When/how to pick up/hold?

[Spicy Mocha]

Brought a 2 month-old Syrian home on Saturday. Sunday eve, I kept laying my hand in the cage. Crumpet didn't seem bothered by my hand's presence.

Monday and Tuesday eve, I did the same, but also pet him. He seemed fine with me petting him whenever he took a break from his wheel. Tuesday (last night) I also thought I'd try to pick him up, but he panicked before I got a hold of him. So I stopped. Later he let me pet him again.

So my question is how to judge when to push it and when to back off? Is there a specific way to hold him? Do I need to go slower in trying to get him used to me?

[NiceCrocs]

When it comes to taming, let the hamster set the pace. If they don't want to interact at the moment, back off and try again later.

Treats go a long way to getting them used to being handled. Use healthy treats like sunflower seeds or mealworms or sugar free cereal puffs (my hamster's favorite )Put some treats on your flat palm and fingers and let the hamster come up to take them. At first they'll probably stretch their necks to take treats without touching you, but eventually they'll start to put their paws on you to get to them. You can trail treats up you palm and up to your wrist to encourage the hamster to climb onto your hand. The idea is to associate your hand with positive things, like yummy treats and gentle petting the important thing is to be patient; we're big and scary and it'll take time: sometimes weeks or months to break that association.

It sounds like your hamster is already fairly comfortable with your presence, especially since you started so quickly; generally you want to give the hamster 2-3 days to settle in without human interaction. But if your hamster is receptive to it and didn't seem distressed, there's no harm in starting earlier

[Artistwolf]

With other small animals I've heard you shouldn't use treats because then they think of you as treat dispensers and are more likely to bite you... Is this not true with hammies?

[NiceCrocs]

I've never heard of that, tbh. Almost everyone I've seen talk about taming hamsters heavily involves using treats to associate human contact with something positive.

[kyrilliondaemon]

Originally Posted by Artistwolf

With other small animals I've heard you shouldn't use treats because then they think of you as treat dispensers and are more likely to bite you... Is this not true with hammies?

Its a completely debatable issue. I have known of a hamster who was bribed with treats and started biting whenever he saw the hand but I've also known hamsters who were bribed with treats and didn't bite.

I don't use treats for taming as I don't think they're needed and I don't want the hamsters to associate me with treats, plus I have quite a few who don't want to eat outside their cages anyway. I actually go for the routes that involve letting the hamster get used to you and to enjoy playtime for its own sake - ours like interaction with us because they find us fun to climb over and explore, not a single one expects treats when they see us