So lets get the introductions out of the way:
Icarus (hyrbrid dwarf): One of my four hamsters, he is my project baby right now. I planned to rehabilitate/tame him and rehome him. However that definitely didn't happen. His past care had caused severely detrimental behavioral characteristics. He is extremely aggressive, so aggressive that I didn't feel it was safe for him to be given to another family especially since a lot of families who are interested around in hamsters around here are either college students who don't have a lot of time or young kids who are afraid of biting hamsters (or don't have the patience for aggressive hamsters), then there is the fact that gaining his trust to just take a treat from my hand took 3 months. I didn't want to shove him into another home where he didn't know anyone and they had none of his trust. This last week I have been able to hold him with no biting. However a couple days ago I had to take him in due to a bacterial skin infection that I was finally able to notice after being unable to give him proper health checks for so long. I took him to the vet and during that visit I got his nails clipped and him treated (which was being prescribed silvadene due to the fact that his infection had started clearing up already) however during that half hour I knew I lost a lot of trust I built, and though right now he will take treats without biting, and petting is ok, holding is definitely out of the question.
RIP little guy
Scotti (robo dwarf): Another one of my hamsters, however he is one of mine that I know will never be tamed and I honestly haven't tried to tame. There are some hamsters I view as untameable. However with every single one of my hamsters that I have currently and have had in the past, I have safely been able to handle, I honestly don't think Scotti would ever bite me, however I don't ever think I would be able to catch him for him to get the chance. Scotti is a robo who lived most of his life in a pet store, he came into my life at 8 months old, and since he came into my life he has been extremely fearful. I have tried every type of training technique there is for hamsters. Everything from noninvasive tissue paper that is scented, to picking up and forcing them to deal with me by sitting in a bath tub with me. However what I have realized with Scotti, is he does best when he is left alone. He has become extremely more comfortable about us talking to him and being out in the open with us out in the room after 8 months of not really bothering him other than the typical cleaning his cage, feeding, watering, and leaving the occasional treat in his cage. I have tried offering different treats of various value to him, nothing gets his attention and he'd much prefer to run. So I prefer to let him be himself, when it comes to getting to the vet, I have ways to catch him if needed, not that examining him will be easy, but I hope the need will never come.
Gabriel (golden syrian): Another one of my hamsters, he is my other untameable in most ways hamster. In fact Icarus is easier to tame than Gabriel, though Gabriel has never ever been as aggressive as Icarus. In fact I don't really think Gabriel has the capability of being aggressive. Gabriel is another rescue, who is a wet tail survivor. He came to me at 6 months old and as an avid runner, he needed a good food so back when I was feeding a commercial diet I switched him to my diet which was much healthier for a hamster than what he was eating. Gabriel didn't need long to settle in, he is always willing to take a treat (only pumpkin seeds are worthy of taking) from my fingers. When I was originally taming him he would take pumpkin seeds four at a time once a week. Then I learned that this was the most I'd ever get from him. However after trying to handle him the first time for the first cage clean, it wasn't a problem, he wasn't exactly a fan of it, but he wasn't interested in biting me at all. Now I can easily handle him by scooping my hands under him, and holding him against my chest so he can't see out. When I am doing health checks, he grunts and grumbles in obvious complaint, but then again he is vocal in general and will grunt if I move something in his cage in a way he doesn't approve of, or if something doesn't do what he wants. Gabriel is pretty much anti-social but not aggressive.
Badger (silver syrian I think): My last hamster, he is by far my most social and friendliest. He has always been friendly, when I first got him I originally thought he was a pregnant female hamster. Though he was at the point where his testicles should have dropped his physical disabilities were so severe that it caused him to get so badly constipated that his testicles were constantly constricted into his body. However, once I was able to stimulate most of the feces out of his body and get his guts moving with canned pumpkin, and some hamster probiotics he was very obviously a boy. And it was obvious he was definitely not a physically normal boy. I bought Badger expecting a healthy pregnant female, I technically got a physically and mentally disabled male. Badger has something wrong with his hips, whether it is neurological, a physical defect that he was born with, or a physical injury that happened when he was a baby that healed wrong, we don't know as we have yet to have him xrayed. However we have learned ways of keeping him healthy and moving at the moment that he shows little problems moving. When we first recognized his problems it was extremely obvious, one side of his body is atrophied compared to his other. He throws out his leg and it seems like his bad hip is almost fused in a way though we aren't sure. We realized early on, having a wheel and running on it regularly is very helpful to keeping him moving correctly. He also benefits from a few massages a week. I also add healthy omegas from seeds such as flax, sesame, and chia to keep his joints moving as good as they can. His mental capabilities aren't all normal either, he kind of has what people call OCD in the hamster world. He stares in one spot (which is normal for a hamster if its at most one minute) for five minutes sometimes, he also often seems to react to my presence almost as if I startled him because he didn't realize I was there, he often runs on his wheel or does things obsessively once he starts doing certain motions he can have a hard time getting out of them. He also isn't exactly what I'd call the smartest hamster, while Icarus is easily the smartest hamster I have ever had, I would put him on the level of an intelligent rat. However Badger is easily stupid... yet he has a great personality and I love him, stupidity and all.
Lark: He is one of my two birds, Lark is a Bourke's parakeet. And I honestly gotta say if all Bourke's Parakeets were hand tame like him I would honestly prefer them far above budgies. Budgies have their place, but if you live in an apartment and need a quiet bird but want the same intelligence as a budgie or a parrot you NEED a Bourke's parakeet. Because though they have every ability to get loud, their sounds do not carry like a screaming conure, and they are definitely more tolerable. Bourke's Parakeets do not talk from what I have learned, all they do is trill, whistle, and sing in notes. However they have every ability to learn new patterns and types of whistles, I got Lark at 2 years old, he is now almost 4 and he easily has learned at least 10 more patterns. He has learned most of the common wild birds around my area, a couple songs from the tv, and to wolf whistle. He is incredibly intelligent for a bird I thought would have lower intelligence than a budgie, he has learned to manipulate us in only ways a parrot could. He also loves attention and thrives on being able to talk to us and be held. He is strongly bonded to me, and if anyone else hold him he will most likely fly off of them immediately, while with me he will easily fall asleep and stay sitting until I put him back. He doesn't like people to pet him, though he has no problem with "stepping up" onto hands and returning kisses.
Kookie: My other bird, however she is purely my mom's. She loves my mom, is bonded to my mom and because of the species she is and the way she was brought up she does not enjoy other people very often. She is a yellow nape amazon parrot, with very little of that yellow in her nape. However she is absolutely gorgeous. She is 32 years old or so. She has been with my mom since she had just gotten her green baby feathers and was only eating gruel. She is older than me, and has been technically my older sister since I was born. It's weird, she is extremely jealous of me, doesn't trust me, is fearful of me, and so acts aggressively to me. However I will most likely be the one she is left to because I am most likely the one who will bond with her after mom dies, or will at least be able to correctly take care of her even if she is aggressive. Even if it comes to the point where I need to rehome her, I know I would screen people with such OCD and paranoia mom would be happy with whoever she went to. Even though we aren't always on the best of terms, I love her in a weird way.
TBC
Icarus (hyrbrid dwarf): One of my four hamsters, he is my project baby right now. I planned to rehabilitate/tame him and rehome him. However that definitely didn't happen. His past care had caused severely detrimental behavioral characteristics. He is extremely aggressive, so aggressive that I didn't feel it was safe for him to be given to another family especially since a lot of families who are interested around in hamsters around here are either college students who don't have a lot of time or young kids who are afraid of biting hamsters (or don't have the patience for aggressive hamsters), then there is the fact that gaining his trust to just take a treat from my hand took 3 months. I didn't want to shove him into another home where he didn't know anyone and they had none of his trust. This last week I have been able to hold him with no biting. However a couple days ago I had to take him in due to a bacterial skin infection that I was finally able to notice after being unable to give him proper health checks for so long. I took him to the vet and during that visit I got his nails clipped and him treated (which was being prescribed silvadene due to the fact that his infection had started clearing up already) however during that half hour I knew I lost a lot of trust I built, and though right now he will take treats without biting, and petting is ok, holding is definitely out of the question.
RIP little guy
Scotti (robo dwarf): Another one of my hamsters, however he is one of mine that I know will never be tamed and I honestly haven't tried to tame. There are some hamsters I view as untameable. However with every single one of my hamsters that I have currently and have had in the past, I have safely been able to handle, I honestly don't think Scotti would ever bite me, however I don't ever think I would be able to catch him for him to get the chance. Scotti is a robo who lived most of his life in a pet store, he came into my life at 8 months old, and since he came into my life he has been extremely fearful. I have tried every type of training technique there is for hamsters. Everything from noninvasive tissue paper that is scented, to picking up and forcing them to deal with me by sitting in a bath tub with me. However what I have realized with Scotti, is he does best when he is left alone. He has become extremely more comfortable about us talking to him and being out in the open with us out in the room after 8 months of not really bothering him other than the typical cleaning his cage, feeding, watering, and leaving the occasional treat in his cage. I have tried offering different treats of various value to him, nothing gets his attention and he'd much prefer to run. So I prefer to let him be himself, when it comes to getting to the vet, I have ways to catch him if needed, not that examining him will be easy, but I hope the need will never come.
Gabriel (golden syrian): Another one of my hamsters, he is my other untameable in most ways hamster. In fact Icarus is easier to tame than Gabriel, though Gabriel has never ever been as aggressive as Icarus. In fact I don't really think Gabriel has the capability of being aggressive. Gabriel is another rescue, who is a wet tail survivor. He came to me at 6 months old and as an avid runner, he needed a good food so back when I was feeding a commercial diet I switched him to my diet which was much healthier for a hamster than what he was eating. Gabriel didn't need long to settle in, he is always willing to take a treat (only pumpkin seeds are worthy of taking) from my fingers. When I was originally taming him he would take pumpkin seeds four at a time once a week. Then I learned that this was the most I'd ever get from him. However after trying to handle him the first time for the first cage clean, it wasn't a problem, he wasn't exactly a fan of it, but he wasn't interested in biting me at all. Now I can easily handle him by scooping my hands under him, and holding him against my chest so he can't see out. When I am doing health checks, he grunts and grumbles in obvious complaint, but then again he is vocal in general and will grunt if I move something in his cage in a way he doesn't approve of, or if something doesn't do what he wants. Gabriel is pretty much anti-social but not aggressive.
Badger (silver syrian I think): My last hamster, he is by far my most social and friendliest. He has always been friendly, when I first got him I originally thought he was a pregnant female hamster. Though he was at the point where his testicles should have dropped his physical disabilities were so severe that it caused him to get so badly constipated that his testicles were constantly constricted into his body. However, once I was able to stimulate most of the feces out of his body and get his guts moving with canned pumpkin, and some hamster probiotics he was very obviously a boy. And it was obvious he was definitely not a physically normal boy. I bought Badger expecting a healthy pregnant female, I technically got a physically and mentally disabled male. Badger has something wrong with his hips, whether it is neurological, a physical defect that he was born with, or a physical injury that happened when he was a baby that healed wrong, we don't know as we have yet to have him xrayed. However we have learned ways of keeping him healthy and moving at the moment that he shows little problems moving. When we first recognized his problems it was extremely obvious, one side of his body is atrophied compared to his other. He throws out his leg and it seems like his bad hip is almost fused in a way though we aren't sure. We realized early on, having a wheel and running on it regularly is very helpful to keeping him moving correctly. He also benefits from a few massages a week. I also add healthy omegas from seeds such as flax, sesame, and chia to keep his joints moving as good as they can. His mental capabilities aren't all normal either, he kind of has what people call OCD in the hamster world. He stares in one spot (which is normal for a hamster if its at most one minute) for five minutes sometimes, he also often seems to react to my presence almost as if I startled him because he didn't realize I was there, he often runs on his wheel or does things obsessively once he starts doing certain motions he can have a hard time getting out of them. He also isn't exactly what I'd call the smartest hamster, while Icarus is easily the smartest hamster I have ever had, I would put him on the level of an intelligent rat. However Badger is easily stupid... yet he has a great personality and I love him, stupidity and all.
Lark: He is one of my two birds, Lark is a Bourke's parakeet. And I honestly gotta say if all Bourke's Parakeets were hand tame like him I would honestly prefer them far above budgies. Budgies have their place, but if you live in an apartment and need a quiet bird but want the same intelligence as a budgie or a parrot you NEED a Bourke's parakeet. Because though they have every ability to get loud, their sounds do not carry like a screaming conure, and they are definitely more tolerable. Bourke's Parakeets do not talk from what I have learned, all they do is trill, whistle, and sing in notes. However they have every ability to learn new patterns and types of whistles, I got Lark at 2 years old, he is now almost 4 and he easily has learned at least 10 more patterns. He has learned most of the common wild birds around my area, a couple songs from the tv, and to wolf whistle. He is incredibly intelligent for a bird I thought would have lower intelligence than a budgie, he has learned to manipulate us in only ways a parrot could. He also loves attention and thrives on being able to talk to us and be held. He is strongly bonded to me, and if anyone else hold him he will most likely fly off of them immediately, while with me he will easily fall asleep and stay sitting until I put him back. He doesn't like people to pet him, though he has no problem with "stepping up" onto hands and returning kisses.
Kookie: My other bird, however she is purely my mom's. She loves my mom, is bonded to my mom and because of the species she is and the way she was brought up she does not enjoy other people very often. She is a yellow nape amazon parrot, with very little of that yellow in her nape. However she is absolutely gorgeous. She is 32 years old or so. She has been with my mom since she had just gotten her green baby feathers and was only eating gruel. She is older than me, and has been technically my older sister since I was born. It's weird, she is extremely jealous of me, doesn't trust me, is fearful of me, and so acts aggressively to me. However I will most likely be the one she is left to because I am most likely the one who will bond with her after mom dies, or will at least be able to correctly take care of her even if she is aggressive. Even if it comes to the point where I need to rehome her, I know I would screen people with such OCD and paranoia mom would be happy with whoever she went to. Even though we aren't always on the best of terms, I love her in a weird way.
TBC
