My almost tamed hamster suddenly freaked out and is scared of me

[scientisum]

Hi all hammies´ moms,

*

*** I am a beginner hamster owner and I bought a Russian Dwarf Hamster in May, she was around 3 weeks old at that time. Now she is almost three months old. I have searched for many information and watched many taming tutorials, I think she was almost tamed because: everyday when she heard my voice, she came closer and started to sniff; when I put my hand into the cage to touch her or tried to arrange the things inside her cage or did spot-cleaning, she didn't freak out; she also climbed onto my hands to eat, I almost left my hands inside the cage all the time. Then recently I started to put my hands just next to the border the cage, she also climbed onto my hands to eat (she doesn't like to leave her cage, once we took her out she ran back right away) and she even left a moment on my hands before she want back to the cage. Sometimes I put my face really close to her and spoke softly, she would come close to my face and sniff my nose.* I consider all these as positive signs of my taming process. 

However, things suddenly change. Last night I hand-fed her like always, I sat next to the cage. When she climbed onto my hands to eat, I tried to lift her up a bit and put my face close to her, then I tried to leave her into the eating bowl that she is used to eat, when she was on the bowl, she suddenly looked around and realized that she was OUTSIDE her cage and she got freaked out like crazy and ran crazily on the bed and ran straight back immediately into her cage. Then she froze for some time, I tried to calm her down by stroking her head and back softly and talked to her, she didn't move. A while later when she "woke up", she dashed into her hideout and didn't want to come out again, she didn't come out to touch her eating bowl where she used to stay and eat.

This morning I tried again to give her a few mixed seeds on my hand, she climbed onto my hands and took all of them and stuffed them all into her mouth instead of eating some of them on my hands. Then a while later I tried to put my face close and sang like always, she freaked out again and dashed back into her hideouts and didn't come out. Then she dashed from one hideout to another. I know that she is afraid of my right now and I feel really sad and worried. I don't know what I can do to regain her trust. I cannot stop thinking of her and I really love her. Please kindly give me some advice. Thank you very much.

[cypher]

It's unlikely your ham would have been 3 weeks when you got her, that's far too young, if you got her from a pet shop they are usually around 8-10 weeks.

It sounds as though something has spooked her a bit, sometimes they can get scared by things we're not even aware of but try not to worry too much, she should get over it soon enough. Just keep talking to her quietly, offering her food & treats as you normally would & give her a little time to settle again.

Being out of the cage can be quite scary for some of them & the odd one will never really be happy out of the cage for long but most enjoy being out in a safe place where they can explore & interact with you.
What have you tried so far?
Have you tried using a play bin (large plastic box) or a playpen with lots of toys, some familiar things from her cage for scent & maybe a few hidden treats for her to explore?
If you start with just short periods, only a few minutes to begin with gradually building up she should become more confident out of the cage.
You can try sitting in a playpen with her so she can climb on you, they generally love to do that!
Maybe wait a while until she settles again after her scare before trying again.

[Pebbles82]

She'll get over it They have moods sometimes and feel more sociable at some times than others. I think though, that they are always less receptive to contact when in or near their cage as they feel territorial. Sometimes taming is best done out of the cage, as Cypher says. Even a very tame hamster can object to a hand in the cage or near their food bowl. She was probably freaked by you being near her food bowl - you might be a thief!

[cypher]

That's not quite what I meant
I was suggesting things for getting her more confident out of the cage but I've always found at least to begin with my Russians (unlike syrians maybe) are more comfortable being handled in or close to the cage.

[scientisum]

Cypher: I don´t know why my hamster Pipera feels so unsafe and scared once she is out of her cage. What I have tried so far is setting a fenced park with paper-made hideouts, tubes made with paper rolls, and I also took out her wooden house, her eating bowl, her running wheel, the wooden chewing bar and the tunnel with chewing stuffs from the cage and put her there to play a little bit. I want her to have more playing areas and hope that she can also play around in new settings. The first time when I tried it was when I needed to clean her cage so I must take her out, I put her there and she seemed really like it, she ran on the wheel many times and entered and came out from the hideouts and passed through the tunnels. However, the second time when I did that she didn't like it at all, she didn't play like the last time, she just went to the fence and tried every way to escape. I could not stand her nervousness and I quickly finished the cleaning and brought her back to the cage.
In general she hates going out of her cage except when it's her feeding time and I hand-feed her right at the broader of her cage then she will just climb onto my hands but then she will ran back immediately after finishing her food. I don't know how to progress to the next taming step.


Serendipity7000: Yes!It's true that she got over it! I let her along for some hours as I also needed to go to work, the next time when I saw her she was not that freaked out but she was still relatively more nervous than before. Then I just let it be, I didn't rush things. Few days later now she has gone back to her normal relaxed state. T


UPDATES: My hamster has gone back to her normal state, but she still hates going out from her cage. She will run back to her cage right away once I try to bring her out...
I saw that some hamster owners can have their hammies sit on their laps or even sleep on their hands, or watch TV with them... I really envy them... How did they do that? My hamster is still very sensitive to all the lifting movements and she will immediately look around too check where she is once she feels any movement... please advise.

[cypher]

Do you have a carrier for her? It might be best to put her in a carrier with lots of substrate & maybe hide a few seeds in there too when you clean her cage & she's left alone, that way she'll feel secure.
Rather than leaving her to explore the playpen I would try sitting in it with her, if she's still a bit nervous about being lifted let her climb into something you can safely carry her in then just sit on the floor & let her climb on you & explore a bit, keep sessions really short to begin with but try to do at least one short session each day, most are happy out & about in a playpen but a few always remain nervous of open spaces, it's still worth persevering for a little longer though to see if she does gain more confidence.
If that all seems a bit much for her then just continue standing by the cage with her & gradually increase the lifting, she should get more comfortable with that the more you do it, just lift very slowly & gently & only a tiny bit to begin with slowly lifting her a little higher as she gets more comfortable.
I have one now who is very nervous away from the cage & I had another once before & they have both been really cuddly hams, more so than the more adventurous ones who while they enjoyed a bit of a cuddle would be happier out & about exploring so they all have different characters & temperaments, it's often a case of just taking time to get to know what they do & don't like rather than having expectations based on what you see other hams doing.