I cannot tame my chinese dwarf hamster

Question
I have just bought two 7 to 8 week old chinese dwarf hamsters. They are really shy and hide in their tunnelswhen I put my hand in the cage. I have followed instructions to tameing them on about 2 different sites, which involve me geting to the last step then it all going wrong (I have given up on relying on hamster sites). I lay 2 treats in their cage a day and have had them for about 1 and a half weeks.
Please help me
Beth

Answer
Hi Beth

Sorry to hear that you are having problems taming your hamsters.

I don't know what you have tried so far, so I might be suggesting the same thing.  

The way I have found to tame hamsters is firstly to talk to them a lot.  This way they recognise my voice.  Hamsters have dreadful eyesight and rely heavily on their other senses, therefore any sudden movement or sound can worry them.  Also, in the wild they are preyed upon a lot by birds and other animals and they don't know that you are a friend, rather than an enemy.  It really is a case of winning their trust.

Can you take the cage apart at all or are they in a tank?  If you can remove the top section so that you just have a base then it is worth doing this.  Putting your hand through a doorway or tube etc. again can be seen as aggression and scare them.  If you rub some of their bedding onto your hands so that their scent is on you, then place a hand each side of one of the hamsters and very quickly 'scoop' it up.  Immediately transfer it to your clothing.  If you can it would be good to try and get them both out at the same time initially as they may find comfort in being able to smell/sense the other one is around.  If you are on your own and they are too fast, then handle them one at a time but make sure you have fully closed up the cage so you don't have an escape - they can be so fast that at the first opportunity to run, they will!

I tend to sit down when handling a hamster.  This way they can wander over my clothing and if they jump they won't fall far.  Let the hamster explore you.  Continue talking to it all the time and if it starts to wander off gently slide a hand under it to bring it back.  After a few minutes return it to the cage and get the other hamster out.  When they go back to their cage, give them a treat.  It really is a case of building up handling time and building their confidence.  I think that when someone feels that they can't handle a hamster, they give off some sort of emotion that the hamster picks up on which makes them more nervous.  Once you have found that you can handle them even if it is only for a few minutes at a time you will act more confidently around them.

Do you have exercise balls for them?  If not it might be good to buy a couple of the ones specially designed for dwarf hamsters.  Do tape over the joins in the balls as they do have a habit of opening up if banged into furniture.  Also, with dwarf hamsters, their exercise balls can get stuck under furniture, so keep a close eye on them both when they are out.  I have found that most hamsters like exploring in these exercise balls and even the timid ones seem to gain more confidence as they get a chance to explore whilst in a safe environment.  When you come to get them out, don't try and put your fingers into the ball otherwise they may nip - let them walk out onto your clothing or straight back into their cage.

If you can increase the handling time daily or try and get them out a couple of times a day for a few minutes hopefully you will see some improvement soon.

I hope this helps you.  Good luck with this.

Regards
Sheila