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My hammy (referred to as she or her from now on) ran off to behind the fridge, while a cage top was open.
(It's a near-spherical cage where the top opens up. She likes people-watching -that'd be me?- when I leave the top open, but she never really escaped before.)
I had to throw 3 hammy treats to lure her out, just to find out she was a dust and hair magnet back in there.
So my girlfriend and I decided to bath her... We usually don't bath our hammy because she REALLY hates getting wet, and we could see that she gets very stressed. As soon as we dipped(?) her, she started.. um.. crapping her pants..?
After 5-6 poops she was pretty wet except her face and ears (Supposedly it's very dangerous to have water in hammy's ears just like most other pets)
We towel dried her and now she's sleeping like a baby. Hope she doesn't catch a cold.
Oh, by the way if you happen to be in a similar situation, don't throw your baits too far. I had to pull out 3 human hair out of her mouth while bathing her.
I can't imagine chewing human hair would be good for hammies so...
Well I'm happy to get her back safe. I learned quite a bit on bathing hammies today.
- Bath in shallow water. If your hammy has to "swim", that can lead to tiring out and in worst case, drowning. Yes, hammies puffing air in their mouth and floating around may look funny but that's actually life and death situation for almost all breeds of hammies. Not recommended for people 4 and older.
- Soap may be too strong for hammies' skin. I actually diluted some hand soap in water without knowing that. I washed her up with clean water so don't think she'll develop a skin trouble, but should have been more careful. Because of girbil shampoos out there I thought I should use soap but apparently not.
- You can blow dry, but keep 1m (a bit over 3 feet) distance and use medium heat if available. Do it with hot air or too close, your hammy will toast. You could also use a dry paper towel, toss it in the cage and let it rub against it.
P.S. It was such a horrifying sight. The moment I dipped my hammy in water, I could almost hear her screaming. The sense of fear was written all over her face, then radiated to fill the entire bathroom. I was like holy crap if I get this on tape it's like the horror movie of the year. I'm exaggerating a bit but still..
P.S.2. My hammy is about 14 months old, and I've bathed it only twice. If I see her coated with dust again, it's gonna give me heart attack.
P.S.3. Now it almost feels like I should have posted this on blogging space, but I don't use the blog feature =/
(It's a near-spherical cage where the top opens up. She likes people-watching -that'd be me?- when I leave the top open, but she never really escaped before.)
I had to throw 3 hammy treats to lure her out, just to find out she was a dust and hair magnet back in there.
So my girlfriend and I decided to bath her... We usually don't bath our hammy because she REALLY hates getting wet, and we could see that she gets very stressed. As soon as we dipped(?) her, she started.. um.. crapping her pants..?
After 5-6 poops she was pretty wet except her face and ears (Supposedly it's very dangerous to have water in hammy's ears just like most other pets)
We towel dried her and now she's sleeping like a baby. Hope she doesn't catch a cold.
Oh, by the way if you happen to be in a similar situation, don't throw your baits too far. I had to pull out 3 human hair out of her mouth while bathing her.
I can't imagine chewing human hair would be good for hammies so...
Well I'm happy to get her back safe. I learned quite a bit on bathing hammies today.
- Bath in shallow water. If your hammy has to "swim", that can lead to tiring out and in worst case, drowning. Yes, hammies puffing air in their mouth and floating around may look funny but that's actually life and death situation for almost all breeds of hammies. Not recommended for people 4 and older.
- Soap may be too strong for hammies' skin. I actually diluted some hand soap in water without knowing that. I washed her up with clean water so don't think she'll develop a skin trouble, but should have been more careful. Because of girbil shampoos out there I thought I should use soap but apparently not.
- You can blow dry, but keep 1m (a bit over 3 feet) distance and use medium heat if available. Do it with hot air or too close, your hammy will toast. You could also use a dry paper towel, toss it in the cage and let it rub against it.
P.S. It was such a horrifying sight. The moment I dipped my hammy in water, I could almost hear her screaming. The sense of fear was written all over her face, then radiated to fill the entire bathroom. I was like holy crap if I get this on tape it's like the horror movie of the year. I'm exaggerating a bit but still..
P.S.2. My hammy is about 14 months old, and I've bathed it only twice. If I see her coated with dust again, it's gonna give me heart attack.
P.S.3. Now it almost feels like I should have posted this on blogging space, but I don't use the blog feature =/