Disheartened

[amyf007]

I have had my hamster for a couple of weeks now and I am feeling so horrible but I am thinking of taking her to be put up for adoption:( I know that sounds so bad and mean but I have not be able to bond.

Everytime I try to tame and bond with her she runs to hide no matter how patient and calm I am. I have tried treats and talking and letting her smell me but nothing has been able to calm her, if anything she is getting worse. She still chatters at me when I'm near, and runs to hide in her bed even if I just walk past and to put her food in her cage.

I feel so bad but I can't spend more time to tame than I already have :( I feel bad but she might have a better home if she gets adopted to a home that has more time to tame

[kyrilliondaemon]

What species of hamster is she? Some are harder to tame than others and even the easier tamed species can take a while sometimes.

Have you tried leaving her alone completely for a while? We've had a few robos who benefitted a lot from basically being taught that we were utterly ignoring them while they were in their cages (we weren't - we were keeping a close eye on them, just doing it from a distance) and in the end they always become more confident. They learn they're safe and that they don't need to worry about us, which makes it easier to interact later.

[Skeever]

Considering a nervous ham may need a week of being left alone? Two weeks is NOT a long time to try taming a hamster.

Patience is what happens when you have to deal with the craziness of hamsters, not when it's easy and fun being 'patient'....when patience is uncomfortable and annoying? THAT'S PATIENCE. ;) Not before....

You might want to put more things in the cage for her to hide under, travel under, observe the world from under. Some hams freak out with a wide open space and cling to the walls or stay in a house....? If there is too much open space for this particular hamster, it may hide from its own shadow. You can still talk to it, or talk to yourself in the room without hanging over the cage. It will have to get used to you being around. Lots of info on this site, as well as some YouTubers who really know their stuff, showing you how to approach and tame hams...

What kind of hamster, and how old also makes a difference. Keep us posted.

[NiceCrocs]

What species is she? Many dwarf hams prefer to be 'look but don't touch' pets, and there's nothing wrong with that. My robo Lucy is incredibly shy.

Two weeks is no time at all in the scheme of hammy taming.

[amyf007]

She a Russian dwarf hybird and is around 3-4 months old

She is strange I thought I'd try to get her in a ball to clean her cage and nest as it was getting gross. She got in there without me forcing which was a good start but it confused me the fact that she runs from me when I go near the cage and her when trying to tame but when in her ball she actually followed me around the house as I cleaned her things??

My dog also managed to see her and she didn't care she just kept running into him with her ball? I thought she was a scared hammy but when free she's one happy girl until 15 minutes later and she wants to get out but scratching at it.

[kyrilliondaemon]

I think thats a hint she wants more ball time :) Maybe start getting her out for ball time every day for a week or two then giving her playtime in a box or bathtub? If she's ok in the box or bathtub you could then try and tame her from there instead

[Skeever]

Hamsters can't resist some place to crawl into usually, so the ball is always useful even if they don't want to run in it. Most run like crazy in them though! Makes them faster from what I can see than just their feetsies alone, lol.....

By all means use a ball as part of taming, then maybe a bathtub. Most hams seem to freak out when we approach them inside their cage. They see it as THEIR cage, no one elses, the last place they can go and hide and store their stuff.

My first month with Ziggy, he never came out at all unless it was from cage to ball, and ball to bed, tub, or hand.....some don't get out of that habit. After four months now? I can almost lift Ziggy out of his cage by hand. Most of the time. Well, sometimes.....when he feels like it. Still haven't figured out why they follow things when they roll though.... :confused: LOL

Also, fifteen minutes is a good maximum for keeping a ham in a ball. Give them a cage, snack, pee break or the ball gets messy ;) Mine usually want to go right back to the ball once they had a sip of water.....

:)

[amyf007]

Thanks this is so helpful, I am defo gonna give her room in her cage and have had her in the ball 3 times today and she loved it! :) much more happier I shall be keeping up with it and I don't know why I was so silly to think about giving up on her :( feeling guilty for that!

I have took advice from the forum and u guys I got her in a box instead of interacting in her cage she was sniffing around and playing with all the things I put in there :) and even took some cheese off me (I know they can't have much).

[Skeever]

You can set up an entire play area out of cardboard. Erins Hamsters has a how to on making a fairly big play pen you can fold up and put away. And you can sit in it, to let the ham get more used to being around you.... :) Of course I wouldn't leave a ham alone in a cardboard anything ;) ....there are more sturdy pet playpens out there too....

[kyrilliondaemon]

It sounds like getting her out of the cage is the key then :) Just be sure to take it slow now you've found what works, its better slow and steady than rushing and causing problems

[Ridley33]

sounds like you are well on the road to success! yes hamsters consider their cage their terrority so you are invading it when u try and interact with them in it so you are totally right to interact outside the cage. all good advice above. it just takes a bit of patience. Ridley took 8 weeks to be comfortable with me..he now sleeps on my shoulder.

[amyf007]

I am so happy to have found something that she is comfortable with to interact with me:) I will be taking it very slow and steady to get her used to me not gonna force her to do anything :)
So much weigh has been lifted knowing I'm on the way to success lol

All advice is welcome I love it if I can make my little one more comfortable