[AprilPearl]

As for the whole species thing, it definitely does play a part. For example, Syrians are generally the slowest moving and easiest to tame. From what I've read, Campbells, Winter Whites and Chinese hams do tend to take a bit more effort, and robos are the hardest to hand tame. Those species also seem to be more zippy than Syrians, in particular robos. But, that's only a generalisation. There are plenty of exceptions, and of course individual hamsters all have different personalities anyway. Plus, with a little patience any hamster, regardless of species will make a lovely pet.

All my hamsters have been Syrians, but despite that each has had a distinct character (yes, they all happen to have been boys, for no particular reason and not by design).

Alfie
The first hamster I ever owned. When we first got him, he was such a skittish little thing. He even bit me once or twice during the taming process. It took about 3 weeks to persuade him to sit on my hand, and that was with the aid of broccoli. However, after that he came on leaps and bounds and ended up being the cuddliest and friendliest little guy. He was quite at home just sitting/snoozing in my hands and took life at a very relaxed pace. Alfie wasn't very active, even during floor time. He'd rather sit and be fed treats or wash himself.

Sooty
I got Sooty after Alfie died. He was much easier to tame. In fact, I chose him because he sat on my hand calmly in the shop on the very first occasion we 'met'. He matured into another lovely outgoing hamster, though wasn't one to just sit on you, like Alfie had been. He preferred to be out playing or running around.

Scamp
We adopted Scamp when his owners moved overseas. At that point, he was already over 2 years old. He had broken his back legs in a fall when young and did not have much movement in them, so largely dragged them splayed out behind him. That makes him sound like a very unhappy hamster, but he really wasn't. Scamp was full of the joys of life: enthusiastic about floor time, eager to explore and very friendly. Life had given him lemons but boy did he make lemonade!

Kevin
Kevin was actually one of my brother's hamsters, but he was such a character that I couldn't help mentioning him. He was the most active hamster I ever met, and the weird thing was, he never slept. I mean, literally never. He was up scurrying about his cage or on his wheel all day and all night. So, I guess you do get insomniac hamsters! He was perfectly tame, but didn't spend a moment still. He preferred to be exercising those legs during floor time or, otherwise, shredding whatever inanimate object he could lay his teeth on - several books fell victim to him that way (though he never even tried to bite a human).

Mushu
My current hamster. I was a bit concerned when we got him, because the shop assistant told me he had never been handled and refused to touch him herself (presumably for fear of being bitten) and instead sort of scooped him up with the cardboard box. But, he's always been very relaxed. When the shop assistant was taking him out, her main trouble was that he ignored her completely after glancing up to see what was happening and tried to continue sleeping. That made it difficult for her to herd him into the box without using her hands because he just wouldn't budge, even to try running away! Mushu has always been fine with being picked up and stroked. He often climbs out of his cage door into my hands, and sometimes likes to sit on my arm for ages. It depends on his mood though. Other times, he doesn't want to sit still at all and is more interested in playing/running on the floor. I've only had him 5 or 6 weeks, so I'm still getting to know him and watching his personality develop.