Taming Poppy

[AxisOkami]

Hi everybody

As some of you might know I brought home an abused hybrid dwarf hamster a few weeks back. She's settled into her cage nicely and even comes to the bars to take food from you.
She is still very though and runs away at any movement she deems too fast for her liking.
Sunday I decided to spot clean some of her cage and swap out some of her substrate which was ruined. She remained relatively calm during this process until one point where I feel like I got my hand too close to her and she decided to growl at me and then bite me.
No blood was drawn at least and I don't blame her for how she reacted, as it was my fault.

I do want to take her taming a few steps further as I feel like I've reached a point where just talking to her and interacting with her from outside her cage can't do much more.
I own a playpen I can set up (Bought it for little Pepper, but the large open space stresses her out and she only spends about 5 minutes in it before running around like a frightened little dame). I was wondering if I should move her to the playpen (using an item to move her and not my bare hands since she hates them) and try and interact with her there?
I am not experienced in taming hamsters (Pepper was already tame when I got her) and I would love to know all possible methods to try and help Poppy.

Any advice would be appreciated as I really feel Poppy could be an even lovlier ham with taming.

[cypher]

I would start with a large plastic bin/storage box rather than the playpen as the space in the playpen may be a bit overwhelming for her, put a good layer of substrate in the bottom, you could scatter a handful from her cage on top so it smells familiar, & put some toys, maybe a wheel in then let her have a bit of a run around before starting to introduce your hand & begin interacting with her, see how she goes if she gets very nervous just keep the sessions really short to begin with & slowly build up.
Females more than males can be very territorial in the cage so on top of being nervous she may just be stressed by having your hand in the cage & taming will be easier out of the cage.
Next time you spot clean I would put her in a carrier, it can be very stressful for them if you clean up while they're in the cage.
I'm sure her confidence will continue to grow with time & patience.