HELP! Very frightened and tormented hamster!

[alvinsfamily]

Hello guys, I not been on for a while so my apoligies. Anyhow, I got a call from my friend asking if I knew of anyone who would like a hamster as she was rehoming hers. We have a syrian hamster and a russian hamster and I said Id give it a loving home. She said it kept nipping her little girl and she thinks the cat may have tormented it by sitting by the cage all day. She only had the hamster for 2 weeks so its still a bubbie. Anyhow Ive left the hamster to settle for longer than my others as I knew it had had a tough time and all it does is sits in its tube ALL DAY, even sleeps there. As it was in the tube we couldnt let it smell us or hand feed it so one of the ways I thought it could get used to our smell was by rubbing small bit of tissue amongst our skin and popping it in the cage.

I just noticed the hamster awake so I removed part of the tube and let the hamster come up to me and smell me, it had a good sniff but wouldnt walk onto my hand so I put a long bit of plastic near the cage in the hpe it would walk onto it. Anyhow, it bit this bit of plastic then flew round the cage... chattering its teeth! If that was my hand it would have gone right through I tel ya. How can I make this hamster feel more secure? And is there anyway we will evr be able to pick it up?

Thanks peeps x

[souffle]

First thing I would advise is to get rid of the tubes. They make taming a nightmare. Dont have anything the hammy can hide in until it has gained confidence and is well on the way to being tame. A cardboard box with the bottom cut out so it can be lifted to reveal the hammy makes a good bed box.
The hammy has had a bad scare with the cat by it all the time. Why did they let it do that
It also sounds like it may have a bit of cage rage where they become very territorial. You need to take it out by herding into a box or ball using something it cannot bite and have a treat in there so it associates it with something nice. Once in take the ham well away from the cage to a low, soft surface and start taming. You may need gloves at first if it is very nippy.
It will take time to undo the fear but with patience and perseverance I'm sure you can do it.
Well done for taking on this little hammy and good luck

[alvinsfamily]

Thanks for the reply. The cage is very small, something that will b replaced soon. Ive taken out the tubes and built a little cardboard 'pen'. I scooped her up into there, put a treat in there. She walked around for a bit and I put a bg hamster wheel in. The one in her cage is awful, tiny with raised bits which must hurt her feet as she dont use it. She sniffed around the wheel and went in and spent a while running about in it. Ive now put that wheel in her cage, which has taken alot of space up, but she seems to enjoy it. Its a wodent wheel so she seems to enjoy having the holes there.

She is now sitting in her bowl as Im typing so hopefully getting rid of the tubes will bring her out a bit x