Carley
01-11-2015, 08:25 PM
Hey everyone!
So about 2/3 months ago I bought my first ever hamster - a female Syrian. I was wondering if anyone could give me any tips on how to get her more used to me? Because at the minute she seems like she's still really wary of me - she always runs away from me, will only come near me when she's out of the cage if I'm completely stationary and won't even let me touch her to pet her without running away. She's also really jumpy still. I heard that it takes time to get hamsters used to you, and because this is my first hamster I have no idea if 2/3 months is a long time for her to still not be comfortable around me but it seems like ages lol! :p
Just to let you guys know what I have done to try and help tame her:
When I first got her I left her alone for a couple of days, I never wake her up during the day but if she is awake/it's night time I'll periodically put my hand in the cage to just let her sniff it (which she always does...she runs to the cage door when I open it and sniffs my hands but she just runs away when I try to touch her :( ) and then I leave her alone, I give her treats most times I put my hand in the cage, when I have to pick her up I always scoop her up with both hands underneath her so she doesn't feel threatened by a giant hand coming over her and grabbing her, when I get her out of the cage I normally put her somewhere where she can climb on me and get used to me...but only if she wants to, I don't force her :p I even put some tissue paper up my sleeve and then put it in the cage because I read somewhere that that was a good way to get them used to your scent. She refused to go near it for most of the day and then the next morning when I went to check up on her she had shredded it into bits so obviously she wasn't impressed XD
Anyway sorry if this post is too long, I just wanted be thorough. I'm only a beginner at hamster-owning so any advice is very much appreciated :p
Thanks!
So about 2/3 months ago I bought my first ever hamster - a female Syrian. I was wondering if anyone could give me any tips on how to get her more used to me? Because at the minute she seems like she's still really wary of me - she always runs away from me, will only come near me when she's out of the cage if I'm completely stationary and won't even let me touch her to pet her without running away. She's also really jumpy still. I heard that it takes time to get hamsters used to you, and because this is my first hamster I have no idea if 2/3 months is a long time for her to still not be comfortable around me but it seems like ages lol! :p
Just to let you guys know what I have done to try and help tame her:
When I first got her I left her alone for a couple of days, I never wake her up during the day but if she is awake/it's night time I'll periodically put my hand in the cage to just let her sniff it (which she always does...she runs to the cage door when I open it and sniffs my hands but she just runs away when I try to touch her :( ) and then I leave her alone, I give her treats most times I put my hand in the cage, when I have to pick her up I always scoop her up with both hands underneath her so she doesn't feel threatened by a giant hand coming over her and grabbing her, when I get her out of the cage I normally put her somewhere where she can climb on me and get used to me...but only if she wants to, I don't force her :p I even put some tissue paper up my sleeve and then put it in the cage because I read somewhere that that was a good way to get them used to your scent. She refused to go near it for most of the day and then the next morning when I went to check up on her she had shredded it into bits so obviously she wasn't impressed XD
Anyway sorry if this post is too long, I just wanted be thorough. I'm only a beginner at hamster-owning so any advice is very much appreciated :p
Thanks!