Normally this Tame to Begin With?

[Artsy Hammy]

I went to the shelter today to look at the hamster that I have been wanting to possibly adopt (I am going back tomorrow to pick him up). They had said the reason he was given up was because the child that he lived with was afraid of him.

There was another person there getting another hamster, so the volunteer said that I could go get him out to play with him. I was expecting him to be very hard to get out of the cage since I had never seen him before, but surprisingly, he crawled right up on my hand. From there I was able to pick him right out of the cage and play with him. He seemed very comfortable, and began to clean himself and then explore.

Are Syrian hamsters normally this tame to begin with? It seemed like he would have been a lot more reluctant to be taken out of the cage. My Chinese definitely wouldn't do that, even now.

[Hekomi]

Syrians tend to become tame, then stay tame. Dwarfs are more finnicky I think. Syrians are, I think, if raised correctly, naturally inquisitive and kind of friendly. They can be scared but if they're in the right environment and handled properly and gently, even if not really tame, is probably happy to come out for a bit.

It's probably case to case, but I've not met too many grumpy Syrians.

[StarlightSerenity]

Badger was the same when I got him from the RSPCA Like Hekomi says, once they become tame, they stay tame. I imagine he had some handling either as a pup or by his previous owner and is fine with human interaction

[Syrian Hammy]

Bear is from P@H and was happy to sit on my hand the first day I brought her home. She's a little scared of certain noises but is very eager to come out and explore.

[nibblet]

Luckily all of my Syrians have been tame from when I bought them, but they were from the same pet shop which I think uses a home breeder. Melody whom I adopted is tame but a bit jumpy.