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Old 02-01-2020, 12:29 PM   #1
Beckieellen
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 8
Unhappy Taming help needed - adoption Syrian

So, I’ve recently in the last 2 weeks adopted a Syrian hamster, she’s around 13 weeks old and had never been handled, her previous name was ‘Aggie’ for obvious reasons... she’d been there the longest and felt she needed a good home.

She’s in the Barney cage, initially she was terrified and wouldn’t venture further than one half of the cage, would flinch at every noise and moment. Bit of info of the cage - She’s got a wooden house with an open bottom, a large wheel, ceramic cupcake house, various wooden bridges & ive looped some toilet rolls around the bars as my previous ham loved to chew on these.

Within the first week it took me a few days for her to take food from my hands which was fine but she was still super nervous.
At the end of the week she was happily taking food from me and had come out of her shell & happily exploring her cage. She’s just about got the hang of her ball and I’d been letting her out in a pen I’d made (I’ve seen taming is best in a bath however I only have a shower!)

Week 2 - if anything she’s now overly confident, as soon as I walk in the room she’s climbing / chewing the bars and obviously eager to get out, she’s nibbly about my fingers as I assume she now associates them with food, which makes me nervous & she’s always eager to get near my fingers!!

If I get her out to try and tame, she will walk on my hand following some hamster mix but is soon to hop off and is not interested, she’s very erratic in movements and never seems to settled.

This evening she’s bitten me when I’ve offered her my hand, and to be honest I feel a bit disheartened & I’m finding things a little stressful now she’s found the bars to climb and chew.

My previous Syrian I now realise was super easy to tame and I feel slightly out my depth! Would love some advice on cage set up too as I think she’s now bored.

Any help is very welcome xx
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Old 02-01-2020, 04:24 PM   #2
Ria P
House of Hamsters
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Posts: 7,103
Default Re: Taming help needed - adoption Syrian

Could you post a photo of your cage set up so people could possibly advise you?
Two weeks is a short time and your hamster may still be settling in like learning to feel safe and comfortable in her new home.
You could get your hamster out in a "hamster taxi" like a jug to put her in a play pen so you don't have to worry about your fingers. That's what i have to do with one of my hamsters who is always out to bite my fingers. A play pen big enough or a safe area for you to sit in and let your hamster run over your legs etc may help to get her used to you.
I wouldn't put her in a ball, can't be much fun for a hamster to be trapped in a poorly ventilated plastic ball. Would freak me out.
What do you mean by erratic in her movements and never settles? My hamsters are like that and won't settle or sit on me. They run around and over things including me but only sit still to wash or eat when out of their cages. I consider this to be normal behaviour for hamsters. They are not generally cuddly pets but there will be exeptions of course.

You have a lovely big cage and to get ideas about set ups have a look at the thread "Let's see your cages" in the Forum under Housing.
I know what you mean by feeling a bit disheartened because it took me quite a while to tame my Syrian and at times it felt like two steps forward and three steps back. And i got bitten too once. Takes a lot of patience but you will get there. They are all so different with different personalities and some take longer to tame than others. There are threads on taming here as well on the Forum.
This is quite a jumbled reply and probably not very helpful but i must go now and catch my free roaming Syrian who is busy stripping the wallpaper!
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Old 02-08-2020, 04:30 PM   #3
Shadow Cat
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Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 156
Default Re: Taming help needed - adoption Syrian

The first post in this thread legit could have been written by me! So much applies to my current hamster situation it's actually scary! My little girl is about 16 weeks old and I've had her for 3. She's chewy and feisty and tonight she escaped from her playpen! I've only had lazy cuddly boys before, it's a bit of a shock! She's also in a Barney cage with plenty of toys and houses etc. But all she wants to do is chew and climb the bars. She bit me the other day and now I'm a bit scared to try handling her again.
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Old 02-08-2020, 05:07 PM   #4
peculiarplanets
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Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 170
Default Re: Taming help needed - adoption Syrian

I've got my Syrian for about 6 weeks now and only now she's tamed. She too didn't find my hand interesting, and even now she still walks over it a lot or avoids it! Only when she wants to be handled she'll come sit on my hand and that's fine.

Jupiter is now also climbing and biting bars and I'm currently dealing with that. She has bitten me once but that was more to test if my hand was edible, or so it seems. A bite doesn't always have to mean a setback. Sometimes it just means "i'm not interested right now" and that's okay.
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Old 02-10-2020, 12:22 PM   #5
Beckieellen
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 8
Default Re: Taming help needed - adoption Syrian

Thanks for your responses all - I think it was a shock as my old boy was such an easy tame as I look back but think I have to appreciate Penny hasn’t been handled at all In her first 13 weeks of life! She’s only just starting to calm down now and not be so eager to climb and chew her bars! I’ve been spot cleaning daily and have only done her one big clean so far as to not upset her too much, I think I underestimated what a huge change it must have been for her. In the shop they’d named her Aggie for obvious reasons so I’m not surprised no one was massively tempted to adopt her!!

Shadow cat - it sounds so similar!! I honestly think they’ll just take time and persistence!! Fingers crossed. It’s nice to read people’s similar experiences to be honest, gives me hope that she will tame eventually.

I’d also love to put a photo up but cannot work our how!!

Thanks all xx
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Old 02-12-2020, 04:51 PM   #6
Shadow Cat
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Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 156
Default Re: Taming help needed - adoption Syrian

Peggy seems to have calmed down a lot. I haven’t tried getting her out of her cage again, but I’ve opened the side door and let her crawl onto my hand if she wants to. She seems less agitated too, I think it just took her some time to settle in.
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