Hi! I got my lovely Syrian Arwen just over a month ago from a breeder, so she was used to being handled regularly. However, with me she's absolutely terrified.
She won't come out of her multi-chamber house when I'm in the room, not even for fresh delicious treats wafted by her door, and the only way I was initially able to tell she was alive was her food going down and fresh pee on her saucer.
After a few weeks of not seeing her, I took some advice I saw online to lift her house up and scoop her up, which worked in that she would sit fairly happily on my lap and eat treats until she got a bit zoomy and I'd put her back in her cage, but straight after I put her back she makes a mad dash for home and won't come out again. After a week of persisting, and her being fairly chill out of the cage but scared inside, I decided to give her a break and left her alone for a week, just topping up her food and water.
After leaving her alone for a week, she still won't come out of her house while I'm in the room, and she can't be tempted out by treats.
I badly want to be her friend, and to move her to the much bigger cage I've put all my previous hams into after they'll walk into my hands or into a mug, but I don't know how to proceed when she won't come out at all.
None of my previous hamsters have been this hard, so I'm feeling really stuck and sad. I'd be really grateful for any suggestions!
Hamster Won't Ever Come Out
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