3 replies to this topic

[TheMoonStoleMyTea]

Hi everyone.

 

So my hamster, Bramble and I have started the taming process. I've had him for a little under a month and we've already made it to the 'feels comfortable taking a treat from me' stage. He's very comfortable with me having my hands in his cage, he and I have a bit of a routine of water/food changes and me hanging out with him. The only thing is that he will not take a treat from my palm just yet. (To be quite honest I think I might just be a little impatient.) I guess my question is, does anyone have any advice on what I can do to make him more comfortable? Currently, treat wise, it's between a few carrot slices, dried strawberries and the occasional mealworm. I don't know exactly how old he is, but I'd say roughly around 6months or so. Any advice is welcome, thanks.  

 

Update: I have this bowl (I plan on using it for a sand dish at some point later) and we had some mom/son bonding time today

Edited by TheMoonStoleMyTea, 23 July 2022 - 10:44 AM.

[Happyhammies26]

Hi!
What you could do is take a smal peice of toilet paper, rub it against your hands for a couple minutes and put it in your hamsters cage. This will get your scent in your hamsters cage, and get them more open to you!

[OctoberEighth]

My previous hamster rarely took a treat from my palm, and the few times he did, he'd nab it quick and get off right away. Fully tame, generally not nervous at all, just didn't seem like it. He would come right up to my hand because he knew I had a treat, but preferred for me to hand it to him to take.

 

What this meant is we never go to the "he'll climb into your hand so you can take him out" stage of things. Our solution? We'd offer him a little jar (I've heard of other folks using coffee mugs), and he'd climb into that for us to take him out. I'd say be patient and definitely try the toilet paper thing, but if he seems to be "stuck" at this phase of things, you could try moving on to see how things go (obviously if he does not seem comfortable, do not continue).

[hamsyamsgrams]

Hi. Definitely do the toilet paper trick - that helps immensely. For my hamster, I found out she loves oats, so I would do taming with that. Because oats are so small and she would take time to collect them off my hand, I was able to gradually feed them to her on my palm, which she would need to either hop onto or take a couple minutes and at least step on my hand to grab them. It takes time to tame, but it sounds like you're on the right track!