Re-taming: Session 1

I swear I'm going to kill my brother.. Feel free to gang up with me if you're willing to read this terribly long post.

(How the taming session went is at the end. As well as sorry for posting at such an early time, pulled an all nighter.)

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Due to some unfortunate circumstances between my older brother and Mr. Cupcake, he is skittish, now. We are having to start from the beginning, bathtub bonding. I was going to leave him in his cage for a few days, but he was used to being taken out for free roaming twice a night to stop bar chewing and monkey barring, a con of wired cages. It is around 3:00 am, and he started chewing the bars about an hour ago, I decided to just sit in the bathtub with him making minimal movements, offering treats, a hide, a wheel, and a blanket.

(To help I am also rubbing my hands on his toilet paper nesting to keep my scent constantly around him.)

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I am doing my best to check him, and he has no swollen areas, no chipped teeth, no areas where he is struggling moving. The only change in behaviour is he did not wake up until about 11:30, which I can't blame him for due to the fact he was woken up yesterday. I am also going to try and enrich the cage even better so while taming he can tolerate being out once a night for thirty minutes in a small bathtub, over two-three times for an hour each time out, while in a larger open space. But that'll be hard due to the virus. I will definitely look into more diys immediately, since there are many that I have been wanting to build. Now may be the time, when I get to my dad's house which has plenty of materials I will start doing some random diys. If you have any videos or posts on good diys, please do share them with me.

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Before I get to the story I want to mention a few things. I did not know this happened until an hour after. I was not fully informed with all of the details until about five hours after this happened. I did not know my brother was holding Mr. Cupcake, meaning he broke into my room without my permission and held Mr. Cake. Not to mention, a six week old spaz of a puppy was there. I'm sure he was terrified, my brother did loose his phone for two months. Now, I personally don't think that was enough considering he broke into my room and held my animal, he did not tell me my animal may have died, he did not share the full story until five hours after it happened, and could've killed the dog. He should have been punished more, but it is my mother's decision, not mine. Onto this terrible story, I want to note, this is what I have been told has happened. If anything else happened I am unaware of it.

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Let's just say he was though to have been dropped 5 feet, after more information was shared he was practically thrown and hit the ground from a solid 7-8 feet. I was told he was making a screaming noise, which just breaks my heart. My brother said he started squeaking which startled him causing him yo throw Mr. Cake. (probably because Mr. Cake was woken up at midnight for him, which annoyed him I'm sure..) He ended up escaping a snapping puppy and hid in a small area of which we were unable to reach him. My dog was scratching and barking at him, which did not help the situation. My brother immediately grabbed food and threw in harshly from what I can tell at him. This must've scared him even more. My brother finally decided to remove the dog and lock her outside in the 98°F degree weather. Good decision, clearly. You know, it must not be common sense that that is dangerous, locking her in a sperate room, such as the bathroom was not an option? By now my brother has freaking been out throwing food at my poor baby for a whole damn hour. I arrive home from the store. Still unaware if the situation. My brother then proceeds to leave my room and go and hide in his room. Me and my mother freaking out about the dog at this point, obviously. We are so lucky she did not get her paws burned or have a heat stroke, as it was still about 98°F. Mr brother claimed it was an accident, so we let it slide. I go into my room, and see my hamster food bag on the floor with food everywhere, I ask my brother what happened. What do I get? (words straight from my dumb brother) "oh, I'm not sure. Maybe it fell on the floor, I thought I heard a thump earlier." Like what the actual hell, just tell me already. Either way, I just assumed it had fallen, as I was told that probably happened. Soon after I went onto Amino. It was about 10:15, my brother proceeds to walk into my room and FINALLY tell me. But let's not forget, I was told the hamster fell five feet and ran and hid. No dog was involved at my knowledge, no throwing, no screams from the hamster, no food being thrown at him, none of that. I'm assuming the situation is bad, I am mad, I am terrified, but no where near to the extent I realized it was a few hours later. I quickly burst into tears and start yelling at him, which was wrong, but in the given moment I didn't know what to do. This caught my mom's attention and she comes upstairs with the dog. I'm having a breakdown while mad and scared, my mom is clueless, my brother is sitting there expressionless. He is sitting there calm as ever, like what the actual hell. Anyways, I grab the dog as soon ad I see her and demand my brother explain the situation. Not nicely, but again in the situation I was not thinking before doing. I lock my dog in the laundry room with some water. My mom had been informed, well partly informed on the situation. She knew as much as me, all I did was tell everyone to get out and make minimal noises, which at this point everyone is just listening to me. I shined a dim light into where he supposedly was, he thankfully was still there and alive, quite scared, as expected. I got his favorite treats and offered them to him, he was quick to come out, weirdly enough. While he was eating I scooped him up, now I could very well see he was terrified as he dropped the treat and started just trying so hard to escape. I quickly checked him over seeing he seemed healthy, then I put him in his cage and left him be. He went into his hide and we called the vet. They said just monitor him, if you notice heavy breathing, swollen areas, wet tail, or any signs of injury immediately take him to the vet. It is about 11:30 after this is all over. I watched a few Youtube videos, and mostly stared at Amino posts as seeing your hamsters comforted me. As some of you saw, I mentioned it in the chat. Yeah, that was what I knew at the time. Anyways, skip forward too 4:00 pm. We were going to talk to my brother, thus us when he confesses about everything else.. Let's just say, I was p̶i̶s̶s̶e̶d̶, scared, and absolutely heartbroken all over again, but worse.

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I was recommended to get a lock for my cage, which I am. If you have any tips to help re-tame him, I am open to trying anything as long as it

Is safe.

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Training session: unsuccessful

I just stayed still and offered a treat, but he stayed in his hide, which is fine. I just got out after 10 minutes and filled the tub, dimmed the lights and stayed next to him with a close watch.

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I am sorry for such a long post that is confusing and so unorganized. I tried to make it seem more put together with dividers, but that didn't really help. I've kind if been on and off crying for a few hours, but I'm just glad he seems alright. We can work on taming. Though such a large amount of stress may shorten his lifespan I've heard, but not sure. Thank you for reading all the way through.