Terrified Syrian Hamster

[Mr Pudding]

It's been ages since I last posted on the forum. With the help and encouragement of the forum I managed to tame an older rescue hamster. Sadly Fudge passed away last December. I thought I was going to take a break from hamsters but then I saw (I shouldn't have looked) little Pudding in need of a new home. It was through the Pets at Home adoption service. Pudding had been in the shop for too long so I decided to give the wee guy a home. I've had, and successfully tamed, several rescue hamsters now but after 2 months of trying to tame Pudding this is the first time I've considered taking a rescue back.

Pudding is terrified of me. Actually peeing and pooing himself terrified of me still after about 10 weeks of trying to get him to feel more relaxed.

Pudding is in a Hamster Heaven cage with a large flying saucer wheel or at least he was until he broke the wheel last night. When I first got him I put him in the cage with some bedding from his previous home and just left him alone for a few days. Then I started adding tissues with my scent to the cage. Next I tried putting a tasty treat in my hand but Pudding isn't in the slightest bit interested in the food. He will hide in his nest or one of those boob-shaped domes in the Hamster Heaven if he knows I am in the room. If he is out in the open when I enter the room he will bolt to safety. If he hears my voice he is quite clearly distressed and runs for cover.

Last night I witnessed him (from the other side of the room) going bananas and climbing up to the cage ceiling and trying to swing from one side to the other. I suspect he knows there is a door up there. Then he fell on to his wheel and broke it. It's the second wheel he has broken. I couldn't figure out how he broke the first one but now I know.

None of the usual taming techniques are working so I was wondering if anyone had any other ideas I could try. I feel bad just thinking about handing him back to be re-homed but I don't know what else to try. I've never had a hamster behave like this before. If anything he is getting worse. His cage needs cleaned out so like it or not he's coming out.

[flowerfairy]

Awww what a beauty. I would just go back to the begining and let him alone for a few days and do the tissue trick again.

Then I would put food in lots of things like paper bags, loo roll inners to keep him busy. I would give him a house with no bottoom and place it on top of really really deep fitch, up to the rim of the tray so he can burrow and make nice stashes.

It sounds like you are doing all the right things perhaps it has all gone a bit fast for him??? Best of luck. He is gorgeous.

[cypher]

Poor guy, he does look adorable & it really is a shame he's so scared, do you know if he maybe had some bad experiences before coming to you?
I'd tend to go right back to the beginning too give him lots of deep substrate to burrow in & a good size house so he feels nice & safe (if you haven't already!) & just spend time talking to him quietly until he begins to relax a bit, maybe don't move on to putting your hand in with treats but just talk to him, leave a treat & walk away & keep doing that until he's ready to move on.
I know some people go the opposite way, small cage with few hideouts, but that's never worked for me tbh.

Cleaning his cage will be stressful but if you can get him to climb into something & put him in a carrier with plenty of substrate in it & don't over clean or remove all his scent in the cage it probably won't set you back much at this stage.

[Mr Pudding]

I think I will need to back to the beginning and hope it works. He loves monkey nuts so I'll get some more in....see if a bit of bribery works.

I suspect that before he came to me Pudding was in one of those tiny pet shop glass fronted cages and had very little interaction with humans except for those gits who knock on the glass trying to wake the hamster up.

[SKB_Hamsters]

Poor Pudding, it’s a shame that he is as fearful as he looks so sweet! Pudding reminds me of my Toffee, she used to hide from me and refused to take treats - was terrified of every movent and sound - but with time she learnt that she could trust me and we developed a lovely bond – So I wish the same for Pudding.
I would recommend trying to quietly talk to him whenever you are in the same room as him – let him know what you are doing in your room. I also occasionally slipped a few of Toffee favourite treats through the bars whenever I was near her cage so she would associate me with positive things – small pieces of fresh veg worked well.
Have you tried a playpen? – I found this worked well with Toffee (as she was territorial of her cage), left her cage in the playpen so whenever she felt scared she could return to a place where she felt safe. At first I had to sit of the other side of my room keeping a still and quiet as possible for her to feel confident to venture out of her cage following the trail of treats that I had left for her. After a little while she started to accept me sitting nearer and nearer the playpen. Then one day she braved climbing onto my hand and her confidence started to blossom from there.

I also think starting back to the beginning would be a good idea – but try not to remove too much of his scent from his cage.
It's so lovely that you could offer Pudding a lovely home - it can be a little disheartening having a hamster who is terrified of you but I think with plenty of time he will realise that he can trust you! Hoping for the best.

[Drago]

He's such a sweet looking little guy! Unfortunately, so many animals are treated horrendously before brought into our homes and the animals remember that, and they learn to fear us. I have a pair of rescued gerbils and my one, Ginger, was treated much worse than her sister was and now she has the same behaviors you describe pudding as having. She hides and will bite me when I try to hold her, she bolts at the slightest noise as well. I find that the more cover and shelter you add into their cage, the more confident they are as they know they have a sort of "bolt hole" they can go into if things start getting uncomfortable. Like everyone above has said, taking it back to the beginning would be best and letting him come to you. Good luck with him and let us know how he's doing!

[Cinnamon Bear]

I thought you said he was breaking bones but actually meant breaking the wheel. I'd still get a different cage if you decide to keep him. I feel for you, when you have all this love to give and you can't right now. Maybe a taming break is good, to see what he does? He is a cute little guy.

[Pebbles82]

He looks gorgeous. I think I would try getting him to feel a bit more secure in the cage before trying any more taming. Those little pod houses in the Hamster Heaven aren't big enough for them to nest in really although they do like them Our Syrian nested in one of those at first - because it was the only house in the cage, but it kept popping off which upset him, plus his hoard would get all stinky with condensation. In the end I took the shelf out with the pod house thing and put a large flat roofed house in - this made a nice big nesting box which doubled up as a shelf/level. And put a bendy bridge over the door so it was dark inside. He loved his big house, made a huge nest in it and didn't come out that much - until later in the evening anyway. But he was happy like that. He was very tame but would never voluntarily come out of his cage - I had to tempt him out with a tube over his house door with a treat in it. Then I'd lift the tube out with my hands over the ends so he couldn't jump or fall out. Before he was tame I had the far end of the tube in a hamster ball and he'd walk into that through the tube, then I could pop the lid on the ball and carry him somewhere secure for taming time (eg bathtub).

He is probably more scared in his cage than out of it. Once our hammy had his big house, he also moved his pee corner in there, so I put his potty in it as well and he would nest, hoard and do his bathroom things in private

I found rat sputniks were good in that cage too because they hang quite low and if the substrate is deep enough they can climb in from substrate level. Our hammy loved basking in his rat sputnik (they like them best if you put some substrate in them).

I actually had the Savic Mickey 2XL but it's the same cage as the HH just smaller bar spacing and no tubes or penthouse.

So maybe fill the base with substrate, take out at least one of the HH shelves and put a large house in (a shoebox house would work - cut the base out so it's open to the substrate so he can burrow down in it and bury hoards under his nest. Cut a hole in the front for a door and keep the lid as a lift-off roof so you can check inside without having to lift the house out and his nest falling apart.

I think they get cleaned out far too much in pet shops so probably get stressed more than most by clean-outs as well and those pod houses just need cleaning out quite a bit.

Charlie kept his big house clean himself when he had more space. He used to chuck out old bits of nest for me to take away and take new nesting material in. If his potty started to smell a bit he would cover it up with substrate

So not sure what your set up is but I would go with - cosy - and big things to hide in. So he starts feeling more secure in his cage and then gradually start taming by taking him out in a tube or ball.

This was Charlie's set up in the Savic cage - it doesn't look very pretty lol - he was a big syrian so I had big things in there. But he was happy in that. He was nervous about open space above his head, so would walk under the tube attached to the roof and would sit under the sputnik. He was also a pet shop hamster and was really neurotic for the first year - he jumped at his own shadow and hated the sound of the water bottle being taken in and out through the bars. So I got a bottle stand inside the cage instead.



The little sputnik that came with the cage hangs over the house roof so it was easy to get into - I used to put his daily veg in there so he used to climb in to eat it. Then he could get to the other sputnik from the house roof by going through the cardboard tube (it's a medium 10cm boredom breaker tube - punched holes in top and tied it up with sisal string). I used to put another "extra" in the big sputnik. That gave him the confidence to explore his cage a bit - finding the bits of food.

The house is a guinea pig house. I later got a different one with a lift-off roof because that made life easier for him - I could just lift the roof off to empty the potty rather than have to take the house out. I always left his nest as he didn't pee in it and tended to look after it himself.

He liked space but didn't like open space over his head and loved to burrow down in the substrate inside his house.

Although the set up looks a bit naff, the cage was "full" and he felt secure in it with things to sit under and climb into. He wasn't that interested in the rat sputnik until I put bedding in it. Then he used to sit in it a lot or "bask" in it



I put the Savic pod house in his pet carrier and he had it at playtime too



He may never be tame - but he could gain confidence and be happy in his cage. But I would keep trying once he feels settled in a bit and sort of distract him out of his fears by hiding food and giving him lots of hidey places and a big house maybe.

[Mr Pudding]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I had to clean his cage out yesterday so I managed to scoop him up in a large mug and put him in the travel cage whilst I got everything nice and clean. (Yes I do keep some of the bedding back.) I put a lot more Carefresh in this time which Pudding seems to like burrowing through. Later on I noticed him burrowing through the Carefresh commando style. I think perhaps the cage has too much open space for his liking. I've tried putting tubes in before but he ignored them so this time I'll try other things he can hide under. I like your cage set up Serenditpity7000.


The boobs in the cage aren't used as nests, there is a separate, larger house for that. Pudding's predecessors either ignored them or used them to stash food in. Pudding just hides in them if I come into the room. The sputniks are a good idea so I will look into buying some.

I lost the tubes and penthouse for the HH during a house move. I'm not sure if it's worth trying to find some replacements. I was never convinced that the tubes were quite wide enough for a fully grown Syrian.

The plan is to leave Pudding be for the next couple of days and to create some more hidey places in the cage.

[cypher]

I definitely wouldn't try to replace the tubes & penthouse with a nervous ham, usually a lot more trouble than it's worth if they decide to hide out in there especially if they pee in them too & getting them out can be really stressful for both you & the ham!

Good to hear he's enjoying more substrate.
Have you tried coconuts for hideouts? Most hams seem to like those.