Picking Up.....

Question
Hi Kathryn,
I have a 4 month old Syrian hamster and he hates being picked up. I mean he will let me touch him, pet him, but when I try to pick him up he goes crazy. Do you have any ideas?
Sarah

Answer
Hi,

It takes time to hand train him, but don't give up. Follow this step by step guide explaining how to train Syrian hamsters, and do not move on a step until he is completely comfortable with the previous step:
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.

As your hamster is 4 months old, he may be a little more difficult to train, but it is always possible. The best age to train is between 7 and 10 weeks old.

Best of luck,
Kathryn