sees him outside the hideout he uses the most when he's on top of the bedding.

A couple of nights ago, I put my hand inside his home to give him a treat. He took it, then instead of scampering awy he stayed around a while, brushing against my hand, seemingly quite comfortable and unperturbed, and that felt good to me. It gave me the feeling he's accepting me more. I do hope so

He’s gorgeous! He looks very happy- his ears are right up

Maz said:

He’s gorgeous! He looks very happy- his ears are right up

Click to expand...

Thank you That means a lot to me.

Thoughts. Kage has been coming out later and later recently. Don't know why. Maybe he wants more time to himself. He surfaced this morning at 3.30am, went straight into the the Sovereign Suite - and stayed there. He managed to stop and pick up a piece of walnut I had put on his doorstep first though . I went to bed an hour later. If space to himself is what he wants, then staying up will only prevent him getting that. I'd love to know what he is thinking and his reasons behind his actions.

I did something a little different last night. I put a large empty coffee jar in his home on the Royal Thoroughfare facing the Suite. Maybe he was unsure of that. I placed four small pieces of banana inside, going from the mouth to the bottom. The nearest had gone when I took the jar out before I went to bed myself. Can't be sure whether it had dropped out or Kage had taken it. Either way, I didn't see him.

I'll probably leave him to his own devices earlier tonight/this morning. I won't know whether he'll appreciate that or not. Maybe it's time to get a camera and 'spy' on him.

I'll do a bit of spot cleaning before I feed him tonight - at the far end. He enjoys being at that end. Does a bit of digging, rather than burrowing. Maybe I'll find his toilet. Maybe I'll get a surprise and find him .

It seems it's all ifs and maybes with hamsters. We are all different, they are all different. What suits one, doesn't suit another. All I know is I'm trying, trying to do what's best for Kage, trying to get closer to him. Will that happen? Will he want that? Yes/no/maybe. But I still don't want to make him 'perform' for me if it doesn't suit his ways. All I can do is keep trying, encouraging him, and hope . I will always, always love him, come what may. That's a nailed on guarantee

Yes they are all different I think it's a good idea to give him a full night or two to himself though - he will build up confidence and may be more receptive to coming out after that

I wonder... I got up this morning, went outside to feed the birds and squirrels as I do every morning, then a while later, I witnessed something very unusual. I looked over at Kage's home, and couldn't quite believe my eyes.

It was half past ten in the morning and I saw one erect pair of ears and one handsome little face beneath them peering from his secret burrow in the corner. For a moment I just stared, wondering whether my eyes were deceiving me. I spoke to him, then I got up from where I was sitting and slowly made my way over to him, talking to him all the time.

Perhaps that was a mistake. Perhaps I should have stayed where I was. But I was so surprised and overjoyed to see my little bestie at that time of day, I couldn't help myself. Unfortunately, Kage went into reverse gear and made his way back down his burrow.

I had heard him burrowing, but I never thought he was making his way upwards. Now I wonder, why? Why at that time in the morning did Kage decide to make an appearance?

We humans have a way of deciding for ourselves reasons why animals do what they do, and I dare say much of the time we are wrong. But I can't help wondering, as I have never seen Kage do this before... was he actually looking for me? Did he poke his sweet little nose out of the burrow in a way to say, "Hi. I haven't seen you for a while. How you doing?"

It's a lovely thought, I'm sure everyone will agree, but am I right, or, as usual, am I wrong?

Socks sometimes comes out for a drink during the day and is super wary during the long trip from his nest to the water bottle It is nice to see them up during the day