"Pip" Pipsqueak's Diary

[Socks' Mum]

Little Pip is so sweet

 

[Hamster Haven]

Oh but she is sooooo adorable I am sure in a few days everything will progress

My daughter says, "Thank you, she is! "

 

[Maz]

She really is! She looks more confident already and to have grown a bit.

 

[Hamster Haven]

Here are the current updates:
Monday I started work again, so we haven't been able to stay up extra late, and she intentionally stays hidden until 11PM or later. I say 'intentionally' because a couple times I gently lifted the lid of her hideaway in the evening, and she was totally awake, but still shy- ran to another chamber to get away from me.

So Monday, we couldn't lure her out and didn't see her. She won't come to her door when called or offered food yet.
But yesterday she came out right when we were getting ready for bed, and we successfully got her to take food from our fingers again! We gently attempted a finger pet when we offered food, but both my daughter and I could see her start to get "on guard" as soon as a finger moved past her head, so we backed off. I'm hoping that a few more days of offering food, and then maybe this weekend, if she comes out early enough, we can ferry her to the bathtub and see if a safe play area warms her up more.

 

[Hamster Haven]

Advice on our pacing?

Pip continues to be very timid, although when we do catch her out (not usually until 11:30PM, which means we can't see her every night!), she will still take a chicken cube from my fingers. I considered doing some bath tub time with her last night if she got into a hide in which I could safely transport her, but she didn't. In fact, after she took the chicken piece from me, she briefly went into a ceramic mushroom hide (I had considered covering the door and lifting this if she'd stayed in) and then she went underground into a peekaboo hide. She literally sat in there, awake, until we went to sleep! We stayed up for awhile watching some videos and playing a word game in bed, with the lights turned off, and periodically I would use the flashlight on my phone to see if she'd moved. Each time, she was just sitting and looking back from the peekaboo hide.

So do I keep just trying the handfeeding when I see her for the next week? Do I try to lie my hand flat with food on it? Do I keep trying for a transport to the bathtub or wait on that? I do keep forgetting that she is only about 6 weeks old at this point!

 

[Maz]

I tend to leave them along the first two weeks apart from talking through the cage and offering the occasional treat. And then get them out into the bathtub With Higgins, I just picked him up and popped him into his taxi. He was fine with it. With Tino he gradually edged towards the taxi each day and then finally walked into it. She's very young so I would think you could just pick her up and pop her in the taxi.

 

[Hamster Haven]

I tend to leave them along the first two weeks apart from talking through the cage and offering the occasional treat. And then get them out into the bathtub With Higgins, I just picked him up and popped him into his taxi. He was fine with it. With Tino he gradually edged towards the taxi each day and then finally walked into it. She's very young so I would think you could just pick her up and pop her in the taxi.

This is why I need the forum- for reassurance! I'm not sure if she'll let me pick her up soon (even for transport placement), but I'll try (she is quite quick when she wants to escape)

 

[Maz]

It's something that depends sometimes. With her being so very young, she will normally have been handled a lot by a breeder for various reasons and they seem more accepting of just being picked up. If she was still in with her Mother, her Mother would be picking her up with her teeth by the scruff and dumping her places

 

[Hamster Haven]

It's something that depends sometimes. With her being so very young, she will normally have been handled a lot by a breeder for various reasons and they seem more accepting of just being picked up. If she was still in with her Mother, her Mother would be picking her up with her teeth by the scruff and dumping her places

I should give that a try one night- just scooping her up (and into a safe transport). Perhaps I've been too hesitant, but at least it's made give her plenty of time to acclimate!

 

[Hamster Haven]

Picking up briefly tried...last night I couldn't fall asleep, and at about a quarter to midnight I heard Pip on her wheel. I went over with the flashlight on my phone and opened her cage. She sat in her wheel staring back at me for a bit and wouldn't take a chicken bit, so I put it down and scooped her up. She was very calm in my hands, and I didn't try to "push" too much. I held her for a few seconds above the ground but let her climb out after that on her own. I tried to put seeds in my hands and leave them flat in her cage to see if she would climb into one of my hands for food. She was still too timid to do that, but eventually she walked past one of my hands but was comfortable putting a paw on one of my fingers as she did so. Then she dug under some bedding to hide So she STILL doesn't love being completely out and about with us, but at least I learned that she's pretty easy to scoop up still, and at least she still got a few minutes with me learning that I'm really not a threat

 

[Maz]

That sounds really positive I'm sure she'd get used to more of that out of the cage and in the bathtub

 

[Hamster Haven]

We've had some progress in the past two weeks. Pip is 1) a late riser and 2) I think actively avoids coming out if she thinks we're around. However, we've caught her out a couple times now when it hasn't been too late to give her some bathtub time, so that's been nice. She will almost always take food held out from our fingers now, but if it's on my flat palm it's hit or miss. Once she's out, if we're awake, she won't run and hide, even if she does rarely come out if the lights are on or she can hear us. She tolerates pets more now, but if I try to pick her up (while in the bath), she is pretty quick to want to try to jump out of my hands. Still, we're pretty happy that even if we don't see her daily, we've seen this progress with reduced skittishness. I'll post new pics soon!

 

[Maz]

It does take a whlle with the bathtub. It was a few weeks of hand feeding in the bath with tino. I could stroke him on the back but similar if you tried to pick him up. Then one day I did and he sort of wriggled free but then had this look on his face of sort of - hey that wasn't so bad. After that I could pick him up. They still often don't like to keep still long though!

It sounds great she accepts pets now.

 

[Hamster Haven]

Update: We typically only catch Pip every few nights, because she often comes out well after 11PM, but sometimes we've randomly caught her out earlier. She's definitely more relaxed with us now- still a bit on guard, but doesn't freeze what she's doing as much as she used to, and doesn't try to run away. She getting much more relaxed with taking food from between our pinched fingers, though still hit or miss with a flat palm.

A few nights ago she came out and was meerkating a bunch, so I thought she might like to go in the bath, even though we were close to our own bedtime. She gets in the taxi easily coming and going, so we let her go in the bath on her own for a bit while we got ready for bed. Then last night she came out and we didn't put her in the bath (she didn't do anything that indicated she wanted to come out either), but we got to enjoy her hamster-ing quite a bit before we turned out the lights. I took a video of her cleaning herself in her sand bath, which I'll upload later. She is definitely getting bigger, though still not full grown (I think). As she grows, I'm sure I'll need to upgrade her wheel. I have a 10" Bucastate wheel right now, but given that she's a Syrian, I think we'll need a 12" at some point. We have a 12 inch Silent Runner, but it was getting noisy and unweildy before Oaky passed, so I think I'm going to replace it with a Bucastate. I like that they come with the cork sticker for the bottom, so they don't slide as much.

 

[Maz]

Nice that you've been able to enjoy her hamstering It's a pain when they want to come out when you're about to go to bed!

 

[Vanessa1]

I have the same situation with Teddy, I find he gets up when we're ready for bed, it's having a hammy. We just have to adjust our routine abit. Ness

 

[Hamster Haven]

So, we're getting a little luckier with Pip lately, and I think it's at least in part that she's suddenly starting to get more relaxed with us. She is still coming out after 10:30PM, sometimes closer to 11PM (23.00), but even so, that's earlier that the first few weeks when it seemed like she'd wait for us to turn out the lights.

Additionally, she's now seeming to enjoy bath time and even wanting to get out of the bath, but not because she's scared of being in there; I think she just wants to explore more- so I'm going to have to set up some type of external, safe play area. I wouldn't trust her yet in the master bedroom because she's still not fully grown, and it needs a cleaning! I've got a plastic grid set up I could use that I had purchased for Oaky (but she was such a crazy chewer I had to abandon it because she'd literally chew holes in the plastic at the corners until she could escape!), so I'm thinking of ordering the large Omelet playpen. It seems easy to set up and take down.

She also will occasionally use my hands for assistance getting down from a higher place, which is big growth, and she doesn't get too scared- she'll stay on my hand while I raise or lower her without jumping off- though I don't test that theory for too long!

Here is a video of her exploring a giant sunflower head that we ordered for fun.

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[Vanessa1]

What a beautiful hamster, its a super video.i really like that giant sunflower head it's very impressive.Ness

 

[Hamster Haven]

What a beautiful hamster, its a super video.i really like that giant sunflower head it's very impressive.Ness

We've never had one before, so we didn't quite know what to expect when we ordered it, but it's been fun. The first time she took at least 5 of the giant seeds and pouched them before we removed it from her cage. This time it was in the bath with her and she was pulling the seeds out and then leaving them! I think something about their size or feel is discouraging her from cracking them! But it's still certainly fun for enrichment.

 

[Maz]

She is so cute . Lovely video