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First hamster!

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Arora
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First hamster!

Post by Arora »

Hello everyone! I don't know if you remember me...but just a few weeks ago I was planning for my first hammy. We got Taco just yesterday :D He's the cutest lil fella I could ever hope for! He appears to be settling quite well, and doesn't mind me coming to talk to him or just look at his cuteness. Currently of course he is sleeping :lol:
A few hamster questions: Is it normal for them to have a skin-piercing nibble? When I was reaching into the petstore's enclosure to check a dark spot to make sure it wasn't a flee, Taco sniffed my finger closely, and then made a small nibble, however, even though he didn't open his mouth very wide at all, when he nibbled, he broke through the skin and made me bleed. So cute, but so painful at the same time lol.

I am very happy to say, last night he ate some of his food (sat in the food dish to eat) made a burrow, destroyed that; burried the carrot and hay kabob, wood puzzle, and wood stick sometime in the night..then ran in his wheel occassionally. He also did drink some water!

Another question, I have a cat, so when he found out there was a hamster in that cage..he wanted to jump onto the glass cage. I put things around the rim so he couldn't do that, but I was wondering if you guys had any tips as to how I can block the lid from my cat?

I'll try to post pictures later :D
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TinyPaws
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Re: First hamster!

Post by TinyPaws »

Congratulations! Yes it is very normal for a hamster to bite hard like that. My past ham bit me quite a bit when she was being tamed and whenever I smelled like scented soap or food, and she normally wouldn't open her mouth very wide.
I think Victoria Raechel has a video on having cats and hamsters :D
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Arora
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Re: First hamster!

Post by Arora »

Ohhk thank you! :D
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Re: First hamster!

Post by Spud »

As a different perspective, I've only had one hamster, but she's never bitten me. I think hammies normally only do that if they're scared or think you're food. Maybe try washing your hands with unscented soap and paying careful attention to your hammie's body language? He probably just needs a bit more time to settle in before you start interacting with him, as I doubt he felt comfortable or safe in the pet store cage. Hopefully he will feel much more at home in your care :)

As TinyPaws says, Victoria Raechel's done a few videos on having cats and hamsters: https://youtube.com/watch?v=uuYt54e4uyk&feature=shared (To be brutally honest though I wouldn't feel comfortable with having that little security.) At the end of the day cats are biologically wired to kill small rodents, so it is best if the cats can't get anywhere near the hamster cages.

If you could keep the cat out of your hamster's room by keeping the door permanently shut that would be great. I recently came across this terrifying video which shows why cats and hamsters shouldn't really mix: https://youtu.be/F9GpDXau4tc (no hamsters are harmed in the video, don't worry). I found the video through the wonderful FAQ page of this rescue's website by the way: https://hamster-rettungsinsel-bodensee.jimdosite.com/

Congrats on Taco, I'd love to see some photos! 🥰
''You won't change the world by saving one hamster. But you'll change that hamster's world.''

Have a nice day :D
RIP Spud (a wondeful female Syrian hammie). 🌈
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Arora
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Re: First hamster!

Post by Arora »

Ah, thank you! Unfortunately I can't permanently keep the cat out as he sleeps in there (my room). I wanted to say that the cage I have is an aquarium type setup! And he does seem to be a calm hamster, I am honestly surprised with even how calm he acted in the store, and even his bite in the store was slow and classy, like a nibble lol. I am waiting 2-3 days to let him settle in :D He's already rearanged the furniture lol XD

Also, I think Taco is quite brave, last night my cat tried to stand on the glass and paw at him :? But little Taco went over to him, raised up on the glass, and sniffed all around, then went to go get some water and bathe!
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Arora
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Re: First hamster!

Post by Arora »

I'm trying to figure out how to post Taco's pictures. How do I do that??
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Re: First hamster!

Post by Hamthulhu »

Congrats on bringing Taco home!

To post up pictures, you'll have to post them on a third-party image hosting site like Imgur and link the BBC code for forums over into your post.
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Re: First hamster!

Post by Spud »

I resize them to less than 256kb through this site https://imagecompressor.11zon.com/en/co ... -256kb.php then just upload them as normal picture attachments. :)
''You won't change the world by saving one hamster. But you'll change that hamster's world.''

Have a nice day :D
RIP Spud (a wondeful female Syrian hammie). 🌈
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Arora
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Re: First hamster!

Post by Arora »

Last edited by Arora on Tue Aug 29, 2023 4:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Arora
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Re: First hamster!

Post by Arora »

Hmm, I tried to link to the picture but the link doesn't seem to be working yet
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