Scaredey Ham

[MollyTheHam]

My hammy is a strange one; she's about nine weeks old now, and she'll happily play on my bed. But she does hate to be handled. She'll run through my hands if she ends up on my arm.. But shys away at the sight of my hands.

Just now I tried to bribe her into my hands out of her ball, but she just ran round my hands and pretty much ignored me. However she will run straight into her ball for playtime. Any ideas or tips?
Thanks!

[DrKMcK]

Hello MollyTheHam. This is perfectly normal behavior for a young hamster. My Ted E Bear was exactly the same when I first got him. Take your time and go slow with her. She has to learn to trust you. Check out Erin's Hamsters on YouTube. She has an excellent tub taming video. I love the tub taming method and I use it for my own hams. 9 weeks old is very young and it can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months for a hammy to tame. They are all different, but if you go at their pace you wind up with a lovely, tame, trusting hammy. Welcome to hamster Central. I hope to see a photo of the lovely Molly soon. P.S. The run-about ball was the secret to my Ted E. Bear's taming, so Molly will be fine. The photo below shows Ted E. glaring at me before he became a hammy happy to come out anytime I showed up at his cage. He's gone to the Rainbow Bridge now, but his taming went really well, so try it.

[MollyTheHam]

Aw thank you so much! Yeah I love Erin's channel! Fun fact; I was in school with her back in the day! Loving the photo of the evil glare! Muahahaha!
Thanks! Xx

[Thin Lizzy]

Some hammies take longer, in time she'll learn to trust you, your hands etc.
You could rub your hands on her substrate so she recognises the smell.