Taming Help

[Obie's Mum]

Just had a breakthrough with Obie's taming tonight!

So far, when I've been offering him treats from the palm of my hand, he's tried to nibble my fingers, I've flinched, and he's run off.

Then one night he took a treat and sat next to my hand to eat it, but with one paw resting on my hand

Tonight, though, he licked my fingers and whisker kissed them, then climbed onto hand, and sat on my palm munching mealworms. I raised my hand up about 1cm and he stayed put. I raised it another cm and he hopped off onto one of his platforms/ladders (he was in his playpen).

I didn't have to wait until 2-3am for this lovely moment; it happened at midnight.

Don't know if this is the reason for his behaviour tonight, but last night I tore toilet paper into strips that I'd had stuffed down my bra all evening. I put the strips next to his nest hole. So maybe that helped.

 

[Amy]

So, I have had Obie now for a month, but getting him tame is taking too long, so I'm after some advice, please.

One problem is he gets up very late at night, and at the moment, I'm having to have early nights because my husband has just died and the grief is leaving me feeling exhausted

The other problem is, I've tried stroking his back gently and mostly he ignores this. Twice I've had him jump and act surprised, but I may have startled him. He's never bitten.

I've progressed from this to holding my hand out flat, palm up. Whenever I do this he gingerly nibbles one of my fingertips, like an exploratory, "What is this?" nibble. When I pull my hand away a little to stop the nibble turning into a bite though, he either runs off, or has a second gentle nibble and then runs off.

I should add that he accepts mealworms hand fed to him when he's in his cage (the touching I've done in his playpen). Whenever I move anything in his cage, he used to come to watch what I was doing, but now he just stays in bed.

Generally I'm finding that I'm seeing less of him as time is going on, rather than more. I'm worried that I'm losing vital taming time as he's growing up, although my current early nights aren't helping this. I am getting up early in the mornings though, so maybe this might be a better time to interact with him?

Please do offer me any advice that you can. Thank you.

I am so sorry for your loss I would just like to send a hug and wish you strength and comfort.

I have similar problems with my hamster, I make progress and then it feels as though you take a step forward and one back… i hope that you have success in taming your little friend, fingers crossed. some hamsters may need a bit more time than others.

 

[Amy]

Just had a breakthrough with Obie's taming tonight!

So far, when I've been offering him treats from the palm of my hand, he's tried to nibble my fingers, I've flinched, and he's run off.

Then one night he took a treat and sat next to my hand to eat it, but with one paw resting on my hand

Tonight, though, he licked my fingers and whisker kissed them, then climbed onto hand, and sat on my palm munching mealworms. I raised my hand up about 1cm and he stayed put. I raised it another cm and he hopped off onto one of his platforms/ladders (he was in his playpen).

I didn't have to wait until 2-3am for this lovely moment; it happened at midnight.

Don't know if this is the reason for his behaviour tonight, but last night I tore toilet paper into strips that I'd had stuffed down my bra all evening. I put the strips next to his nest hole. So maybe that helped.

I just read this after sending my post. I am so happy for you

 

[Hamster Haven]

I didn't have to wait until 2-3am for this lovely moment; it happened at midnight

This nugget is SO " when you know you know"... I'm sure many here can relate (I know I can) to having had a hamster who is slow to tame and who waits until very late to come out, which makes it even harder!