I advise adopting a new hamster from a breeder for many reasons. However, sometimes you fall in love with a sweet little guy or gal at the pet store and the temptation to take him home is too great. I have fallen for many a pet store hamster over the years and it's always a gamble. Even if you manage to get one that is healthy and pest-free, you may run into the problem of under-socialization. Most commercial breeders are interested in profit alone, so pet store hamsters are rarely handled by humans. And because hamsters are a relatively newly domesticated species, those who are not socialized regard humans as predators and have a natural fear of them. Your new friend may run or hide from you, or in extreme cases may even cry or scream when touched or picked up. For a young child, this behavior can seem puzzling and even frightening. If your new pet is dislaying these behaviors I recommend the following socialization techniques.
Relate to the hamster on its terms
First, provide your new friend with the basic comforts he needs: plentiful food to eat; fresh water; soft bedding; a wheel; and, especially, a hidey hole or house so that he feels safe. Place his cage in a quiet, warm room without a lot of daytime noise. Then leave him alone for at least 24 hours to get accustomed to his new home. I know it's tempting to play with him right away, but this time is important for him. After your hammie becomes accustomed to his home you can begin socializing him. Always interact with your hammie when he is awake. Don't wake a sleeping hamster unless it's an emergency. Hamsters acquire a better sense of security and become a lot calmer if they know that their sleep-time and their sleep-place is safe and undisturbed.
Be patient, go slowly and don't force yourself on the hamster
Patience is the KEY. Start by taking their cage and setting it in front of you or beside you on a bed or couch. For 10-15 minutes just sit near it. Then, for another 10-20 minutes open the door and place your hand just inside and hold it still. Allow your hamster to approach you. Let him sniff you, inspect you and even nibble gently. You can even offer a small treat. Do not attempt to touch the hamster at this time. After 30 minutes or so, close the door and put your hammie back in his room to relax. Repeat this ritual every day for the next few days.
Allow your friend to come to you
Hamsters are naturally inquisitive critters. Each day they will become more and more brave and curious about you and the world outside their cage. The more interested the hamster becomes in you, the more you can offer yourself to them. Never force yourself on your hamster. Let him aproach you. When he starts to come to you to inspect your hands, hold them flat inside the cage and allow him to crawl on and off your hand. Once he is comfortable crawling on you, try lifting him out while on your hand. This may take a few days, so be patient.
Don't grab the hamster--this makes him feel trapped
Try hard to resist gripping your friend. Instead, let him crawl over you and if you must pick him up, enclose him briefly in your hand, then quickly place him on your arm or a soft surface. The more you allow him to explore unemcumbered, the more confident he will become.
When your hamster is comfortable sitting on your hand, buy him a ball and allow him to play in it for a few hours a night. I tape the ball shut so there's no chance of the lid coming loose and the hamster escaping. The more your hamster associates you with coming out and having fun, the more eager he will be to come out to you.
After a few weeks of this slow, gentle ritual--moving from a sniff to a caress to an hour or so of ball-playtime your hamster - will be transformed from a frightened little guy to a confident, social friend.
The real key is patience. You'll win your hamster's love very quickly by proving to him that you'll wait until he is ready. We use this method on all our adoptees, even the most unsocial, and it works like a charm. Always make certain your hamster is on a level, solid, safe surface before trying any of these techniques and never place a hamster in a ball and leave them on ANY surface they can roll off of. This is VERY dangerous and can cause deadly injury. As always, look out for your new friend's best interests and safety. They depend on you to protect them. Don't leave them unattended even for a little while.
Good luck and best wishes for a long, happy relationship with your new family member!
Skye breeds beautiful hamsters like Sophie in Boston, MA. You can contact her via Shawsheen River Gerbils on our Contact page.
We are gerbil people, no question, but our love of gerbils has led us to own some other wonderful pocket pet species as well. Among these have been our wonderful pet hamsters Mario and Sophie, as well as our temporary guest, Mr. Fluffy, who was the first hamster to breach the defenses of SRG.
Sophie in a shining moment at the Petco Hamtrack races.
Mr. Fluffy came to us on an ostensibly brief visit while his family undertook some construction. He was a fairly typical pet-store hamster: an unkempt ball of long white and beige fur with a rather skeptical expression, devotedly noctural, whose main presence in the house was an all-night grinding of the wheel. But when he was awake, he was cheerful enough and my young children appreciated how much easier he was to hold than our fast and agile gerbils. Once it became clear Mr. Fluffy had no return ticket, we found him a home with a family more devoted to hamsters than we. But we'd caught a glimpse of the allure of a hamster.
In our line of work we rarely go looking for animals: they come to us, and this is how we lucked into Mario. A visiting gerbil adopter asked if we'd take in a neighbor's hamster as the mother of the family was overwhelmed with creatures to care for. We agreed, assuming that we would re-home him as we had Mr. Fluffy. Mario turned out to be the sweetest hamster we'd met - cheerful, always happy to come out to play. Sadly, we'd won him in the final chapter of his life. When he was gone, we knew there was room in our home for a well-bred hamster.
This time we did go looking, right to craigslist, figuring we'd rescue a hamster in need. Instead, we found a hamster in breed - or rather, a hamster breeder! Skye (see article left) was raising the most lovely, hand-tame, well-socialized hamsters we had ever seen. And thus Sophie came into our life.
When I contacted Skye, I told her that I hoped to take Sophie far and wide as part of my travelling Pocket Pet demonstration. Sophie had the charm and grace you would expect of a diplomat. She traveled well, slept lightly, and awake always cheerful and ready to greet her audience. She happily rolled about in her ball at public libraries, museums, 4-H events, gerbil shows, and in our kennel for countless friends and visitors. She made overnight visits to the homes of people trying to decide if a large, gentle Syrian was a better pet than a gerbil for a particularly young or cautious child. She was truly an ambassador for her species.
With Sophie recently departed, we've decided to take a break for now on hamsters. While sweet and adorable, they come with an level of odor and mess that equals about three tanks of gerbils. So we will wait and see. I doubt it will be too long before the next hamster rolls into our lives.
