Should I Just Give Up?

[KimO]

I've had my female Syrian hamster for about 5 months now. She's in a 40-gallon aquarium, has pretty much everything she needs, and I can pick her up and hold her, no problem. I read that she needs to be played with every evening. I've built a playpen and I have my bath tub and I've put her in both on several occasions, but she just freaks out. I have toys and tunnels, etc. in each place and I get into the tub with her so she can climb on me. All she does is run and try to get out. The minute I put her back in her cage she's fine - quite content and calm.
Should I just accept that she's content to be in her cage, with me talking to her each evening and holding her, and stop buying things that I think will make her happy? Is she just one of the "watch only" hamsters I've read about?

[Pebbles82]

Hi there - I would change tack rather than give up. It sounds like she is quite tame if you can pick her up and hold her, but hamsters have moods sometimes and don't always like things. I've found it can depend what time of the evening you take them out. This will vary, between different personalities and male and female but I've found that early evening they are too active for out of cage time. Whereas around 8pm to 9pm they can be in "nap mode" and much more docile and cosy when out of the cage. Our last Syrian just used to fall asleep on my knee around that time, or in a cosy blanket on the sofa. But if I got him out before that, or after 10pm to 10.30pm he was so active he just seemed to want to escape and run away! Also if they have had any treats etc or pouched anything when out of the cage, they can get a bit agitated about wanting to get back to the cage to depouch.

Handling every day is ideal, but I think sometimes they need some space as well - their personalities differ. Our current Syrian enjoys being out every 3rd or 4th night (he is a bit older though) but is decidedly resistant and grumpy about coming out every night.

I think some of that is when it's cold in winter actually. They can also get quite agitated if it feels a bit cold and want to get back to their cosy cage. So have them out when the room is nice and warm with the heating on.

So maybe try - every 3 days, around 8pm and in a nice warm cosy room. She maybe doesn't like the bathtub and playpens any more. Our Syrian stopped enjoying being in his playpen as he got a bit older. I now have him out on the sofa with lots of cushions and he happily climbs all over the place. You need to be careful they don't try and jump off though. Our current Syrian doesn't - he is sensible and stops if he sees it's high up. Our last Syrian was a lemming and would just try and leap off if he was very active, so I had to block the front off with a big blanket and keep picking him up.

You could also maybe try giving her a chew stick when she's out of the cage -something to occupy her. The ones like a stick with food stuck on tend to be popular.

[KimO]

Thanks for the suggestions. Great ideas. I'll give them a try.