Is my hamster scared of me?

[VyCanis]

First time owner here, I've had my hamster for 6 weeks now and they still seem scared of me. Whenever I get them out if the cage they always run around all over me and stuff, but I have to keep them from jumping off of the bed. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[RainbowBrite]

Hello and welcome to the forum VyCanis. Hamsters are prey animals and naturally very nervous. Before even attempting to take a hamster out of their cage you need to build up some kind of trust and bond. Which species is your hamster? 6 weeks is still very early for your hamster to know you. It is also best to have your hamster in a safe play pen to play rather then your bed as they could jump off it. Can you tell us a bit more about your hamster?

Do not worry, you have come to the right place as you will find lots of support and advice.

 

[elusive]

Hello & welcome to the forum.

As Rainbow said it can take a while for a hamster to build up confidence & trust so it’s natural for them to be fearful to begin with.
Having said that your hamsters behaviour sounds quite normal in some ways, without knowing more it’s hard to say if it’s just normal active behaviour (young hams don’t sit still for long!) or if he is afraid & attempting to escape.
Having a ham on the bed can be dangerous, it’s quite a long way down if they do jump & fall, far better to keep them at ground level in an area like a play pen where they can’t escape.

 

[Maz]

Hello and welcome. I've moved your thread to Everything else Hamster It was in the forum rules section. If you need any help finding your way round the forum, just shout!

 

[VyCanis]

Hello & welcome to the forum.

As Rainbow said it can take a while for a hamster to build up confidence & trust so it’s natural for them to be fearful to begin with.
Having said that your hamsters behaviour sounds quite normal in some ways, without knowing more it’s hard to say if it’s just normal active behaviour (young hams don’t sit still for long!) or if he is afraid & attempting to escape.
Having a ham on the bed can be dangerous, it’s quite a long way down if they do jump & fall, far better to keep them at ground level in an area like a play pen where they can’t escape.

I'd send a video but I don't know how to lol

 

[elusive]

You can’t upload a video directly here but if you put your video on Youtube you can just add a link & it will show up here.

 

[Maz]

Yes if it's a youtube video, just paste the link in the message box.

 

[VyCanis]

You can’t upload a video directly here but if you put your video on Youtube you can just add a link & it will show up here.

Here, they seem a bit frantic, is it normal?

 

[Maz]

Your hamster is lovely! What is his/her name? Ok the hammy does seem very active and a bit stressed maybe. I think sometimes that can be to do with the time of day you get them up for taming. For example with our first Syrian - if I got him out between 5pm and 8pm he was like this, even after he was hand tamed - he just wanted to be off and was highly active and not interested in being held or stroked.

But if I got him out between 8pm and 10pm he was quite dopey and more placid and would even go to sleep when out sometimes! Once it got to 10pm onwards he was in highly active night mode and not wanting to be still again.

The other thing is, taming can be a bit slow sometimes - maybe try doing it in the dry bathtub for a while. Have a look at the article on taming on the home page. There's a point you get to where they are suddenly hand tame.

I don;t think your hamster is scared of you though - just a bit stressy and active.

 

[VyCanis]

Your hamster is lovely! What is his/her name? Ok the hammy does seem very active and a bit stressed maybe. I think sometimes that can be to do with the time of day you get them up for taming. For example with our first Syrian - if I got him out between 5pm and 8pm he was like this, even after he was hand tamed - he just wanted to be off and was highly active and not interested in being held or stroked.

But if I got him out between 8pm and 10pm he was quite dopey and more placid and would even go to sleep when out sometimes! Once it got to 10pm onwards he was in highly active night mode and not wanting to be still again.

The other thing is, taming can be a bit slow sometimes - maybe try doing it in the dry bathtub for a while. Have a look at the article on taming on the home page. There's a point you get to where they are suddenly hand tame.

I don;t think your hamster is scared of you though - just a bit stressy and active.

Thanks! His name is Rattigan (The white)

 

[elusive]

Rattigan is lovely!
He does look a bit stressed to me.
I would try setting up a play area or play pen with lots of toys to explore, a wheel to run off a bit of stress or energy & you could scatter a few small seeds or treats around for him to find, you can sit in there too but just let him taking his time exploring & getting used to things for a while.
I’m not a fan of using the bath tbh, I think bathrooms can be quite overwhelming for them, if you can do it in the room where the cage is & things are more familiar that’s probably better.

 

[VyCanis]

Rattigan is lovely!
He does look a bit stressed to me.
I would try setting up a play area or play pen with lots of toys to explore, a wheel to run off a bit of stress or energy & you could scatter a few small seeds or treats around for him to find, you can sit in there too but just let him taking his time exploring & getting used to things for a while.
I’m not a fan of using the bath tbh, I think bathrooms can be quite overwhelming for them, if you can do it in the room where the cage is & things are more familiar that’s probably better.

I do have a playpen like that, but I'm a pretty big person and the pen we got isn't that big, so it's really only wide enough for me OR toys to be in, not enough room for both.

 

[Maz]

Well maybe initially you could have him in the pen with toys and just sit next to it and occasionally put your hand in palm up for him to run over, or with the odd treat in. It's partly about them getting familiar with your scent.

The other thing is - how often are you cleaning him out? That is something that can stress them a lot. Being cleaned out too often or everything cleaned at once (removes all their familiar scent).

Rattigan the White is a lovely name. Why the white? He is dark coloured lol.

 

[elusive]

I would do as Maz suggested, at least to begin with, sitting next to the play pen & just introducing your hand is a good way to get them more used to you.