A scared syrian

linneissen · 03-22-2016, 04:55 AM

So Ive had my syrian Coco for almost 3 months now. Ive been trying to tame her and I am able to give her treats from the hand and stroke her. But recently I took her to her playpen and when I gently stroked her she became terrified. She jumped and rolled over and made some light scars. I felt so terrible and I dont know what I did wrong.

Also since I got her she has been really really scared of noise.. For example when I take my bag with sunflowerseeds she is terrified by the noise of the bag. She looks scared to death when I make noises. I am really scared about this. I dont know if she trusts me but she doesnt really seem scared of my hand. She actually walk by my hand when I'm doing something in her cage. For example changing the food.

Coco has also escaped plenty of times. Everytime I have fixed the way she escaped, I have a detolf cage. I put a glass over the top and she was incredibly strong. She knocked the glass up and came out. We've fixed it now and she doesnt try to escape anymore but still she is so so scared. My other hamster Mint is never scared of anything. Mint seems so happy and calm

SKB_Hamsters · 03-22-2016, 05:44 AM

You are making good progress with taming, with a scared hamster you need a lot of patience it took me 3 to 4 months to tame my scared hamster. Has she been in the playpen before? If it a new environment she may have been unsure of the environment.

My past hamster Toffee was scared of every single sound she heard when I first had her she used to squeeze behind her house and hide, but she got used to different noises when she became more confident this again requires patience. Try to reinforce the noises she hears which scares her with some from of treat (e.g. Fresh veg) therefore this is positive reinforcement so she will become desensitised to some noises which scare her.

Just continue what you are doing as it seems to be working, with regards to escaping her cage could you make a DIY lid to place on top instead of the glass.

cypher · 03-22-2016, 06:13 AM

I'd be a bit worried about the lack of ventilation with the glass on top like that.
There's quite a lot of open space in the cage too which can be a bit intimidating for a nervous ham, I would try to give her more places to feel safe, maybe some large tubes or something simple like cardboard boxes & a nice mountain of shredded toilet tissue to make a nest with!
I would just continue to go slowly with her as far as taming goes, maybe try her in a large cardboard box rather than a playpen to begin with, put some substrate from the cage & some of her toys & her wheel in there so it seems more familiar, begin with really short periods of time until she seems more comfortable with being out of the cage.
She'll probably get less sensitive to noises as she gains in confidence generally.

linneissen · 03-22-2016, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SKB_Hamsters

You are making good progress with taming, with a scared hamster you need a lot of patience it took me 3 to 4 months to tame my scared hamster. Has she been in the playpen before? If it a new environment she may have been unsure of the environment.

My past hamster Toffee was scared of every single sound she heard when I first had her she used to squeeze behind her house and hide, but she got used to different noises when she became more confident this again requires patience. Try to reinforce the noises she hears which scares her with some from of treat (e.g. Fresh veg) therefore this is positive reinforcement so she will become desensitised to some noises which scare her.

Just continue what you are doing as it seems to be working, with regards to escaping her cage could you make a DIY lid to place on top instead of the glass.

Thank you for replying! Yes I forgot to mention that, she has a playpen and last time she was there, about 2 days ago, that was when she got so scared when I stroked her. I try to have her in her playpen atleast once a week, because I really think that helped because she wont escape anymore.

Giving treats when she gets scared is a really good idea. Also I thought I was the only one having a scared hamster.

I've thought of making a DIY lid but we didn't have the resources. Thanks, I wil try this and I might come back and tell if it works.

CMB · 03-22-2016, 08:21 AM

If she came out each evening and went in the playpen she will get used to it quicker. Just let her explore to begin with. When she is ok with this then stroke her in the playpen.

linneissen · 03-22-2016, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CMB

If she came out each evening and went in the playpen she will get used to it quicker. Just let her explore to begin with. When she is ok with this then stroke her in the playpen.

Thank you

linneissen · 03-23-2016, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CMB

If she came out each evening and went in the playpen she will get used to it quicker. Just let her explore to begin with. When she is ok with this then stroke her in the playpen.

Hi again, I just wanted to say that giving her a treat when she heard noise that she find threatening is really good! She is not at all thay scared as she was before! Thank you so much, also I replaced a lot in her cage to hopefully make her feel more safe in there which also improved aswell.

Sadly yesterday I gave her a sunflower seed from my hand and she almost bited me. She kind of nibbled me if that's what you wanna call it. It didn't hurt, but I felt it and got really scared she was gonna bite me harder. I don't know if she is scared of my hand. When I placed my hand in the cage flat down she came right up to me and took the sunflower seed. After that she gently searched for more on my hand and bit me. Do you know what I should do? Does she think I am food because everytime I have my hand in her cage it is almost everytime I give her treat.

CMB · 03-23-2016, 03:28 PM

Sometimes they nibble a bit gently, but in time it should stop. Keep going slowly and if need be go back a step for awhile until she is comfortable with that then move onto the next taming step. Some don't like hands intruding in their territory (the cage). You can offer a tube at the cage door and do the handling/stroking in the playpen.

SKB_Hamsters · 03-23-2016, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linneissen

Thank you for replying! Yes I forgot to mention that, she has a playpen and last time she was there, about 2 days ago, that was when she got so scared when I stroked her. I try to have her in her playpen atleast once a week, because I really think that helped because she wont escape anymore.

Giving treats when she gets scared is a really good idea. Also I thought I was the only one having a scared hamster.

I've thought of making a DIY lid but we didn't have the resources. Thanks, I wil try this and I might come back and tell if it works.

Quote:

Originally Posted by linneissen

Hi again, I just wanted to say that giving her a treat when she heard noise that she find threatening is really good! She is not at all thay scared as she was before! Thank you so much, also I replaced a lot in her cage to hopefully make her feel more safe in there which also improved aswell.

Sadly yesterday I gave her a sunflower seed from my hand and she almost bited me. She kind of nibbled me if that's what you wanna call it. It didn't hurt, but I felt it and got really scared she was gonna bite me harder. I don't know if she is scared of my hand. When I placed my hand in the cage flat down she came right up to me and took the sunflower seed. After that she gently searched for more on my hand and bit me. Do you know what I should do? Does she think I am food because everytime I have my hand in her cage it is almost everytime I give her treat.

I'm glad to hear that she doesn't find sounds as scary with the positive reinforcement this really worked for my hamster. Personally with my scared hamster I never placed my hand In her cage as she was very territorial she used to run over and bite me but was friendly out of her cage, but as she became more confidence she became more receptive of my hand in her cage. Also try to feed treats between your fingers if you are a little nervous she may bite and if she does your finger nails offers a bit of protection from her teeth. Also due to hamsters having a great sense of smell so the slightest smell of food may cause her to nibble but normally as soon as they realise it's not food they will stop. But it sounds like you are making great progress just keep doing what you are doing as it's working, but try not to rush her let her gain her confidence in her own time.