need help taming scared hamster

[prettyoddkoda]

hi guys, so i got a really cute hamster some time ago, and she is a syrian. i have never owned a syrian before, only dwarf hamsters. also, i've never had any problems with the taming of my little ones until now, never had such a scared hamster before.

she barely gets out of her hide and gets spooked really easely. i've left her alone in the first days to settle, but still she is almost never out. i've tried giving her treats and she sometimes takes them. i kinda got stuck in this part of the taming process. she still is too scared and always hiding.

just leaving her alone and giving treats wasn't improving her scared behavior, so i tried the bathtub method with her but she hated it, even with all the toys there she was not playing at all, just trying to escape, making clicking noises and acting very stressed. i felt bad for her and gave up on that.

please, i need help, does anyone have any tips on taming very scared hamsters that are always trying to hide away? it's making me sad, i don't her to feel scared, but i don't know how to proceed here.

(ps: she has a 800+ sq inch cage and lots of toys, 11 inch wheel, safe bedding and all)

[Lexie_Gians]

Hi there, before I give u some tips I wanted you to know, (incase you were worried) it’s probably not anything your doing. Hamsters are odd, a behavior that google says is stress could be excitement, or vise versa. Every hamster is so different from one another you can never compare yours to somebody else’s hamster. And know that it could possibly take the hamsters entire life span to finally be comfortable with you or even never. Which is a sad reality nobody wants to face.

But I do want you to know there is some hope. When I first got my hamster he was PETRIFIED. He would scream at me when he saw me even if I wasn’t interacting with him. And for the first week he only came out of his burrow for 30 minutes a day. I thought for sure i would never bond with him but that’s when I just decided to give him time. I’ve had my hamster since July 1st and didn’t even think about letting him out of his cage until it eventually reached August 1st and I realized it was finally time. For that entire month I wouldn’t touch him, pick him up, or try to pet him I would only finger feed him or occasionally palm feed him about twice a day. Sometimes I would stick my hand in the cage just so he could smell me which ended up with him biting me.

After the month had gone by I tried bathtub bonding for the first time and he had a good time, played with this toys and crawled all over me I was so shocked. He hasn’t even bite me since then. But every now and then when I take him out for playtime (because I do it every night) he will have good and bad days where he’s trying to get out, or he’s having a good time, it rly just depends on how he’s feeling that day. But when you in free roam or bonding I couldn’t stress enough that you shouldn’t try grabbing him or nothing. Let him come to you, because he needs to learn that your presence isn’t a threat. After a while of freeroam and not petting him you can introduce the idea of being picked up and pet. But keep in mind some hamsters just don’t like being touched. Ik mine doesn’t and will run away if I try petting him so I only do it very rarely.

Watch and study your hamsters behaviors, that will also help. But I hope I was of some use to you and remember you just can’t give up or be discouraged because eventually I bet he will warm up to you. Have a good day!