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Ria P · 10-23-2021, 04:00 AM

Anything with a lid would work and i have used a small travel carrier before as well.

I did pick up exercises when my Syrians were little and not fully tame yet. I took them out of their cage with a hamster taxi, sat in a secure area (bath tub would work) and put them on my lap. Started off with briefly touching their back then progress to stroking their back. They'd jump or shake me off at first but eventually got used to me touching their back. Takes time. I
Once they accepted that i put my hand over their back and around them then progressed to a very brief lift and built this up gradually in lots of individual sessions.
We made this into a bit of a game once they were more comfortable and conident. I'd place them on my lap, they took off and just before running off my leg i'd pick them up and place them back down at starting point on my lap. I think they need to learn that we are friendly humans and not out to grab and eat them. Takes a while to build this trust.
The reward was for them to "escape" and run off my leg to freeroam or to run around in a play area with lots of toys that were too big for their cages like a 30cm flying saucer, long bendy plastic tubes etc. A roam around in a bathtub with a blanket and toys would work too.

10-23-2021, 04:00 AM
Ria P House of Hamsters Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: Wiltshire, UK Posts: 7,103	Re: Hamster so much braver Anything with a lid would work and i have used a small travel carrier before as well. I did pick up exercises when my Syrians were little and not fully tame yet. I took them out of their cage with a hamster taxi, sat in a secure area (bath tub would work) and put them on my lap. Started off with briefly touching their back then progress to stroking their back. They'd jump or shake me off at first but eventually got used to me touching their back. Takes time. I Once they accepted that i put my hand over their back and around them then progressed to a very brief lift and built this up gradually in lots of individual sessions. We made this into a bit of a game once they were more comfortable and conident. I'd place them on my lap, they took off and just before running off my leg i'd pick them up and place them back down at starting point on my lap. I think they need to learn that we are friendly humans and not out to grab and eat them. Takes a while to build this trust. The reward was for them to "escape" and run off my leg to freeroam or to run around in a play area with lots of toys that were too big for their cages like a 30cm flying saucer, long bendy plastic tubes etc. A roam around in a bathtub with a blanket and toys would work too.