Is he too old to tame?

[Marica]

I have Fawkes from January 31st and he was always a biter, and very skittish as he was never held as a baby. He was about 5 weeks old when i got him, and since then iv'e tried everything to tame him.
He has bitten me quite a number of times, i haven't even held him yet, he doesn't like being touched. And this summer i really want to fully tame him.
The only time i can touch him is when he walks out onto my hand after he gets out of his ball in the evenings (even then he is skittish and runs really quickly of my hands.)
I'm starting to think this is impossible, iv'e tried everything you name it. At his age and not being held is he almost too old to tame properly, and is basically wild? :(

[samzyzg]

I don't think any hamster is too old to be tamed. I got my robo's in february, I am leaving Loki just now because he's very nervous when I am near him and really don't want to stress him but I am continuing with Thor since he's happy as long as I have food :)

Also is he fine outside of his cage? Hammy used to bite me whenever my hand went into his cage but outside he was lovely, the occasional nibbling but I think that was more just tasting than anything.
Try getting him into his ball then get into a secure area and let him walk over you there.

[Bekki2308]

My Syrians haven't got to being really tame until after 6 months so no I don't think your Ham will be too old to.tame :-)

[Sandti]

What kind of hamster is he?

[Marica]

He is a syrian

[Sandti]

Like the others said, they are never too old to tame and the plus side with Syrian is once they are tamed they tend to stay tamed. Just feed him through the bars and the gradually give him bits with the cage door open.

When my hamster was comfortable with that I put her in a laundry buckets and covered my hand with my sleeve and let her run all over me, gradually change that to your skin and then started trying to scoop her up. And just let her run on my hands.

Now she's really tame but lets you know if she doesn't want to be held anymore.

[racinghamster]

My syrian is never handled/picked up, but he dictates to me what he wants to do. I get kisses and can stroke him and put my face in his food dish while he eats and rummage around him! :mad: Picking them up, as in `taming them` really depends on what the hamster wants. I never force my lad to be handled and yet, he`s a big woos! Doesn`t bite, never bites, yet I never feel the need to pick him up. I check him every day and he has a daily routine which he loves. It can be disappointing when you want to handle them if they are fearful or bitey, but it can take a lot of patience and time to get them to allow you to handle them and to be honest, it never bothers me if I can`t handle my hamsters. I let them be themselves, yet I still get enormous enjoyment from keeping them.

If you had him from five weeks of age, this should have been still young enough for him to gain your trust, but I wonder if not using a play ball and actually interacting with him with the cage lid off instead would work better for him? I done this with my syrian and he was 7 months old when I took him on and he was quite a nervous lad even then, or I should say, usure, rather than nervous.

Boris comes out and walks around when I spot clean his cage and I spend time with him while I`m doing this. Boris loves his bed, so he basically tells me in no uncertain terms to go away by walking back into his nest while I`m trying to clean it! :mad: But I work around him and he enjoys that. Maybe go back a step and do the same and leave Fawkes in his cage base while you tidy up and keep a routine going at the same time each day, but try not to wake him up obviously! ;)

[TraceyH]

I think my twinnies were about eight nd months before they tamed. Right pair of ratbags they were, but they both suddenly tamed all at once. Now they're almost a year old and a pair of pussycats.

[Marica]

Thanks everyone I'm going to try really hard to gain his trust. I've tried him outside his cage and in the bath and he still tends to bite. I would have my hand just sitting there and he would come over and not even give time to sniff and would just give me a bite. I always make sure my hands are free off food smells and soap smells. It may just be curiosity, I'm not sure. I will keep you all updated on the progress. And if anyone has any more advice feel free to add :) x

[Sandti]

When you say bite do you mean draws blood/bites hard or nips?

[Marica]

He drew blood once and the rest are slightly sore kind of nips? If you get me? Lol

[gutterglitterxx]

I don't think he's too old. My Jazzy was about 6 months old when I brought her home and she had never really been handled. (She was bought for a child who then never paid attention to her so she was finally brought back to the store.) She was terrified of people, I couldn't even go near her without her running away.

It was a long process and even now she has her moments. I started by always getting right down on the floor next to the cage and then I would open it and let her come out if she wanted to. I always sat right up agains the cage so if she wanted to come out she had no choice but to crawl onto me. Eventually she always did and I would let her explore me. I wouldn't touch her other than to put up a hand if she was going to jump off my lap. Eventually I was able to stroke her, and then pick her up veeeery slowly. Even now, if I pick her up, I have to make sure my hands are securely cupped around her. She appears to feel much safer like that and it allows me to be more prepared if she jumps.

She's still very nervous sometimes but she's SO sweet. I just know I have to handle her with care.

Good luck!!!

[Lynternette]

All three of ours are completely different. Conan was tame from day one. He was like he'd always been here. Dusty took a long time as he was so shy. He's never bitten me. It took a year but now he's as daft as a brush. Popcorn the baby will eat out of my hand between the bars but not directly out of my hand. If I scratch the roof of his house he comes out right away. When I clean his cage he 'helps' me but if I touch him he stands up and hisses but has never bitten. No hamster is the same, they just need patience.