Any tips for handling a jumpy syrian?

Shadow Cat · 10-04-2020, 08:34 AM

Happy weekend all. I need some help.

I have a syrian named Peggy who is a little over a year old. I've had her since about February. She doesn't like being picked up, she never has, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to try and make her ok with it.

She lives in an (appropriately sized) wire cage. She is calm and friendly, not spooked by noise or movement in the room when she is in her cage, she will even come to the door to see what's happening when she hears my voice. She will happily take treats from my hand and crawl on my hand/arm if I put it inside the cage. But the moment I take her out, it's like she's a different hamster.

I can feel her trembling in my hand and at the slightest movement, she tries to jump off. I let her crawl into her travel case and let her crawl around on my bed, but forget trying to pick her up to put her back, I have to let her climb back in the case in her own time.

If I put her in a run, no matter what tunnels and toys I put in there with her (I make sure to put in some hides and her wheel from her cage so they smell familiar) she spends the whole time obsessively biting at the corners trying to get out. But as soon as she's back 'home' she's chill again.

Is she just too old to learn new habits now? I fear I didn't try hard enough when she was young, she's the first hamster I've had since almost a baby in a long time, my previous hamster was over a year old when I got him and was perfectly tame and happy to be handled already. The hamsters I had when I was a teenager I never really actively tamed, I guess I just picked themup and took them out whether they liked it or not and they just got used to it. It's almost as though since becoming more aware of taming technique's it's made me more weary.

I don't want to upset her or cause her stress, but I feel like I should be intereacting with her more physically.
Did the 4 months she spent living in a tiny pet shop tank do the damage? (I got her from Pets at Home, she was one of their babies for sale but she fought with her siblings too much that they had to separate her - that should have given me a clue really! She's only bitten me once though and it was completely my fault, I wouldn't say she was agressive with me.) Should I just accept her personality and let her be, or is there anything I can try to make her feel more comfortable outside her cage?

Thank you

Maker · 10-04-2020, 09:11 AM

If she’s happy why pick her up - your hamster can be her happy hamster self without being picked up. Is it is to make you happy or to make her happy...

LunaTheHamster1 · 10-04-2020, 09:13 AM

To me you just describe a bit of a scared hamster when handling, as they get used to being handled more and know that they are safe you can feel all that tension leaving their body.

Do you have a bath, if so have you got in the bath and done some bath tub bonding with her? Or, can you get in the play run with her?

Or alternatively, start off smaller with a box and what I do is transport them with a jug/mug or whatever so no chance of them tensing up and trying to jump out of your hands. then when she is wandering around I would put my hands in places that she can't avoid and has to walk over. eventually i then move onto picking a hamster up, just a few inches off the floor or me and let them walk from hand to hand, keep placing 1 hand in front of the other for about 10 hand changes (less if necessary), then let her scamper off again. I would do this 2-3 times per time she is out of the cage. It is also something you could try in her cage depending if that is possible.

I have done this with all of my rescue hamsters (many of which were older hamsters) and it works every time. You just build up slowly and gain their trust.

Hope this makes sense.

Shadow Cat · 10-04-2020, 09:13 AM

I feel like it's important to do health checks. But it's the 'being outside the cage' part I'm more concerned about. I read so much about them needing out of cage time I feel guilty for leaving her inside it most of the time.

LunaTheHamster1 · 10-04-2020, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maker

If she’s happy why pick her up - your hamster can be her happy hamster self without being picked up. Is it is to make you happy or to make her happy...

Being able to pick up your hamster can make such things as health checks a lot easier.

Pebbles82 · 10-04-2020, 11:08 AM

It sounds fairly normal in some ways. Some hamsters even when very tame, don’t like being held too long. She may also have had a bad experience with rough handling before she came to you. Trying to chew out if the playpen sounds Normal. However big it is they want to get out. Sometimes it depends on the time of day as well. Or how they are feeling. Sometimes one of our hamsters would just sit in a hide in the playpen, other times they would run in a wheel or forage for bits of food I put down.

With our first hamster, who never wanted to come out of his cage, it depended what time of night it was. Early and late evening he was highly active, not wanting to be handled or held and not still for a second and just wanting to run off. And he was fully hand tamed. But between 8 and 9pm he would be dopey and placid and just sit for a stroke or go to sleep on your knee under a blanket.

It is fairly instinctive for them to be scared of open spaces so they tend to go under things when out of the cage - some do anyway.

Do you have a room you can hamster proof so she could do some free roaming? They can get a bit more confident after doing that. A year old is when I find they get more confident.

Also try the different times of evening. Commonly they can be active early evening, nap mid evening and highly active late evening.

Also how do you get her out? Maybe that process isn’t working for her. I let ours walk into something like a large tube and lift them out that way. Usually they just walk in but sometimes nerf tempting with a smelly treat at the far end of the tube and the other end over the house door.

None of ours like a hand in the cage lifting them out. Very unceremonious on your own territory!

Lastly it may just be her personality.

Ria P · 10-04-2020, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadow Cat

I feel like it's important to do health checks. But it's the 'being outside the cage' part I'm more concerned about. I read so much about them needing out of cage time I feel guilty for leaving her inside it most of the time.

My dwarf Ozzy doesn't seem to enjoy out of cage time. He's never asked to come out and never bar chews but seems happy doing his hamster stuff in his little Hamster Heaven World. I do now and again trick him into coming out by putting a treat in a mug for him to walk into to do a health check and to let him walk around on me. He licks me and doesn't bite but soon tries to hide somewhere or goes back into the mug and starts to scratch the mug like he's trying to dig which to me is a sign of stress and his way of telling me to let him go back home. If i don't put him back in his cage he starts pooping to get his message across, i guess, so i put him back.

I don't feel bad or guilty.

Shadow Cat · 10-04-2020, 12:43 PM

When I open her cage door she will come straight up. She will crawl out of her own accord into her travel cage or a shoe box, I don't lift her out so it's fully her choice. Last night she didn't want to come out at all and that's ok. It's once she's out of the case/box that she's unhappy.

Ria P · 10-04-2020, 02:05 PM

My nervous and jumpy foster hamster Rodney is a bit like that. I've started to put him on my lap for very short periods of time and can feel him vibrate when i gently stroke him. That way he can get used to me and my smell and will eventually and hopefully associate me with a place of safety.
I think its a matter of him overcoming his fear and becoming more confident but unlike Ozzy he doesn't try to hide and sniffs around instead.

The fact that your hamster comes up to the cage door and crawls out indicates that she may want to come out but it may be a good idea to keep her near you and keep out of cage time very short. Maybe even leave her in the box and put her on your lap so she can have a look and sniff around.

Pebbles82 · 10-04-2020, 02:21 PM

It sounds like something to do with the environment outside the cage then. I sometimes let ours have sofa time rather than in a playpen. A sofa has a high back and more enclosed than a bed. Even then they try and find some cover. I tend to have a fleece blanket in the sofa and a couple of tunnels. Maybe that would help her out of the cage. We also have a lot of junk on the sofa too sometimes! Paperwork, stepsons toys, gadgets etc so it can make an interesting obstacle course with lots of hidey places. Also means I can do a bit of handling.