Some questions about my Syrian hamster, BooBoo

[NattyNightmare]

So my hamster BooBoo has been here since June 27th (it has been a month now) and when I got him he was 9 months old. I have a few questions, since he's my first pet ever.
1. What are some ways for me to establish a better connection with him? I've seen stories about people cuddling with their hamsters and it honestly makes me really jealous. When I take my hamster out, he never really wants to sit still. He only does when I have food on my lap and he eats food off my lap. Other than that, he always tries to escape. He doesn't quite trust me yet and I don't know how to get him to trust me completely and have him be comfortable with cuddling and laying on me and stuff.

2. What are some ways for me to get him to wake up earlier? When we first got him he used to wake up at around 8-9pm but now he wakes up no earlier than 10pm. He usually wakes up at around 11pm-12am. It sucks because when I start school again, I won't be able to see him. So this will be a problem. I've done some research and I found that if you give them a treat every day at the time you want them to wake up then eventually they will adjust to that time. Well that'll be a problem because the only treats I really have are the yogurt treats, and I don't feel comfortable with giving him that every day. I want to reduce the risk of him having diabetes at all costs.

Any tips on these questions would really be appreciated, since I'm kinda new with owning a hamster.

[cutehammies]

Hello! With the waking up - you could try this tip?
If he normally wakes up at 11pm, make sure you're in there and calling him out at 10.45pm for a couple of nights. Then the next couple of nights, go in 15mins earlier at 10.30. Wake him up with a treat & put food in, get him out to play etc. Once he's up ready at 10.30 knowing you be coming in or at least maybe sort of looks like he is awake and comes out quicker, then start going in 15mins earlier again at 10.15pm. Eventually you can get to the time you want to, say 8pm.

You're quite right yoghurt drops are an unhealthy treat and so not ideal for every day. But hamsters love healthy treats - a bit of carrot, or a bit of brocoli is a lovely treat for them! But if you look at some of the nutrition threads you'll find plenty more treat ideas!

[Gillzy]

Yes, I'd suggest cutehammies way. It's the most effective - but it does take time and patience (and for you to be there at those times every night). And you need to try and stick to it, because she may revert back if you don't. And yes, there are plenty of healthy treats that can be given - even if you just pick out some seeds from her food.

Cuddling is something a lot of members on here are jealous of! There are several hams that really enjoy being snuggled, and will even sleep on you. But I think the majority are ones that want to escape. I find the most cuddles I get from Sen (the well known escapee) is when we have play time in the hall (a hamster proof room - that I can let her run freely). I put toys out in the hall, but after an hour she gets bored of all of that, and I start becoming her climbing frame. So she'll climb up onto my shoulder and survey the hall. Other than that, playing with her, and giving her treats, ensuring she has everything she needs, that's the only way I can suggest improving the bond. You've only known each other a month and it will take a while to gain high levels of trust.

Have you tried the bath-tub method of taming?

[AliKati]

Yes, cutehammie's method of waking him up earlier is good. For healthy treats, you could alternate between pumpkin seeds, a bit of carrot, broccoli, yoghurt treat, a little bit of cheese - try different things.

Not all hams are cuddly and will go to sleep on you. My hamsters are super-active and love to explore and have adventures. However, if I sit in the play area, they get used to be and will climb over me and jump over me. Then with time, they will climb up on me and sit for a few minutes while they survey the room. Other times, when they eat a treat while sitting on me, it also feels good they trust me enough to do that. I think hams don't usually get sleepy on you unless they're much younger or much older. So hopefully when my ones get older, they'll be able to do that but for now, it's fun to watch them be lively!

[NattyNightmare]

Okay, I'll be trying out cutehammie's method and I'll try to make it work. Thank you.

And yeah I have tried the bath tub method once. I put towels on the ground and practically the entire time he wanted to find out what was in and under the towels! Anytime I let him roam free anywhere he always tries to find a way to get out. There was one time, though, when I took him over to my aunt & uncle's house and we used a couple chairs as barriers. Inside we put his food bowl, a carrot, and his wheel. He took less time than usual to try to escape, but I'm thinking it's probably because we put his wheel in there and he's super familiar with it.
He also tends to wake up at least an hour earlier than usual whenever I take him over to my aunt & uncle's house. I guess maybe it's because it's a new environment. A couple days ago when I was sleeping over at their house, I let BooBoo go into his ball and I let him walk onto my lap from the ball. It was also the first time that he rested on my lap. He just laid down and let me pet him. It was so weird because he had never done that before, and I don't know what made him so comfortable with me all of a sudden because after that day he didn't do that again.
I wonder how I can get him to do that again? It was so cute.

[kyrilliondaemon]

Its awesome that you've got him to lie down and let you pet him now

With our Scamp she basically decides if she wants a cuddle or not. I've currently got an annoying foot injury and oddly enough it was when it was really bad when it started that Scamp decided to be a cuddly hamster for a few days. Alex (my partner) would get her out, then bring her to me and we'd handle her together. I started letting Scamp explore up my sleeves and stuff and for some reason she decided to settle down and rest in my lap for a while.
Handling her helped me deal with the injury so she got more time with me for a few days then, and yeah, it led to her wanting a rest on my lap lol

We've built up a lot of trust with each other, and she's done the same with Alex, so has rested on him now too. Always when she's been exploring for ages though, and even then she can decide she won't rest until she's on a specific one of us lol. No idea what she chooses it based on though.

So yeah, as he gets to trust you more he'll let you fuss him more. I've even started building up a system with Scamp where we both have ways of telling the other things, like if I want her to calm down a bit I can get her to understand that, and if she wants to move faster she can get me to understand that and co-operate.

[NattyNightmare]

Alright, I will try getting him to get more comfortable with me that way. Thank you!