Leo

Giant whiskers ha ha. He is very cute. Yes I guess his old wheel was familiar. So we wonā€™t know if it was the size, openness or different sneaks of the new wheel or not. Maybe a bit of all of them. How about a 9ā€ silent runner? Although 11ā€ trixie sounds good too. I bet Leo will use the open wheel in a playpen at some point.
 
I have finally discovered the way to Leo's heart! Malt paste.

He gets to lick a little bit off my finger most days and he loves it. He's gradually learning how to lick my finger without biting. If I feel his teeth, I pull my hand away slightly so he learns to be more gentle. I'm really pleased with this discovery because I think I can encourage him to come to the front of the cage more often now and he's learning to be excited when I open the cage.


I wouldn't really recommend allowing other hamster species - especially Russian dwarfs - to lick food from your fingers as they seem to not understand the distinction between licking and biting. If they smell something nice, they just chomp down. Also, it can encourage them to bite even when you don't have food. I think Chinese hamsters have better eyesight than other species so maybe that's why it works for Leo.
 
The gerbils like malt paste too and they can hear when I open the tube. Immediately after filming that video, I looked into their cage and saw this:

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"Did someone say malt paste?"
 
Aww, that is such a cute video and cute picture! I know malt paste is known as 'rodent crack' as it is so addictive. My friend uses it to tame her mice. It is wonderful it is working on taming Leo. :)
 
I can just imagine how excited Leo must be knowing thereā€™s malt paste coming!
I was using it to give Gus meds last year & the others all got to lick some off my fingers too šŸ˜‹
Itā€™s so lovely to see him, such a handsome little man & you can see how gentle he is in the video.
I also suspected Chinese might have better eyesight.
 
Rodent crack - LOL. Leo is absolutely adorable - he looks so sweet in that photo and clearly malt paste is helping him breakdown his barriers :-) The photo of the gerbils is great - they are looking really intently with a very studied look. I can't quite describe the look but the photo says it all.
 
elusive said:
Malt paste is a kind of fortiefied treat made for ferrets but just about all rodents go mad for it!
Not something Iā€™d give often but it does come in handy if you need an extra tasty treat.
You can see the ingredients & analysis here.

Click to expand...
Thank you elusive. They also sell it in Pets at Home and looks like itā€™s in stock at my local one šŸ‘
 
I love that video!!! He's so pretty, and you can see he's being careful with your fingers. I can't wait to see more as he gets comfortable, he seems like a sweetheart
 
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