Hamster avoids my touch

[Baluee]

Hi, I cut to the chase instantly.

I got an almost one month old male Syrian, and his name is Ramsay. I have him for almost 20 days now, he plays when I am around, he eats of my hand, he sleeps when I am around, he even comes on my hand (sometimes with food and sometimes without food), he sniffs my hand but doesn't nibble or bite (only when my hand smells of food), BUT, he never allows me touch her, whenever I try to touch his sides or bottom or top, he does everything to avoid it (he doesn't nible tho). Why is that? What should I do so Ramsay allow me to touch or pet him?

[sgtbowhunter]

Watch some YouTube vids on “taming” a hamster. We’re going through that with ours right now. Have patience and he will come around! Some hamsters take several months to tame.

[velma]

I actually think it sounds like you're doing pretty well already, if he's happy to have your hand in the cage and he's taking food from you. There's some good advice you'll find here on the forum. There are some useful videos on youtube but beware of who's posting it because I've also seen some very dodgy ones. What I would say is that it can be disheartening when it looks like everyone's got a hamster tamed in lightning quick time but they're all different and all take different amounts of time. Your hamster is very young and I've found with mine it's not til they're they older that they calm down more to make handling easier for both of you. And, there are hamsters who I would say are very tame and friendly but who never really want to be handled. So don't be disheartened, keep on gently doing what you're doing and I'm sure you'll have a great bond in time.