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Old 04-04-2022, 12:53 PM  
Ria P
House of Hamsters
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Posts: 7,103
Default Re: My hamster hates me

Most hamsters sleep all day so he's not likely to come out then.

Can you set up a playpen or hamster proof an area of this room? Put down a blanket and some hides and tunnels like card board boxes and tubes.
I always tame hamsters outside of their cages on neutral ground.
I'd get a jug or some kind of suitable transport vessel, put a small piece of cheese or sunflower seeds in it and try and get him to walk into it from his sandpit. If he won't walk in and you can't catch him then leave him be and try another day. If he walks in, cover the vessel and let him out in a safe area so you can get acquainted. I'd just watch him and talk to him for the first few sessions and then move on to touch and handling. It is always a good idea to have a spare wheel for an out of cage area because hamster use wheels as stress busters when they are in unfamiliar surroundings. Keep the sessions short and increase the time gradually. I'd start off with twice weekly sessions.

With hamster you need to have a lot of patience and work with repetition until they get used to certain actions and realize that this human is not going to eat them and this jug is a hamster taxi and not a threat.

It would also help to give him/her a name, even a unisex one so you can call your hamster by a name. They do learn their names in time and will respond to them.

Just to add: i've just watched the video on ghost hamsters. My dwarf Ozzy was one of those. He wasn't scared of me and would lick me when i took him out in his mug but he would just sit and sulk in an out of cage time play area. He wouldn't run around and explore like the others so i gave up on that after trying a few times. Ozzy was a happy hamster but preferred his own company.

Last edited by Ria P; 04-04-2022 at 01:32 PM.
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