Hello! Im New here!

pantelis · 08-05-2017, 02:53 AM

Hello everyone and good afternoon from Greece! I bought a hamster just yesterday and I would like to know when I would be able to tame it or just make it get used to me. Its age is about 3 weeks old and its rly small. I tried to "tame" it inside a shoe box but all it did was make him nervous. Any suggestions? Thanks for your time!

**Cinnamon Bear** · 08-05-2017, 05:21 AM

Congrats on your new hammy & welcome to HC!
It is recommended not to disturb your hammy for 4-7 days. Your hammy needs to claim his new home as his own & feel real secure before taming. 3 weeks is pretty small. I'd wait it out for a few days. Maybe others can give you taming advice?

Drago · 08-05-2017, 05:43 AM

Hello and welcome to HC!

Cinnamon bear gave you some good advice. Looking forward to meeting your little

cypher · 08-05-2017, 05:51 AM

Hi & welcome to HC

Are you sure your ham is only 3 weeks? That's too young to have left it's mother really. Most pups aren't homed before 5 weeks & pet shop hams are usually older.
If your ham is very young you will need to feed some extras, protein foods like plain chicken or mealworms if it will eat them.

I would just let your ham settle into his/her new home for a few days as CB said, you can talk to your ham quietly & do the tissue trick (put some plain toilet tissue up your sleeve for a few hours then shred it up & put it into the cage, repeat daily for a while) to help your ham adjust to your scent.
A lot depends on the individual ham, if s/he seems curious & wants to interact then you can offer a treat but don't force your hand on him/her or try any handling for a while yet.
Only spot clean (remove any substrate that's peed on) for the first few weeks & don't make any changes to the cage so your ham can settle & begin to feel safe & confident.

pantelis · 08-05-2017, 08:58 AM

Thanks for your advise! I'm not rly sure about it's age I calculated it from it's body size here is a picture of him or her! And also s/he does let me pet him/her! I put his cage in a "hot" area in my house is s/he goin to be ok? Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

**Cinnamon Bear** · 08-05-2017, 09:44 AM

I don't believe that your hammy is 3 weeks old after seeing pic Lol, you have a WW hybrid. She looks more like 3 months old. I have a 3 yr old dwarf that looks exactly like yours, same coat color & she weighs only 30 gm.

cypher · 08-05-2017, 09:59 AM

Your ham, Russian hybrid which is a cross between the Winter white & Campbells Russian hamsters, doesn't look particularly young to me, it's hard to judge from a photo but probably a couple of months old maybe, definitely not a very young baby.
Looks very sweet

What do you mean you put the cage in a hot area of your house?
It is very important that hamsters don't get too hot, try to keep the temp no higher than about 20-21 degrees.

pantelis · 08-05-2017, 10:32 AM

The average temp of the place that is in, is like 25-30oC. Also I will try to take a better photo of it!

cypher · 08-05-2017, 10:55 AM

That will be hot for your ham, it is very important they don't over heat so have a look at this thread here for ideas on how to keep him/her cool.
Keeping your hamster cool

Thin Lizzy · 08-05-2017, 12:54 PM

Hello and welcome to HC.
Congratulations on your little ham. Cypher has given great advice and knows everything about dwarf hams.