lyn
Rodent Retreat Lover
Just taking life one day at a time.
Posts: 307
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Post by lyn on Sept 13, 2010 6:59:21 GMT -4
Hello Everyone, I have has this little girl hammie that I named Emmy. She was very different from the first day I got her. I can't hand tame her no matter what, she bites and is very jumpy. When we first got her she would walk around with her eyes closed all the time, she still does, but not as much. At first I thought she may be blind but then after doing some tests with her I knew she could see. Anytime I go to her cage if she senses that I'm there she will run over to me, day or night. It is an immediate response. I watch her personality traits all the time and my conclusion is that she may be mentally challenged. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? Even the structure of her face is a little different. Her face shape appears to be longer in shape. Another thing I noticed is that common sense is lacking. There is a little house in her cage and I put bedding in there hoping she will go in to sleep. Instead, she will remove all the bedding and pee in there and it runs all over the top level of her cage. Any hammie i've ever had before generally picks a corner. And when little Emmy pees , she pees rivers, so a vet appointment is soon. I'm concerned she may have diabetes. I love this little girl, and I think the hardest part of owning her is not being able to give her lovins. Any ideas? I posted a pic of her, it isn't good, but i've never been able to get a good pic (she's always moving ). Thanks everyone! Lyn & Emmy Attachments:
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Post by Andrea on Sept 13, 2010 14:10:09 GMT -4
She's cute! I had an untouchable gerbil that I rescued from a pet store I was working at. I say rescued because she was going to be killed b/c her family ate one of her legs off and well the store couldn't sell a 3-legged gerbil. My opinion on her case was that she was mentally unstable, and so the family attacked her to get her away from them, no place to run in a cage. She would jump at the bars of her cage trying to attack anything that walked by, me, the cats etc. didn't matter if u were actually even looking in at the cage it was still the same reaction. When i finally got her a little more tame (less attacking) I would try and pick her up... she would SCREAM. It was an aweful sound. One day when i switched her houseing from a small cage to a large aquarium, i went to hand feed her a rasin... she attacked me latching onto my thumb, i had to pry her mouth open to get her off, she had bit right through my thumb nail.
So, yes. I do believe some animals like people can suffer from nerological issues. And I find those ones take a lot longer to train, can sometimes be unpredictable and need little change in enviroment (Once I put Emily (gerbil) back in the old small cage she was used to she never bit me).
I've not had a syrine hamster in a few years, and only ever had 2 (I perfer dwarves) so I have little experiance with them. But i did find they would use one corner for a bathroom. In your case it sounds like the little house is her bathroom, can you move it to the bottom floor of the cage that has bedding so it doesn't run? Removing bedding from a place you put it and deciding on their own house is totally normal, many animals do it, most of mine have lol
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Post by Hamsters82 on Sept 14, 2010 13:04:22 GMT -4
Where did you get Emmy before you had her? It sounds like she may have a problem, like maybe someone dropped her and she fell on her head. She's a cute girl. Even though hamsters do pick corners to pee in, sometimes my hamsters, too, would remove their bedding. She is a cute girl. Can you try scooping her up in a cup and then gently placing her somewhere? Either a playpen or wherever? Then you can try to pick her up, either with gloves or pulling down a long sleeve shirt over your hands. When she bites, give a little "no" or put her down and then pick her up again after a few moments. She might get used to that. We did that with our dwarf hamster that came from a pet store. Finally Harriet could be held without biting. I hope that helps a bit. Good luck.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Sept 14, 2010 15:31:57 GMT -4
Good advice above.
As I posted elsewhere just now I am off in half an hour. So I will comment at length later.
Andrea, interesting you mentioned that as one young rat I have has shown neurological issues such as unstable movement, moving often in weird circles, sleeping a lot more than the others and being easily startled, and being overly nervous about being handled.
But other than that he seems normal and healthy and gets along with his two friends.
I had two gerbils with issues, such as no back legs, and a splayed back leg and a locked forepaw. You can find them in my Memorial Gallery in my sig. But they were fine otherwise.
Maybe sometime we have to make accommodations for the "non-perfect" pet. And that makes me love them the more!
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lyn
Rodent Retreat Lover
Just taking life one day at a time.
Posts: 307
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Post by lyn on Sept 14, 2010 15:53:20 GMT -4
Thank you everyone for responding. I got Emmy from a pet store , but every hammie I've ever had was from a pet store. I know that alot of people try and discourage pet store buying, but I'm not breeding them and I can't stand seeing them there. The day I got her she was acting up at the store and chewed a cage barrier, and ended up in a rat cage. I quickly got an attendant because the rats were ganging up around her. The attendant told me that the rats wouldn't hurt her ,but I wasn't convinced. There were too many of them and one of her, plus she was in THEIR cage. I couldn't leave her there and always wonder if she made it or not, so she came home with me. I have hand trained all my hammies, some a little harder than others, but I know patience is key. This baby stiffens up when I touch her, whether petting her or trying to pick her up, and scoots very quickly away from me. I wear thick gardening gloves, and it is no effort for her to puncture them. I can only imagine the damage she could do without the gloves. After my hand is in the cage for awhile she will calm down to the point where it is like she's playing dead. She lays down and lets me rub her back. When I take my hand out she doesn't get up right away.The first time she did that I thought she had a heart attack and died. Taking her out concerns me for her safety. She does run in a ball every night. I put the ball up to the opening of her cage and she crawls in. She's a complicated baby but I love her with all my heart. Thank you for the advice. Lyn & Emmy
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Post by Andrea on Sept 14, 2010 17:45:38 GMT -4
Wow, she sounds a lot like Emily my old gerbil in many ways. Emily went in the ball every night as well, got her in the same way. It was the only thing that made her happy until a young man thought it would be funny to spin her fast while she was in the ball... by the time i got to her and got it stoped she was seizuring in the bottom. I told the 'friend' to leave immedietly and he was never welcome back in my home. She never went in the ball again, she was terrified of it. I felt like i failed her, ALL that work building her trust to be destroyed by some butt head! She did live a long time though, adn though not touchable she seemed to enjoy life and was less stressed in the end. Paitence is definelty the key.
I like to just keep a hand/arm in the habitat and watch TV or soemthing where I am not really paying attention to the animal, but they get used to my presence and smell being there. I'll wear long sleeves as I find after they become brave enough many will want to climb up the sleeve.
Good luck with her, it sound like she had a bit of a rough start but ended up in the perfect home.
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lyn
Rodent Retreat Lover
Just taking life one day at a time.
Posts: 307
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Post by lyn on Sept 14, 2010 22:35:26 GMT -4
Andrea, you make me feel so mushy. Thank you for saying she's at the perfect home. Lyn & Emmy
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Sept 16, 2010 0:50:12 GMT -4
A light tap on the nose if they start to go to bite can also discourage them. Never push them too hard to do something, or they'll get frightened. Nothing else I can add that I have not said or has not been said. I've had so many and some could be better handled than others, Syrian Hamsters I mean. The one time I got really bit I held his four legs, and he fifn;t likle that. There is a thread entitled "Zeb strikes back" which shows lots of blood. Didn't hurt much, though. Once got bit hard by Chrissy the gerbil after a year of handling her. No smells on my hands; she jujst suddenly started to bite. Never knew why. I loved pets without being able to handle them much, in some cases. Andrea's advice is always good. Best wishes to you and Emmy. As for me, I caught up on a LOT of stuff today, which is good! More time soon.
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Post by pinky on Sept 16, 2010 23:19:01 GMT -4
Awww, Emmy. . . . ya gotta love her just for being different! And Andrea is right--she's in the perfect home! There's just no rhyme or reason to hamster peeing habits sometimes. Clearly she's defined her potty--so sure, go with the flow (pun intended!) and move it downstairs as Andrea suggested. Diabetes--sounds like a possibility. I have a dwarf who drinks and pees a lot--he has high ketones and maybe high glucose in his urine (as determined with test strips). He pushes the bedding away and then pees his river on the glass of the tank. Goofball--but I love him tons anyway! What would she do if you sat in the bathtub with her and let her just run on you? And lyn, we should talk Pittsburgh--the land of pop and younse and steak salad. . . . my parents were Pittsburgh natives, and I visit yearly.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Sept 16, 2010 23:33:02 GMT -4
Pittsburgh - the home of Mister Rogers!
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Post by Andrea on Sept 17, 2010 12:19:14 GMT -4
My very first hamster when i was a kid was a syrine named Rollo. He used to hike his back legs up the corner of the glass tank, till he was pretty much up and down and then pee down the corner of the glass. It was so very strange LOL
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Sept 18, 2010 1:05:13 GMT -4
Speaking of pee. . . dwarfs love to do it in tubes, such as in Habitrails (a mess). Syrians do it in a corner usually. Odd the preference difference.
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Post by Andrea on Sept 20, 2010 12:29:31 GMT -4
Yeah! I got rid of the tubes very quickly when i used them for my 5 dwarf colony. Man what a stink!
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Sept 20, 2010 21:38:06 GMT -4
In the Habitrail tubes brown stuff was dripping out of the joints. But, if you have a TP tube they can "go"there, and you can replace it every day--helps keep the rest of the place cleaner longer.
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Post by Dezzi on Sept 22, 2010 14:07:13 GMT -4
I've had my fair share of so called "untouchable" hamturds. I've found a way of holding them that make its nigh impossible for them to bite anything other than your fingernails. Firmly under the armpits and supporting the bum. If they're prone to biting I tend to put one finger over the head as well (will try to find pictures to show what I mean).
I honestly think that hamsters (especially pet store ones) are prone to being sketch cases because of inbreeding. It's sad but true.
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