my hamstercare journey: a thread for myself!

(may be long, apologies in advance) ʕ •̀ o •́ ʔ

[enclosure]
I initially bought a cage from amazon, but it was $$ and not big enough. So, I bought a Billy shelf extension from IKEA, a 10x30 pane of glass, aqua-siliconed it on and voila! A DIY enclosure that cost >$50 with ample floorspace!

After filling it with goodies, it looked like this:
(this was before hams came home)

I made sure to have a big/deep sand bath, since hams love that! I used reptisand bc its already sanitized and low-dust! they also can use it like a litter box :o did u kno hams could b littertrained? i didnt

We bought some wood stakes, window mesh, hinges and a handle from home depot and made a pretty sick lid if i do say so myself

hams came home!! he’s a male winter white dwarf, meaning his coat may or may not turn white in the winter LOL either way hes a good round boy

I receieved more decor items today and its really coming together now i hope he likes it! Still more to come

my wheel is arriving tomorrow, the first one i bought was only wall-mounted im sorry ham, i know ur a free stallion who just wants to run

(food)
its generally said that the best hamster food combo is the Sunburst Higgins Gourmet Mix and the Mazuri Rat & Mouse pellets! I also bought timothy hay, dried mealworms, and have some oat sprays otw ill cut some fresh veggies for him too

i decided to scatter feed him (spread the food around the cage) to encourage natural scavenging behavior! I think this increases enrichment and helps boredom

will take a break so i dont flood TLs too much im sorry aksjks

all my mutuals seeing my 100-tweet-long hamster care thread:

a photo i got this morning before he went to sleep ✧ʕ̢̣̣̣̣̩̩̩̩·͡˔·ོɁ̡̣̣̣̣̩̩̩̩✧ what a ham

no talk him he angy

he took a nap in a weird place and yawned! As a concerned ham mom, i googled and ig its a good thing? Idk i just hope hes adjusting well ( ͒ ඉ .̫ ඉ ͒)

Its the middle of the night, but this is the first night where hes really active/out since coming home! I think his sleep schedule is regulated hes running on his new wheel lots and really likes mealworms i may start taming soon! gnight c:

this morning, hams was still sleeping in the corner! I assume its bc its hot in the hideout. I fed him a bit of food mix and hes so picky ʕ •̀ o •́ ʔ he also needs a smaller bowl LOL

enclosure update: the wheel was touching the mesh when the lid was down, so i rearranged to make some room! Its looking very good now ◉‿◉ he is asleep as well so i didnt disturb him much.

I baked some hamster treats! theyre peanut butter and oat snacks. theyre.. a little big for him LOL but i can just break em in half ✧ʕ̢̣̣̣̣̩̩̩̩·͡˔·ོɁ̡̣̣̣̣̩̩̩̩✧ will try to give him one when he wakes up!

TAMING UPDATE: HE SAT IN MY HAND AND ATE A WORM IM CRYGNNG

teddy had another great day!!! he pees in his wheel sometimes, and hoards seeds in his bed, but hes a darn good ham. I just lov him sm ‧⁺◟( ᵒ̴̶̷̥́ ·̫ ᵒ̴̶̷̣̥̀ ) goodnight from he

update: kimchi has just noticed the hamster’s presence. After 4 days. and shes crying cuz shes scared of him AKSJKSKS

taming update: HE CRAWLS IN MY HAND NOW I offered him some worm segments and after he pouched them, he crawled and explored my hand a bit im so happy taming is going so well!!!

he didnt even pee in my hand (　-̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥᷄◞ω◟-̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥᷅ )such a polite boy
i’m trying to remember that taming is a very patient process and that I shouldn’t go too fast! though i’m super excited about the progress, we have a long ways to go

today hams was up earlier than usual, so I did my taming session ٩(^ᴗ^)۶ he crawls on to my hand with not much hesitation and doesnt mind being lifted a bit. I bought a small playpen for me to sit in with him, so we’ll move on to that when hes fully comfy!

ham update: he seems almost fully comfortable with his enclosure! He LOVES sand baths, his wheel, and nibbling on the seed sprays I put around (altho he hoards the seeds) he’s the most adaptable and comfy little ham

as of yesterday, hams has been here for a full week! We’ve bonded so much and I can’t wait to become a better hamster parent! I am considering changing his name to Beau as well (◜௰◝) i love how he sits in his bowl to eat hehe

I haven’t been able to decide on a name for little Ham. It never felt right!! But since i’ve been calling him “ham” I think he will henceforth be known as:
HAMTARO! my favorite show as a kid hehe

him stretch ✧ʕ̢̣̣̣̣̩̩̩̩·͡˔·ོɁ̡̣̣̣̣̩̩̩̩✧