My hamsters behavior.

Question
when i got my hamster i thought he would be nice and playful he doesnt let me play with him he is so vicious..
why?? i feed him all the time give him water clean out his cage.. im so nice to him why does he act the way he does?

Answer
Hi Ashley,

Don't you worry, we'll fix this problem :)

First of all ashley, your hamster doesn't hate you, he is just scared, he doesn't know that you are not going to hurt him, he thinks you are a threat, which is a natural instinct that many animals have. Like most hamsters, he just needs to be tamed and its completely normal to have to do this. So this is how its done :)

first things first - always wash your hands before handling her, if you smell like food, you will get bitten! also, wear gloves if you have to..

1. hamsters are naturally timid and its all about getting it to realize you mean it no harm.
2. this process may take a while so you have to be patient and don't give up!
3. first way to start this is to feed it treats through the bars with your hands.
4. once he does this without hassle, rest your hand, palm up in the cage with a treat in the middle, his curiosity and need for the food will overwhelm him and he'll soon climb on no problem.
5. now for the hard part, you'll notice that once he's on your hand, any movement or trying to hold him propperly will have him running. so you'll need a box, big enough that he can't climb out. get him in the box via his excersize ball (if you don't have one, get one cheap from your pet store, serious value for money) fill the bottom of the box with a thick layer of sawdust, he is going to jump when you try to grab him. anyway, start trying to cup him for underneath with your hands. if he jumps, no worries, just keep at it this process until you can hold him without him trying to jump away. hamsters will always try to escape your grasp, but it shouldn't come across as panicky once tamed.

* reminder - this could take up to a few weeks for him to be fully tamed.

Also, if you want to wear gloves to start with, then this is fine too :)

Best of luck and thank you for your question :)

Joanne xxx