Extremely Shy Syrian

[AmberAutumn]

Hello,

Sorry if I am replying/chatting in the wrong place, I'm new here and don't know how to start my own thread!

Basically, I bought a new syrian hamster, Autumn, today from Pets at Home, she's 5 months old and extremely shy. She has never been handled at all in her life, it would seem!

I've transferred her to her new cage-unfortunately half of my cages are at uni and it's a new Rotastack Super Pod---hopefully she will be moved into a larger cage before I leave.

The thing is, she is so shy that when I even say words that have certain sounds like "s" sounds she jumps out of her skin. I went to put more bedding into her cage, but if I moved my hand even slightly (I made the slightest noise with the bedding in my hand) she jumps. So I haven't put it in yet. She does have bedding in her cage already, I was just going to top it up.

She's been running in her wheel, and I've been talking to her gently-I'm quietly spoken anyway-yet she is just so heartbreakingly shy.

She seemed ok in the pet store, she was very timid I will admit, but not backing into a corner type afraid. I managed to stroke her there in her cage. I've had syrian hamsters before in the past, and recently sadly lost my dwarf hamster, Otis, to stroke.

Does anyone have any suggestions to what I can do to help a extremely shy hamster?

In the next couple of weeks she will be travelling back to uni with me, and I really don't want to upset her further! All 6 of my past hamsters have turned out to be very tame, and I hope to work with her closely to get her used to me too.

Thank you for any replies-sorry again for replying in the wrong place, would be grateful for any help/redirections to post!

-Amber and Autumn

[BilboOlaf]

Hi there,

If you want to start a new thread, just click on the new post button near the top left of the postings list. I'm sure there will be lots of other owners on here coming along soon with more experience, but I'm guessing that you have rehomed a rescue hamster? The poor little thing has had quite a bit of upheaval, so just leave her to settle in for a few days.

Good luck, there is lots of good advice on here to help you. I had hamsters as a uni student and they are great company. My cinnamon long haired Syrian, who was called Dougal, was a lovely friend.

[velma]

Hi! I got Cleo two weeks ago from P@H & she was exactly the same when I got her home. A tiny movement made her jump. If she was sat in her loo/sand bath (which was a mug at the time), she'd jump cos I'd startled her, her head would touch the top of the mug & make her jump even more. She was hiding behind her wheel or in a minuscule gap behind her house. I know you have to go slowly & take things at their speed but it can be disheartening if even being in the room scares them.

You need to give her a couple of days to settle in. Only change her food & water but nothing else. I sat in the room a little bit away from the cage & chatted quietly. When I ran out of things to say I just read HC & Facebook out loud you just want her to get used to your voice. When she's settled a bit, try offering a treat but have your hand still so she can see you're not scary & if she wants to hide, let her so she knows nothing bad happens if you're in the cage.
With Cleo, I don't want to give her too many bad treats but where she was so jumpy & nervous to start with she didn't want to come over for less exciting treats. I had to find something that was "high value" enough for her to risk coming & taking it from me. What seemed to help was large treats that I could hold out & let her hold the other end to nibble off a bit (but without giving her the whole lot). It seemed less scary for her. From there I found small treats she had to take from between my fingers. Again bad foods but "high value" to her. But not many. When she's done, or pouched what she can, she goes to her nest under house to store her food & doesn't come out again. But that's fine cos she feels safe. As she's got more confident, I can give her better foods that she will take. I fish out the sunflower seeds & sweet corn from her bowl before I put it back in her cage & offer her those as she seems to like it. Also, if I have given something else not so healthy I can give just a tiny bit & know that I can keep giving her treats to take that are basically just the nice stuff from her food. In two weeks she's still skittish but she let me stroke her. Which doesn't sound much but I think is huge.
I'm not saying this is the correct way & I hope that someone with more experience can give you some proper steps but it seems to be working for us so far. But the main thing I think is important is don't rush her. You'll only set yourself back in the long run. Good luck! Look forward to seeing your progress

[ianpallen]

My long haired syrian is exactly the same. He jumps at the smallest sound. Even words with a ssss. I just leave him to it and hardly see him as he is like a robo really. He hides in a corner, but the other day, I progressed a bit. I lowered the front of the cage and let him walk on to it and I managed to stroke him without him running away. Result. If I cup him in my hands and pick him up, he will pee on my hand. I think it is just a nervous pee. He will take food from my fingers, but does not come onto my hand properly yet. I am just giving him the time he needs. When I do eventually see him, I put my hand in the cage and let him know I am there. He wont come out of his house for me yet though. He sleeps most of the day and usually comes out when I have gone bed.

[AmberAutumn]

Thank you so much for your replies! I've had previous experience with syrians before, but when I was much younger. However, this is the first female I've had, and first shy hamster! I will try all your tips-I'm currently sat in the same room as her playing classical music. Hopefully that will help to relax her a little bit

I can't handle her too much at the minute as I've unfortunately got a cold, but that should give her some time to settle in. I am a bit worried about moving her to uni, as it's a 2 hour is car journey. However, my previous dwarf hamster seemed to be ok with the travelling-we'll just go carefully and steady I guess!

She's been in the super-pod since 3:30 ish yesterday when I got her and overnight, she seems happy at the moment! Once at uni, she'll have another super-pod, a larger Rotastack cage and two round stacked cages which all join together.

Hopefully I will update in a few weeks with her progress

Thanks again!

[Skeever]

If you're listening to classical, I'd avoid the Surprise Symphony...and pretty much all of Stravinsky