Taming skittish syrian

[Marica]

i have Fawkes two weeks this evening, and for the past week and a half he is getting more used to me. (he was never touched or in contact with humans) He is more used to my voice, and takes food from my hand.
But whenever i try to touch him, or stroke him, he freaks out, like he is soo skittish, he wud run straight into his hut. It's not like iv'e sneaked up on him, he is aware my hand is in the cage. He is soo nervous, when i was giving his cage a first clean today, i was trying to coax him out, and i could feel him shaking, like the whole (empty) cage was vibrating, and if i make the tiniest move he runs. He isn't bity so far. I tried the whole let him walk onto my hand thing today. I had him in the ball and let him walk out onto my hand, but he was too nervous and even tried to taste me! like he never actually bit me but it was like "what is this thing? a hand?" lol so i thought i would leave it for today, not too push it.

Back to the main point anyway, has anyone got any special tips on taming really skittish syrians?

[kyrilliondaemon]

All I can say is to just let him go to you.
We haven't had a skittish syrian but two of our roborovskis were mistreated in previous homes and really scared of people when we got them. In the end a heck of a lot of patience and letting them come to us really helped.
Skip is pretty good with us now, except too fast for handling (not a problem you'd have with a syrian), and Whizz has decided we're not as evil as she thought even if she's never going to entirely forgive people for whatever she went through before us.

We just didn't ask to touch them at all for ages, and now we're welcome to stroke Skip unless he's busy exploring (in which case we're welcome to if we can catch him and we can't catch him lol), and Whizz lets us touch her when she's feeling really, really brave too.

[Sammybingo]

There are some good tips here, if you haven't read them already - Taming tips - Hamster Central WIKI

I find the bath tub method rather jolly. If you have a tub, when it is dry (mine rarely is, I love a bath ), pop a plug in, line the bottom with a big towel, pop some toys, boxes, hidey places, and maybe a little food in, and plop the little one in there to explore. You can just have your hand hanging in there, for them to run by and sniff and nose at, or you can full on sit in there, still, and let them come to you and sniff. When I got Fur-nando, even though he was pretty tame and laid back, I still wanted him to be 100% relaxed with me, so we did this a few nights and now he stamps straight onto my hand at night to come out . The bath is a really good place for playtimes (if you aren't always in the thing, like me!).

Edit - to add, it's a good idea to have clean hands. If you have the slightest smell of food or something yummy on you, your hamster will be tempted to try his luck with a nibble. If you have some unscented soap (or, non-fruity soap, a lesson hard learnt there ), give your hands a wash before playtime. it's a good idea anyway, to prevent spreading any germs you might have.

[Angelhamster]

I'd say that whatever you do, be persistent but patient! Our Angel just crawls all over us now if we're in our way or if she needs help climbing or getting off something! Talking gently to her also worked as she got used to the sound of our voices and was a lot less skittish rather quickly. If you're scared of being nipped be careful that you don't flinch every time Fawkes comes near your hand otherwise he'll just get more nervous and, yes, definitely wash your hands before trying to touch him in case you have an 'edible smell' on them. Angel was probably not as skittish as your Fawkes was when you got him but hope this helps. Good luck!

[fluffymunchkins]

I'd say the best method will be to give him time. Young hamsters are often skittish anyway and trust will come as he grows older and more confident I would avoid stroking as many hamsters even tame, are not comfortable with this. Lots of scooping up and putting back down and food for being good x

[Zoopism]

I don't have a bath (I do love them), but I do have a shower with sliding close doors. Do you think that would be any good?

[kyrilliondaemon]

Er... Zoopism, this thread is quite an old one. I'd be careful using a shower though and would probably get a playpen instead