Droppie

[Veer]

I’ve welcomed a new little hamster into my home.
She’s a 5-week-old Russian dwarf hamster in the ‘Russian blue’ colour.
I’ve called her Droppie, which means ‘little liquorice’ in English.
she weighes 33gr.

She had a crusty eye, which I had to clean yesterday using some cooled boiled water; i removed her sand bath last night.
I managed to clean her eye, although she did start squeaking a bit, but it had to be done.
This is, of course, a violation of her trust; this morning she absolutely refused to be picked up in the hamster taxi and started screaming again. I put some treats down for her and left her in peace.

She was handled daily by the breeder, but now, with a new home, new surroundings and new people, it’s naturally a bit nerve-wracking for her.
She has a fully furnished scape in a 100x40x40 tank, which she’s happily exploring, but it does make it difficult to take her out of the cage and help her settle in. she had a almost empty tank at the breeder, just a house and a wheel and 5cm bedding.
What’s the best way to go about this?

 

[Socks' Mum]

Lovely girl. She has a great name I suppose the key is food food food I wonder if hamsters would play with prey like things the way cats do. Perhaps a tiny feather or something insect like that's safe to use

 

[Maz]

She is gorgeous You must be so happy I would just do the usual thing of giving her a few days to adjust and settle in and then start gradually from there offering the odd treat My experience is that even if they are used to being handled by a breeder it is basically starting from scratch again once they move to a new home as you are a different person and they've had a big change of environment. So just time and patience as usual

So have they relaxed the rules in the Netherlands now then? How did you manage to find a dwarf hamster?!!

 

[Veer]

She is gorgeous You must be so happy I would just do the usual thing of giving her a few days to adjust and settle in and then start gradually from there offering the odd treat My experience is that even if they are used to being handled by a breeder it is basically starting from scratch again once they move to a new home as you are a different person and they've had a big change of environment. So just time and patience as usual

So have they relaxed the rules in the Netherlands now then? How did you manage to find a dwarf hamster?!!

No, unfortunately they did not decide any different yet.
But people are steel keeping and breeding them, and this one needed a home.
Hopefully the government will make a good decision. I think they have until the end of august to motivate their grounds.

 

[Maz]

Is that the Ferplast Jerry tank you have there? It looks like it. I just linked the larger version of it on here recently. Can you tell us how the barred top comes off please? I know there is a large door in the top of the bars, but it's inclear how the whole barred top comes off. Does it just lift off or slide sideways?

 

[Amy]

No, unfortunately they did not decide any different yet.
But people are steel keeping and breeding them, and this one needed a home.
Hopefully the government will make a good decision. I think they have until the end of august to motivate their grounds.

Fingers crossed

 

[Veer]

Is that the Ferplast Jerry tank you have there? It looks like it. I just linked the larger version of it on here recently. Can you tell us how the barred top comes off please? I know there is a large door in the top of the bars, but it's inclear how the whole barred top comes off. Does it just lift off or slide sideways?

Yes, it is the Ferplast Jerry 100.
The top has a very large door in it, big enough to do they daily feeding and interacting.
The whole top can be taken of very easy by just lifting it.
The bars from the side of the top just slide over the glas, and the top has some plastic screws in the bars so it can be fastened tightly.
I don't think it is needed and i have the screws loose.

 

[Maz]

Thank you So does it slide off sideways or lift off upwards? I had a Kerry Terrarium once and the bars slid off sideways and made a terrible grating noise that used to terrify the hamster! So I didn't use it for long.

 

[Veer]

You just lift it upwards, no noise.
Only the opening of the door in the top makes a bit of noise,but she doesn't seem to get spooked by it.

 

[Maz]

That sounds great. I recently saw this tank available in the uk in two sizes. The Jerry 100 (your version) and the Jerry 100 Large which is deeper and taller.

 

[Veer]

The other one is the Ferplast Jerry 101. it is about 100x50x50cm,
Unfortunately it is too hight to stand on my cabinet (i am not that tall and with the 40cm high i can reach everything)it is also about 5cm too deep to fit on the kabinet.

 

[Maz]

Ah that's interesting - on the Uk site they are both called the Jerry 100 - it's just the bigger one is called the Jerry 100 Large!

 

[Veer]

Droppie is curious but still a bit shy too.
It is very hot during the day and she only comes out for a fast drink and snacks.
I don't sleep very well die too the temperature, so when she is awake at night, i go sit with her and talk to her and give her some fresh veggies from my hand, or sometimes a mealworm or pumpkinseed.
I hope she will get used to me and my presence this way, and i do not have to disturb her during the day.
Hopefully she will get a better schedule when she gets older and more settled in.

 

[Socks' Mum]

Droppie is curious but still a bit shy too.
It is very hot during the day and she only comes out for a fast drink and snacks.
I don't sleep very well die too the temperature, so when she is awake at night, i go sit with her and talk to her and give her some fresh veggies from my hand, or sometimes a mealworm or pumpkinseed.
I hope she will get used to me and my presence this way, and i do not have to disturb her during the day.
Hopefully she will get a better schedule when she gets older and more settled in.

Lovely that you are getting on so well Sorry about the sleep

 

[Veer]

Droppie is doing well. She’s gained 3 grams in a week. She’s also starting to show herself occasionally during the day, so nighttime visits aren’t necessary anymore. I feed her a mealworm or gammarus, or some fresh vegetables by hand. So far, she loves chicory and will also eat a little cucumber.

She also enjoys her Mixerama food mix, though she leaves a lot of the dried herbs uneaten, so I’ve now mixed the Dwarf Hamster Zwergenzauber Magic with the Mixerama Dwarf Hamster Basic Menu 1/1.
There’s also a separate bowl with dried herbs and flowers in her cage.

I’ve removed the mealworms from the food mix and now feed them to her by hand; I’ve read that too much animal protein can be hard on the kidneys, so I don’t want to give her too many. The mixture of the above foods has a protein content of 14%, which is a bit too low. How can I supplement this without giving too much animal protein? I’ve tried Science Selective, but she hasn’t eaten it so far.
Is this mix alone, without any extra additions, sufficient, or can I, for example, give her some extra Gammarus by hand? Or should I just stick with the Science Selective for now?

She’s also starting to gnaw on the dandelion root, and she loves her exercise wheel.

Yesterday, I was able to gently pet her in her cage, and she walked into the hamster taxi, after which I could weigh her, then let her walk out of the taxi onto my hand and back into her cage.
How can I gently continue the taming process from here?

 

[Vanessa1]

Droppie is so gorgeous, what a lovely picture Ness

 

[Socks' Mum]

Little Liquorice, very cute You are doing well as she is letting you pet her. I think hand feeding her favourite foods should help her to associate hands with good things

 

[Veer]

Thank you. In think i need to do some spot cleaning soon, i am not sure how to do this because i don't want to spook her doing this.
Do you think i can take her out when she walks in her taxi, to put her in the carrier dor a few minutes and do a spot clean?or do you think it might be too soon?
It is very hot over here and i want to check if she didn:t hoard any fresh food or if she has wet spots in het nest.

 

[Amy]

Droppie is absolutely adorable what a pretty girl and you are doing so well.
Heel erg mooi

 

[Socks' Mum]

Thank you. In think i need to do some spot cleaning soon, i am not sure how to do this because i don't want to spook her doing this.
Do you think i can take her out when she walks in her taxi, to put her in the carrier dor a few minutes and do a spot clean?or do you think it might be too soon?
It is very hot over here and i want to check if she didn:t hoard any fresh food or if she has wet spots in het nest.

She might take a dislike to the taxi. Most hamsters don't like being in carriers. But the cleaning is important. Can it wait a little longer? She would probably move away from wet spots. Veggies often dry out in the paper bedding