Handling

Question
I recently bought a Male Goldne Syrian hamster. I have had him for 23 days. He nevr seems to like being picked up but sometimes i do pick him up by the scruff of the neck is tis ok? Recently he has got better  but he still tries to bite me. How can i train him to not bite and let me hold him? Thank you.

Answer
Hi,
Some people disagree with this, but the majority agree that holding hamsters by the scruff of the neck is an inappropriate way of handling them. Firstly, they have a LOT of loose fur at the back of their necks, so, even when you are holding them with the scruff of their neck, they could easily turn round and bite you. Secondly, and more importantly, pulling the fur at the back of their neck pulls the eyes back, and could cause their eyes to be pushed against the eye socket, causing them to go blind. So no, never hold them by the scruff of the neck.

Here is a step-by-step guide telling you how to hand train them:
1) Put food on your hand and wait for her to come over. Do this every day until she is confident with coming onto your hand.
2)Talk to her gently all the time. Make sure she know you mean no harm.
3) Gently and slowly curl your hand she is eating from round her body. Don't squeeze her, in fact barely touch her with your fingers. After another week or so she should just ignore you doing this.
4) Stroke her on the back with your other hand when she is sitting on your hand eating.
5) Move one hand over the top of her body, while she is sitting on the other one. Curl your fingers round her like you did before. She should be in an enclosed space between your two hands, but able to move around. Practice holding her like this with your hand on the ground first of all until she is used to it.
6) Eventually you will be able to move your hand just an inch or so off the ground of the cage without her squirming. She won't even notice if all goes well.
7) Over a couple of weeks, raise your hand each time slightly, until it is eventually completely out of the cage.
8) The trick is to keep calm, as tension passes straight into her. Keep a loose hold of her, so she is calm, but make sure she does fall out your hand. Keep her close to your body, never at arm's length. Patience is all that is required, and it can be frustrating, but given time any hamster can be trained.

If you have any more questions, please ask.
Good luck,
Kathryn