Register FAQ Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
Navigation
Front Page
Forum
Gallery
Wiki

Ads by Google


Go Back   Hamster Central > Hamster Central Forum Topics > Behaviour

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 07-02-2018, 03:24 PM   #1
Barnard
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 9
Default 6 week old terrified baby Syrian!

Hi all, I’m new here! Had my new baby Syrian for a week now!

I bought him from a breeder who warned me he was a ‘bit of a live wire’ but I thought, that’s ok, it’s because he’s only young (I picked him up at 5 weeks, so he’s now 6 weeks). He was sold to me as tame and he doesn’t bite, but he is the most skittish hamster I’ve ever owned! I’ve not have hamsters for a few years and this is the first time I’ve purchased one from a breeder. He literally flinches at the tiniest thing in the house or if I move at all near his cage and will freeze for minutes at a time! I am not able to really get near him when he’s in his cage, he’s incredibly fast and will just run as soon as my hand comes anywhere near him. If I place my hand in his cage (with or without treat on it) he will maybe come over for a sniff but has never grabbed the treat and he will usually just run a mile and hide in a corner, or run incredibly fast on his wheel as if he’s trying to run away!

He does seem, however, to be hand tame and once he is out of his cage and I scoop him up he will happily walk over my hands... that is until there is any sort of loud noise and he will either freeze, or get faster and faster and eventually jump out of my hands and into thin air (have nearly lost him once when he did this...!!!!)

So basically my question is, will he calm down ever and be not scared of me? And is there any way to speed up the process of him becoming braver (I’m worried that I’m never going to be able to happily scoop him up from his cage and hold him without him getting scared!) I’ve tried the bath method once, but when I talk to him it’s really echoey in my bathroom and that seems to really make him even more nervous!

Is it best to do taming outside of his cage? Won’t this stress him out more though being in a strange environment?

Thanks guys and sorry for the worrying!
Barnard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-02-2018, 03:46 PM   #2
Amethyst_ice
Moderator
 
Amethyst_ice's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Birmingham
Posts: 8,026
Default Re: 6 week old terrified baby Syrian!

Hello,

Welcome to HC and congratulations on your new little hamster.

5 Weeks is the minimum recommended age to home out hamsters. What you are describing sounds like a perfectly normal, wary and cautious young little hamster that has jst had a big change in his life

Take things slow and remember the world is a very big place to the little guy. Keep doing what you are doing and the bond and trust will soon begin to form x
__________________
Feel free to ask me about rat advice too
Amethyst_ice is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-05-2018, 02:05 PM   #3
Barnard
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 9
Default Re: 6 week old terrified baby Syrian!

Thank you so much for your reply!

I also just weighed him and he only weighs 52g!!! This seems rather small for 6.5 weeks (everyone else seems to say around 80-90...?) is he just a smal syrian or do you think he may be younger than originally told?
Barnard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-07-2018, 03:13 AM   #4
IamKat
Hamster Pup
 
IamKat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: UK
Posts: 82
Default Re: 6 week old terrified baby Syrian!

Hi Barnard, congratulations on the new addition! It'd great to reach out and ask questions, and totally normal to worry so don't apologise

5 weeks does seem very young! As Amethyst said, babies will always be skittish at first, especially such young ones, and this sounds like perfectly normal behaviour. Although 52g does seem a bit light - is the breeder reputable? I'm not very knowledgeable about baby weights though, and have never owned a hamster that young before. Perhaps somebody else has some insight here.

In terms of taming, the bath sessions are great, and often taming works better out of the cage. I would recommend spending time around the cage for a while, talking to him and just getting him used to your presence (as you are doing), attempting to pick him up at this stage will probably frighten him and so a good method to remove him from the cage is to put a treat in a mug, allow him to venture inside and bring him out that way. You can then do a bath taming session, allowing him to run over you without having to pick him up at all (i would do this in short 10 minute stints at first, but regularly - every day if possible). This is often a good way of slowing down the taming to a pace that works for him, and then in a few weeks (or when you feel like he is more comfortable around you) you can start putting your hand in the cage, encouraging him to take treats from you etc. You may be able to tempt him to the edge of the cage with a treat, and this is a good non-threatening way of bonding, without invading his space too much! He is very very new, and young, and taming can take weeks or months so don't lose heart, this is normal and you are doing everything right by being patient! Another thing to bear in mind is to minimise cage cleaning, just limiting it to spot cleaning and only doing big cage cleans when absolutely necessary - which is a good way to get him comfortable with his new environment. Hamsters like things to stay the same generally, as change is stressful!

I hope this is helpful! Good luck with the little one Maybe when he is settled we can see some pics!
IamKat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-07-2018, 07:48 AM   #5
Barnard
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 9
Default Re: 6 week old terrified baby Syrian!

Thanks all!

I had a very successful bath time taming session with Barnard yesterday, he seemed really excited and loved exploring and climbing over me, he even climbed all over my hands and arms (something he's been too scared to do before!). I am going to keep going with daily bath time as he seems to enjoy it. He's still understandably wary of me in his cage but will now take treats from my fingers in his cage (still not from my palm but I don't want to rush him!) and in the bath he comes to me when he sees me pick up a treat because he wants to come and get it! His breeder has been breeding hamsters for 20 years so I think (/hope) she's reputable and she seemed really nice- I think Barnard must just be a very little Syrian hammy

Here's a couple of pictures of the little fluff ball!

IMG_0240.PNG

IMG_0243.PNG
Barnard is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
cage, he’s, run, i’ve, hand, i’m, treat, hands, faster, scared, time, happily, scoop, freeze, incredibly, fast, breeder, weeks, it’s, tame, week, syrian, baby, calm, question

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.43 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Copyright © 2003-2022, Hobby Solutions
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 03:09 AM.