How to tame new dwarf hamster?

[Nelly4]

Hi all
Sorry this is a bit long :/
We got a new winter white dwarf hamster about 5 days ago. We got him from a breeder and with a pedigree so we know he is not a hybrid. He was born the 4th of july 2023.
We would really like to, in the future, handle him and hopefully make him a great pet.
My question is about how we approach this in the best possible way.

So, the breeder showed me how she handle him, and i am not sure i think that it was the right way. She would locate where he was sleeping in the cage, and then took both her hands around him and some of the bedding material and picked him up. So it was not on his terms, and while he was half asleep. She said i had to do it this way, so he would not get to bite or run away. You could see he was used to being handle, and when she put him in a smaller box/cage, he would clime up in her hands.
Now ive had a lot of hamsters, both Syrians and dwarfs througout my childhood and teenage years, and i would never pick up a sleeping hamster like this. She also told us that we should not give him treats with our fingers or in our hands, only when he was in our hands. Otherwise he would be disapointet when we did not have a treat or bite the hand because he would think is was food.

Now to my question: The reason i do not know how to approach this is that i have never had a Hamster that would hide when he sees us. The cage is located in a room next to our living room, to minimize the noise a little. We have a camera where we can see the cage, and he will come out of his hiding place a few times a day. As soon as we enter the room the cage is in, he will see us and hide.This also happens in the late evenings when he is awake. He will not come out when we scratch the bedding or talk in a low voise.
Yesterday i went to look in the cage, and could see him standig inside his house. This time he did not run away, i think the house was enough to keep him from doing that at this time. I put my hand in the cage, beside the house and he would stick his head out of the house to look. I put a treat in my hand, and he would come out, just by the door, and take the treat and then rush back. He did this two times, but not since.

I think it is really difficult getting him to get used too us, when we can't see him and he can't see us :/ Maybe he just need more time?
So, how do we approach this? Like the breeder said, because he is used to this? Or do we keep feeding him by hand? Or do we stop putting our hands in the cage?
Should we change the location of the cage, maybe to the living room where we are staying most of the day?
His cage at the breeder was much smaller than the cage he is in now, and maybe that is why he feels insecure?

 

[RainbowBrite]

I agree with you. I think it is mean to wake up a hamster just to hold them. I would trust your instincts with that and not try that approach. Please do not worry if your hamster is hiding from you. It was only been 5 days. He is in a new environment with new people, new smells and sounds. It is all new to him. He needs time to settle.

It is a great idea to have a camera so you can find out what he gets up to when you are not there. I too have a camera and have learned such a lot about my hamster.

As long as a cage has enough clutter, a hamster will not fee insecure in it. Hamsters like to feel safe and having lots of places to hide can help. I really would not worry about your hamster not being tame. Taming takes time. He has to learn who you are and that you can be trusted.

I have a dwarf hamster and he does not like it if I put my hands in his cage. I would just chat to him and once he is settled you can use a taxi to take him into a playpen. You can get to know each other in a nice and neutral space.

I would sit next to his cage and talk to him. Tell him about your day just so he can get used to your voice. There really is no rush. I am sure he will guide you.

What is his name?

 

[elusive]

I agree, I would never wake a hamster unless absolutely necessary, for example if I needed to take them to a vet appointment, otherwise I would only interact with them or handle them when they’re awake & ready.

As Rainbow said it is still very early days, he needs time to settle & make himself at home before he feels secure enough to come out when you’re around. The time that takes varies from one hamster to another, some can be really quick to settle others can take a couple of weeks.
I do the same, just sit & talk to them in the cage regardless of whether they come out or not, that way they get used to your voice & your scent, I will often leave a small treat after talking to them but without disturbing them.

You may need to add more to the cage to provide more cover & make it feel more secure but try not to move anything that is already in the cage if you can avoid it.

I have no problem feeding treats from my hand, you probably will get some exploratory nibbles but they soon learn that hands aren’t food so I wouldn’t worry about that.

 

[Maz]

He’s had some big changes. New people, new environment new cage. I think it’s just time and it’s positive he took a treat from you at all this early.

I think they need a good 10 days to fully settle into a cage and make it their own. Then they seem more confident and out and about more.

How you choose to pick him up is up to you. The bond is between you and the hamster and you will work out what works best for you both.

Personally I don’t pick them up in the cage but offer them something to walk into (eg a tube or enclosed hide. AKA a taxi. And do the handling out of the cage. Initially in a safe area like a playpen eg. Once they are familiar with you and hand tame with you, he may just hop onto your hand to come out of the cage. But some hamsters never like a hand in the cage.

He has a lovely set up and I wouldn’t change anything for a while and just give him time to scent mark and get familiar with it and develop some habits. And keep talking to him through the cage so he gets familiar with your voice and presence. You probably know all that as you’ve had hamsters before.

The breeder was probably suggesting that method to keep up the regular hand taming but he’ll be getting more independent now and there are other ways.

 

[Nelly4]

A little update:
So i have tried to add more to the cage, to create more cover. He seems to like his cage, but we still dont see him much
So, like you can see in the video below, he will come over to the hand and take a treat and then rush back and hide.
This will happen once a day. The rest of the day, we do not see him. He will run and hide when we approach the cage.
One time he had to put all of his feet on my hand to take the treat, and i try to lift my hand a bit, but he jumped off right away and hide.
We have bought him a playpen, and would really like to take him there, and then maybe he could get use to our hands and such.
We will try to use a taxi, something he cant jump out of, but we will have to put a treat in there and "trick him".
I am afraid he will be really scared if we do it this way, and move him to the playpen, but i dont know what else we can do :/

 

[RainbowBrite]

I think it is wonderful he will take a treat from you. To me, this is huge progress. I personally, would carry on offering a treat each day and chatting to him while you do it. You can sit next to his cage from time to time and just talk to him so he gets used to your voice. When he put all his paws on your hand to take the treat he may have been a little scared when you lifted your hand but that is okay. You can just take things at his pace. Once he knows you are the kind human who brings him a treat each day he will learn to trust you.

Just to say, you may like to have a read of the food articles on here. I may be wrong but it looked like you had some carrot there. Dwarf hamsters are prone to diabetes so anything sugary or any fruit is best not to be fed. Do not worry, you are doing a great as he feels he can take a treat from you.

 

[Maz]

I agree, you're making really good progress, and I wouldn't worry about tricking him into a taxi with a treat - I've had to do that (in fact had to do it all the time with our first syrian). Once they're out and enjoying themselves they're not bothered And they get used to it.

I think it's a great idea to start having playpen time with him. He'll soon be tamer then. It was huge progress he actually put his paws on your hand.

I'm not sure if carrot is an issue or not actually - it's a vegetable and won't be anything like as sweet as fruit sugars. Although carrots are sweeter than most veg so maybe green veg mainly might be better but an occasional bit should be ok. Did he actually take/eat the carrot though? None of mine like carrot!

 

[elusive]

I think that’s great progress too, he looks so much braver there taking the treat from your hand.

I would just continue as you are for a whiel & yet & see if he gains a bit more confidence, I think with a nervous little hamster like this taking him into the playpen too soon could set him back, as he is making progress I think just going on at his pace for a while longer would be better.

What treats do you usually offer from your hand? Things like pumpkin seeds, sunflowers seeds, mealworms or a little bit of dried chicken work really well, have you tried something like flaxseed or hemp seed, you can try having a little pile of those on your hand & scatter a few on the substrate & see if he’ll hoover them up with your hand still there.