Hamster goes crazy when being handled

[NibblesTheHam]

Hi! I have a pretty active syrian hamster, and I take him out in his playpen sometimes, but when he runs from one of my hands to the other, he goes crazy and as soon as I put my other hand in front of the one he's on, he runs off of my hands and away. What's strange is that he does fine when I do the same thing with my arms, he just hates my hands. Is this normal? What else besides the playpen can I do with him?

[Ria P]

Yes, i'd say its perfectly normal.
My impatient Syrian Rodney sees my hands as a springboard to get onto the floor to run around, sniff and play with various toys.

Arms they can run up and down, climb on our shoulders and down our backs but hands are like a small surface to get off from and sometimes to a hamster they smell offensively of handcream or scented soap.

There are exceptions of course like my nosy dwarf Edwina who will sit on my hand when she wants to get a good view of the room especially when there is a new arrival of a foster ham.

[NibblesTheHam]

Originally Posted by Ria P

Yes, i'd say its perfectly normal.
My impatient Syrian Rodney sees my hands as a springboard to get onto the floor to run around, sniff and play with various toys.

Arms they can run up and down, climb on our shoulders and down our backs but hands are like a small surface to get off from and sometimes to a hamster they smell offensively of handcream or scented soap.

There are exceptions of course like my nosy dwarf Edwina who will sit on my hand when she wants to get a good view of the room especially when there is a new arrival of a foster ham.

Ok, thanks, I was worried that I had a hamster that just hated human interaction, which would mean I was making him do something he hated by putting him in his playpen.