I've had Darla since January 2012, and reckon he's nearly a year and a half old. He's never been the friendliest of chaps, and has always been the archetypal look-don't-touch Roborovski.
Recently, I've been looking for work, meaning that I've spent a lot of time at home. One of Darla's active times is mid morning, between eight and ten -- a time when I wouldn't be at home if I was working, but am while I am currently looking. This means that I have been able to interact a lot more with him than I have done previously. Normally, that means talking to him and letting him run around in his ball -- Darla has never been very confident in playpens, I think the enclosed nature of a hamster ball gives him a sense of security. However, because of the recent hamster diet issue I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I've been handling him a lot more, checking over him and making sure he is healthy.
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| Darla eating a grape. Because why not? |
The upshot of this is that, for the first time ever, he has been calm enough while being handled for me to risk getting him out for just general interaction and "cuddles". Sunday morning, we had a good ten minutes of him running up and down my arm while I was sat on the sofa, something that I would never have risked a year ago. His age has probably played a part, as he has slowed down a bit, although he's still faster than Annie. It's lovely to be able to stroke him, let him walk over me, watch him sit in my palm and wash himself. It's an honour and a privilege, and I am so pleased that we have managed to get this far.
Yay for Darla! He's such a cutie. I've never had a robo hamster before but know they aren't very easy to handle usually.
ReplyDeleteSomeone I know has a Robo who is more handle-able than some Syrians, I am actually quite jealous ;)
Deletethat's wonderful! i am jealous... though it does make me want to keep trying with kiwi :) jesselle x
ReplyDelete*waves* Hi :D
DeleteAs long as the ham isn't obviously massively stressed out, I don't think there's ever a point of not trying, as it were. I don't mean force the issue, but giving them the option of interaction with you on a semi regular basis, such as by leaving your hand in the cage, for example.
Age must be a calming agent with Robos. Patch has been the indifferent, skittish ham of mine but now he takes treats from my fingers! Such a small thing but so big for me! Darla is precious!!! I would love to see a cage tour too!
ReplyDeleteYou have two different blogger profiles, this is very confusing ;)
DeleteDarla's actually gone backwards a bit since we moved house, kind of understandable as everything outside his cage is so different! He's loving being able to run everywhere in his ball though, he has twice the space to explore now because everything is on one floor, and because the floor is laminate he can really pick up some speed! Unlike Annie he actually knows how to slow down and not crash in to things, too -- although I think Annie enjoys it, daft ham!