Do hamsters like to be petted?

[kesaiserris]

When I first got my Syrian she was a bit skeptical of us but she was never aggressive. A short-time later she was okay with being handled aka didn't nibble but preferred to explore and would usually start to wiggle after a few seconds/minutes. Now she will sit with me, my husband, or my daughter for extended periods without going all squirmy. She is approaching 1 year btw. I noticed she really began to bond with us after she got injured from a fall and we took great care in nursing her. She would sit with me for long periods of time and seemed to take great comfort those quiet moments together. Recently she escaped and got into the insulation. She was loose for several days. One morning I went downstairs and she was there waiting and got into my hand. She had cut her hands digging into the insulation. Whenever she is hurt or has problems she wants to be near me, if she gets scared during her time out she runs to me immediately. If I am holding her she never jumps at a barking dog or sneeze she is just relaxed. I am surprised she came to when she got hurt because it meant giving up being free. I think they can come to really trust you tremendously.

[atsui]

Sebastian is quite the hands-off hamster lol! My Syrian boy HATES being pet, he will actively avoid it whenever he can! He's just more of a "run around on me" type of hamster. He doesnt like being held as hes always exploring and hes a bit of clean freak. He loves to run all over me though and loves to eat snacks in my hand! I think its quite normal to have a hamster that doesnt like to be touched. They do have personalities after all

[Natasha95]

She seems to really trust you! That's so cool! And to answer your question, I think it depends on the hamster's personality, and maybe even age. Mine seems to tolerate being pet, like when he's eating or when I first pick him up out of his cage, but then he's off and running around and will spend the rest of the night avoiding being pet.