Hi so I’m back with another update on Cocoa, it’s one month since Cocoa came home with me and it’s been quite the journey! So here’s a little update on how’s she’s been doing.
Okay since the last update was Cocoa’s 1st Week! A lot has happened since then and she’s really come on leaps and bounds. I believe in the last post I was still trying to figure her out and gain her trust as she had really been neglected by her previous owners.
In the last month Cocoa has really come out of her shell and she is finally happy. She has really become a lovely, kind-natured hamster who just wants her food and a cuddle!
So Cocoa was really struggling with human attention and was extremely confused as to why I was bothering her. So I continued to keep feeding her and eventually she would sit in my hand and eat food! I was so proud of her when this happened because I could see the change and comfortability in her. Eventually I was able to pick her up and she was absolutely unbothered so that’s when I realised she was settled and happy so I just let her sit on my lap and just let her get comfortable to that new experience. I continued to let her walk into her ball so she could have a run around and get to know the house and feel safe with all the smells and sounds.
So that was week 2! I have kept up with putting her in new situations and letting her meet other people so she can know that she is really safe and this is essential when taming a hamster.
As of today Cocoa has still been really easy to look after (possibly my easiest hamster). I still put her in the ball and let her run around, as of the other day I now let her on the sofa so she gets a different type of freedom and it’s a different environment for her.
I have noticed that she does get bored easily so I have had to keep up with that and introduce new things constantly. If you have noticed through the pictures, I have changed the flooring of her cage from bedding to sawdust. This is mainly because of the price of bedding but also was a really good change for her as she really seems to enjoy the sawdust.
I am constantly introducing new toys or treats as she will get some fruit or vegetables once a week and as I also love going for walks, I will go foraging for treats for her such as sticks, twigs, leafs, pine cones or flowers. This is actually really important for hamsters as it reconnects them and encourages them back to there natural instincts and gets them to back what they would live off in the wild. I actually learnt to start doing this over a year ago when I had my hamster Mara as she really enjoyed having nature around her and it helped me learn more about what hamsters eat and taught me how to look for things in the wild!
As of today Cocoa is really happy and content. In the past I have had female hamsters that have just been crazy and really hard to tame which is what I thought Cocoa was going to be as well. When I brought her home she managed to chew through two boxes that she was in and seemed ‘slightly rabid’! Once she was in her home she instantly calmed right down and was just happy in her home.
She has still never bitten me (other than a few times she thought my hand was attached to the food I was giving her), so she’s never been aggressive and acted out of fear once around me or anyone else which is so interesting since she was given up by her previous owners because of aggressive behaviour. The truth is hamsters can tell if you actually care and if you’re not treating them right then they will lash out. So maybe Cocoa just hopefully knows that she is getting the care she needs and deserves!
Anyway this was a short blog post but I just wanted to update on how Cocoa was doing and I may do another one in the future but I’m not sure right now.
Thank you for reading and let me know if this was interesting for you.
Emily’s Perspective 