Hi. We are 3 weeks into owning a hamster and he’s still very very shy - he burrowed into his bedding and rarely comes out. I’m sure he’s living his best life and running about overnight but we’d love to build a better connection with him - without upsetting him. Any tips on how to persuade him to be more sociable?
Hiding hamster
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Hello. This can be a common issue especially with deep bedding and a baby hamster
First thing to try maybe is feeding time. What time do you put his food out? If you put it out say 9pm and make a bit of cage noise at the time, so they wake up, and also give fresh veg daily, they can start getting up at that time (mainly because they can't resist the smell of the veg). They start to associate the bit of noise, whether it's opening the door, tapping a dish down on a platform etc - with food/veg and get in the routine of waking about the same time for it.I also put the bit of veg on a separate dish at the opposite end of the enclosure to where they sleep (or just on a platform if you don't know where he sleeps!). Just a very small amount, no bigger than his ear. Cucumber and broccoli are popular (and the smell of cucumber can be very tempting) but there are other safe veg as well - but cucumber is a good start.
Then if/when he gets in the habit of waking and crossing the cage to get the cucumber, you can offer a tube (taxi) on his way back from getting the veg. Then lift him out in the tube to a playpen area or the dry bathtub for some initial taming sessions. Maybe do that 2 or 3 times a week max at first. Once they get used to coming out and are more familiar with you, they start asking to come out more so appear more
Let us know if that helps at all!
Thanks so much - all sounds like great advice. We haven’t been removing his food - just topping it up when it gets low. This is what we were told to do - but I’ll try removing and establishing a ‘dinner’ time. Ideally we’d like to hang out with him at 7/8pm so my son can bond with him.
We’ll also try the cucumber
We’re happy to play the long game - it just feels a bit like we’re ignoring him! Although he doesn’t seem to mind
We’ll also try the cucumber
We’re happy to play the long game - it just feels a bit like we’re ignoring him! Although he doesn’t seem to mind
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Yes you could try a 7pm routine Putting new hamster mix out each day is quite important as they strangely seem to ignore food unless it's freshly put out. So they will leave food in a bowl once it's been there for a day. They won't starve as they have a hoard to snack from. But I'm guessing it's part of the foraging instinct, to "forage" the new food each day and ignore anything that isn't new. What I tend to do is empty the bowl every couple of days but always put a new heaped dessertspoonful out each day (on top of the old food one day then empty the bowl the next day - if you use a bowl). Or scatterfeed half of it and put half in the bowl.
It seems like a waste of food, but they don't eat that much and hamster food isn't massively expensive As it's been three weeks then yes I would start trying to tempt him out. It can take a lot of patience at first though as it could take another few weeks of gentle taming before he can actually be handled! But you can start with a stroke now and then which is something. Have linked the taming article below
Also do you have a photo of his set up? We might be able to suggest the odd tweak that might encourage him out more.
www.thehamsterforum.com
Putting new hamster mix out each day is quite important as they strangely seem to ignore food unless it's freshly put out. So they will leave food in a bowl once it's been there for a day. They won't starve as they have a hoard to snack from. But I'm guessing it's part of the foraging instinct, to "forage" the new food each day and ignore anything that isn't new. What I tend to do is empty the bowl every couple of days but always put a new heaped dessertspoonful out each day (on top of the old food one day then empty the bowl the next day - if you use a bowl). Or scatterfeed half of it and put half in the bowl.It seems like a waste of food, but they don't eat that much and hamster food isn't massively expensive
As it's been three weeks then yes I would start trying to tempt him out. It can take a lot of patience at first though as it could take another few weeks of gentle taming before he can actually be handled! But you can start with a stroke now and then which is something. Have linked the taming article below Also do you have a photo of his set up? We might be able to suggest the odd tweak that might encourage him out more.
How to tame a hamster
Hand taming a hamster can make life with your hamster very rewarding. Suddenly they will sit on you to be stroked or even go to sleep on you, and will be very easy to handle. It can take a bit of time and patience initially.
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My dwarf hamster Cindy liked to be up later, once the lights went out but now I feed her at 7pm every day and she has got used to that routine and comes out for a good old nosh. I put food in lots of little dishes around her cage and give her a forage dish which is a bit larger that the others and has torn up bits of cardboard in it. She climbs in and has a good old rummage!
Thanks so much - here is his set up… any suggestions welcome!Yes you could try a 7pm routine
It seems like a waste of food, but they don't eat that much and hamster food isn't massively expensive
Also do you have a photo of his set up? We might be able to suggest the odd tweak that might encourage him out more.
How to tame a hamster
Hand taming a hamster can make life with your hamster very rewarding. Suddenly they will sit on you to be stroked or even go to sleep on you, and will be very easy to handle. It can take a bit of time and patience initially.
Thanks! Love the idea of the forage dish - fab tip thank you
