Nervous/Scared hammy

Question
Hi,

I got my first Syrian Hamster about 2 weeks ago. I bought him from a pet shop and they said he was about 2months old but he is really nervous and scared of me.

The first few days he would rock in a corner and shake and would flinch when I tried to stroke him. Now, he will take food if I hold it between my thumb and finger but only if its near his house so he can run back into his house and I wont see him again!

I know there is some progress but he wont dare walk over my hand if I place it on the bedding, even if I put a tasty treat on it and rub my hand in his bedding, although I have been able to scoop him up and stroke him and he won't bite me but I can feel him vibrating in my hand like a mobile phone!

How can I get him to calm down a bit and take treats from the palm of my hand? (or at least walk on it himself) I feel like all progress has stopped here and that he wont become really tame. I've tried holding him every day, petting him, feeding him on my hand and I'm sure he's familiar with my hand now now but he still vibrates and doesn't seem to trust me. He just runs into his house and covers the hole with bedding so I can't see him lol.

sorry about the essay! but thanks for any advice.

Answer
Hi Kia

I think you are doing well with your hamster.  Some hamsters do take time to settle and if you persevere he will.  I know that you want him to be tame immediately but it might take him a month or more.

At this stage I would advise that you don't try putting your hand in his cage or put your hand out for him to walk on.  For some reason hamsters can have a problem with walking on skin and they are much more comfortable walking on clothing.  When you get him out of his cage immediately put him on your clothing and sit down with him so he can walk over you.  If he wanders off gently slide a hand under him and bring him back.  Talk to him all the time.  If you then return him to his cage and repeat this.  He will quickly get into the routine.  You should be able to get him to walk from one hand to another - the key thing is allowing him to keep on the move.

Do you have a hamster exercise ball?  if not it might be worth getting one of these.  Tape over any joins in the ball as they do have a habit of opening if they bang into furniture.  Once he gets the hang of going in this in the evenings for 10 - 15 minutes he should gain some confidence.  This allows him to wander around and explore without feeling threatened.  When you come to get him out of the ball don't put your hand in it - instead open it up and either let him walk straight back into his cage or onto your clothing.  You should be able to train him to walk from his cage into the ball in the evening.

I don't know where you got your hamster from but if it was from a pet shop the problem with some of them is that they come from large breeding farms and have never been handled.  To them this is a big and scary world and it will take time to settle.  I've had several like this over the years but I have always found them to calm down albeit it sometimes takes as long as a month or more.  Hamsters' eyesight is bad and they rely heavily on their sense of smell and hearing and therefore anything strange detected near the cage or sudden movement can scare them.  In the wild they are preyed upon a lot by birds and larger animals and a hand appearing from nowhere can make them feel threatened.

If you continue doing what you are doing but instead of trying to get him to walk on your hand you let him walk on your sleeve instead he should make some progress. With hamsters like this I usually quickly 'scoop' them up and immediately transfer them onto clothing. Don't give up on him - as with a bit of perseverance he should come around eventually and your friendship with each other will be so much better.  

Hope this helps you.

Regards