Hamster won't come out of it's house

[Lindayar]

Hello everyone,

I'm quite new here and I apologize for my English in advance..

I have a quistion about my Syrian hamster. His name is Ties and he is a male hamster, about 6 months old. I bought him 3 weeks ago and let him settle in. He isn't scared with me and he can eat out of my hand. The problem is that he won't come out of his house until we are fast asleep. I think he is afraid of sounds but I don't know what to do about it. I tried to get him out of his house by showing him treats and make him come out of his house. When he grabs the treat he will immediately go back into his house.

Do you guys have any tips or tricks for me?

Thank you!

[racinghamster]

It`s not that unusual really because what you need to understand is, a hamsters cage (and nest area) are their territory/domain/safe haven. So he feels safe while in there. It`s nice that he takes treats from you, but hamsters sleep most of the day and I know that can be frustrating but if you force him awake, he may feel threatened and bite, so it`s not a good idea to wake him up. Routine is important to them so if you are around when he emerges for a drink or some food, you can talk to him and try to interact, but patience is the key. Don`t do full cage cleans as this removed his scent and food stash, both very important to a hamster. So if you get used to doing a daily spot clean if his cage, only removing any damp areas or uneaten fresh food he hasn`t eaten and check his nest for any damp areas, just replace what you remove and leave most of the substrate/bedding where it is. This helps greatly with their behaviour and overall settling. x

[cypher]

It can be a bit difficult at this time of year, I don't know where you are but if it's cold now they do tend to sleep more & are less inclined to come out for long preferring to stay nice & cosy in their nests also he is still quite new & some hams take longer than others to really settle in completely & gain confidence.
Each ham has their own routine & schedule but you can try to get them to wake a little earlier by feeding just a bit earlier than they normally come out, rustle the food bag so he knows you're there or make some other gentle noise so you don't startle him, don't try to force him out though, you can try scattering food around the cage too as this will encourage him to be out more rather than just grabbing a treat or food from the bowl, pouching it & going back to his house.
If you can get him to come out with the feeding routine you may be able to gradually make it a little earlier & earlier but only by a small amount of time, don't try to rush things.
Keep the lights dim & any sounds like TV low during the evening & with some patience you should be able to see more of him & move on with taming.

[Pebbles82]

Three weeks isn't long - he'll still be settling into his cage and a bit nervous. Having said that, ours never comes out before we have gone to bed, voluntarily. I've got him in the habit of being woken about 8pm when I put his food out, and letting him walk into a tube with a treat at one end. He has his out of cage time (usually falls asleep!) and then I pop him back. It means he gets handled regularly and keeps familiar with us. I wouldn't do this just yet though as yours is still settling in.

One thing I used to do when we first had Charlie, was - go to bed early say an hour earlier. Turn all the lights out. Read or whatever for an hour, then go down. You'll probably find him out and about in his cage and can have a little chat with him or offer him a treat through the bars. I wouldn't try getting him out late at night though, until he is tamer as they are very energetic late at night (their daytime) and can run for it!