Please help! Hard to tame Syrian

Mvtay · 08-13-2018, 12:13 AM

I’ve had my styrian hamster now for just about three weeks and she is not responding to my taming efforts at all and does not appear to be even a little bit settled or calm. She is so anxious and today for the first time she ‘shouted’ at me when I was just refilling her food dish. She has over 600 square inches of space so I know it can’t be about that. She has 4 hides plus toys and a 21cm wheel. I give her veggies as well as a seed mix.

I’ve had two dwarf hamsters before and neither were this difficult to tame. If she was making any progress at all (even if slow) I’d would be so discouraged but she’s still as anxious as she was when I got her. I didn’t try to tame her for a week after I got her. Tried taming steadily for a week and a half and was failing. So recently left her alone again for three days. But when I tried again today she seemed if anything more anxious.

If I go anywhere near where she is she darts around in a panic. The strange thing is that three times I’ve been successful with taming and she’s walked between my hands and let me stroke her even without any sign of anxiety. But suddenly the next day even me offering her a pumpkin seed between my fingers will send her anxiously darting about. I’m concerned she has some kind of problem.

Please help me! I’ve done so much research on hamsters and am so upset by this situation. I just want her to be happy and have a nice relationship with me.

cypher · 08-13-2018, 05:43 AM

Hi & welcome to the forum.

What are the dimensions of your cage? I find it hard to visualise square inches tbh but that sounds quite small to me.
If you have a photo of your cage set up that would help us see if there may be any changes you could make that would help, getting the cage right, both the size & the set up, can make a big difference to the taming process.
It may just be that she doesn't feel secure in her cage just yet.
What taming steps have you tried?
If you've made no progress at all after considering whether her cage & set up are ok for her I would just start at the beginning.
If you haven't already try the tissue trick, put some plain white toilet tissue up your sleeve or somewhere it will get your scent for a while then shred it up a bit & put it in her cage, that will help her get used to your scent & not see it as a threat.
Spend time talking to her quietly & reassuringly without actually trying to interact with her so she just gets used to you being around her, you can try leaving a small treat after you've been talking to her & just walk away, that just helps with positive associations really.
Once she's more comfortable with you around you may find taming out of the cage works best, begin with short periods in a playpen or bath (plug in & towel in the bottom) with toys for her to explore while you slowly begin to interact with her.
Try to get her to climb into something you can safely transport her in rather than trying to pick her up & just let her get used to hands slowly in the play area.
It can be a slow process with some hams so just be patient & try to go at her pace.

Mvtay · 08-13-2018, 06:15 AM

Her cage is definitely big enough. She has two bin cages joined together yhat each measure 15x25inches. I originally had her in just one of these and upgraded her after I realised she seemed anxious. I cannot possibly give her a cage bigger than this because of the constraints of my living conditions and the country in which I live (I live in South Korea and we don’t have ikea here neither do I own the power tools to make another DIY cage). Her cage seems huge to me and I’ve watched lots of hamster videos online and is the same size if not bigger than most I see. I can try to get some photos of my set up though!

Thank you, I will try the tissue trick and see if I can coax her out of the cage to tame. Though at the moment I don’t think she’d even crawl into a container, she’s so wary.

Originally I did the soft talking and treat leaving then progressed to giving her a treat from between my fingers, which she did fairly well. Then out of my palm and then she was even going between my hands like I said. But some days suddenly she acts as if she’s seen me for the first time and it seems like it’s back to square one.

Thanks for your advice I’ll try to be patient!

souffle · 08-14-2018, 03:19 AM

That is a massive cage! 4 ft x 15inches. We always tame hamsters in much smaller cages before upgrading them. Having such a large area can mean they are hard to find and have so many boltholes that you end up scaring them and causing a panic before you even get them out the cage.
Personally I would restrict her to one cage with an easy access and tame her in this before attaching the second cage. I think the cage is currently too large for her to be bothered about coming out and it's frightening her running around in the large area.
Go back to treating her like a new baby hamster and start again in the smaller cage. Use a ball or box to get her out so you don't have to put your hands over her till she is out.

cypher · 08-14-2018, 04:17 AM

That is big! Sorry, it sounded a lot smaller & I think is probably more than 600sq inches.
I think souffle may be right & it is too big for taming her, too much space can be overwhelming for them until they've settled & are at least partially tame.
How you set the cage up can be as important as the size especially at the beginning.
I wouldn't worry too much if she seems to take a step back some days this does happen sometimes but she will get there if you persevere.

dreamtree1234 · 08-14-2018, 05:34 AM

Both Souffle and Cypher gave you some excellent advice and have covered it all, tbh. I will just try those tips and be patient and consistent with the taming. You may possibly have a few instances where there is a step backwards, but things will progress again soon enough. Best of luck to you and your little one.

Mvtay · 08-14-2018, 06:22 PM

Thank you everyone for your advice! I’ll try to downsize her cage for a week or two while I get her comfortable with my taming efforts. And I’m going to try the tissue trick and getting her out of the cage to tame as well. Thanks again! I hope she’ll be feeling more settled if I take these steps!

JennySTL · 08-24-2018, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mvtay

Thank you everyone for your advice! I’ll try to downsize her cage for a week or two while I get her comfortable with my taming efforts. And I’m going to try the tissue trick and getting her out of the cage to tame as well. Thanks again! I hope she’ll be feeling more settled if I take these steps!

How did the tissue trick end up working? It worked wonders for our hamster when we first got him. I actually put it in my bra for a day and then placed it in the cage.

Any updates?