How To Tame A Hamster

Hi. My name's Marie. I'm the deputy manager of the Small Animal Department of Wood Green Animal Shelters in Cambridge here and I'm going to advise you how to care for hamsters.

I'm going to tell you how to tame a hamster. When taking on a hamster for the first time, if they're young, baby ones, or even possibly adults, there's a chance they haven't been handled much and the whole experience can be quite scary for them. There is a chance that they are going to possibly have a little nip of you, and possibly even warn you off with a hamster scream, so do be prepared for this.

First of all, when you take a hamster home, get it settled in its accommodation, make sure it's a really large and enriched accommodation so they feel comfortable and it's meeting all their needs. Each day, get them used to you being in the room. Slowly, place your hand in the cage and offer them a treat and see whether they'll take from you and that will get them used to you being in the room and also taking food from your hand.

You could then also go into a small room and sit down on the floor and get the hamster into a plastic tube which will be in their cage. Take the plastic tube out and place this on the lap and let the hamster walk around on your lap so they're just getting used to be with you and near you. Slowly, you can then place your hand flat and let the hamster walk across your hands.

This way, they will slowly get used to you, get used to the smells of your hand and being picked up. Once they feel comfortable walking across your lap and across your hands flat, you then can gently have a go at picking them up. It's always a good idea to just tell them what you're doing so they get used to the noise and what you're saying to them and the sound of what you're going to say that you're going to pick them up.

So when you go and say, just say and be gentle with them and just lift them up. And that way, you can then place them into their accommodation. And that's how to tame a hamster. .