Things are going slower than I'd hoped in all honesty, since getting Evey we've had a few road blocks. My mum was staying with us, Christmas came, then mum went, then it was New Year, then Evey decided she wouldn't get up until 4am. I stay up late but 4am is too late for even me to be taming a hammy!
When we first got her she quickly earned the nickname 'Freakaleaper' as she would leap in the air if she was startled and make this squeaky toy squeak. At the start of her first taming session, once my other half and I had taken the wire top off her cage, she irrupted from underneath her Flying Saucer where she's nesting and only my other half putting his arm in the air stopped her from leaping right out of the base of her cage. She soon settled and started wondering around the edge of her cage having a sniff of us but she was still skitish and her leaping like that put both of us on edge so we didn't end up handling her that day.
Skip forward a few days and I put her cage into the massive playpen I have for her when she's tame, this meant that she could only jump out one side of the cage, the side I was sitting at. The session went OK, I picked her up and she did what I expected and leaped off but then went straight back into her nest and wouldn't come out again. I won't ever disturb a hamster next unless it's an emergancy so she put an end to that taming session!
For a few days or so after that she wasn't getting up until 4am so I missed out on those few days, although I did get to give her loads of treats and that just before going to bed most nights (or after, once she'd woken me up banging about in her cage!). She's been absolutely fine taking treats which as been great!
She seems to have sorted her body clock a little bit and for the last three days she's been getting up between 4 and 5pm each evening. The first night I started handing some treats through the bars then, purely on the off chance she would go into it, I offered her her ball. She hopped right in and seemed to love it! Only put her on the floor for 5 minutes or so as baby hams or those new to a ball shouldn't be in them long. Put her back and she was begging to come out again! I offered her the ball again and she went straight in, suggested to my other half that we do a bit of bath taming but I was a bit wimpy and wouldn't do it so he did. She was fine, had a good old sniff and I picked her up a few times. She jumped right off but I expect that to be the case for a while. So since then she's been getting ball time and bath taming each night and I hope that, relatively soon, she will get used to being picked up and will stop leaping off instantly. She's happy to climb over my hands to leave her ball which is good and my other half has handled her a little bit too.
Hopefully we won't hit any more stumbling blocks! On the cage front we will definately be getting an Alexander and really soon, I'll be ordering it by the end of the month. Can't wait to get it! The access it has was holding me back but after these last few days where Evey has been coming straight out as soon as the door is open has put those worries to bed. I reckon she's going to love her new cage!
Maganed to weigh Evey this morning, she weighs 137g at exactly 8 weeks, a lot bigger than Luna who was 122g at over 9 weeks!
Just a quick note - I don't usually like using a bath as they tend to be very cold (even with towels underfoot) but Evey is only in there for five to ten minutes at a time and it's the safest way to tame a freakaleaper ;)
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