Domestic hamsters "registered" in the houses and apartments of residents of many countries around the world, including the Russians. These small furry animals constantly delight their owners with relentless playfulness and downright touches them with their cheerful habits, creating additional accents of comfort and warmth in the dwellings. But in order for the hamster to acquire "good manners", it is necessary to train it systematically.
Short description
Domestic hamsters belong to the order of rodents - the most numerous of the mammals. They prefer a solitary lifestyle, but with proper training they get used to the owner quickly and love cheerful communication with him. These are twilight animals. In the daytime they are inactive and sleep until dusk.
The body of hamsters has a high metabolism, so they tolerate physical exertion well and can run on the treadmill of a rotating wheel up to 10 km per day.
Vision in hamsters is poorly developed, they do not respond to discoloration, but have an excellent sense of smell and hearing. Oriented in space solely by smell and sound, sensitive to touch. Have a good memory, able to remember family members even after a long separation.
What to consider when purchasing an animal
Sometimes people thoughtlessly give birth to a hamster, seeing him with friends and watching funny tricks and games, weakly imagining that this is preceded by painstaking educational work with a pet.
You should not decide on the purchase of a hamster, without having familiarized in advance with its biological features and lifestyle. Discuss all moments with your family members, especially if you have children. It is better to refuse to buy if someone from the family absolutely does not tolerate the presence of rodents. Negative tensions will not lead to anything good for the hamster, nor for family members.
If everything is settled with all, conduct a thorough preparation so that the hamster will live in comfortable conditions. We need a good spacious cage, a house for shelter and sleep, a running wheel, a feeding trough, a drinking bowl, accessories for games. Take care that the cage is in a quiet, quiet place, but without complete isolation, it is not accessible to other pets. It is necessary for the animal to gradually become accustomed to the sounds and smells around its home, to hear the voices of the household. Prepare a variety of food, taking into account the recommendations on the conditions of detention.
The first days in the new house
By their nature, these animals do not differ in courage and are often afraid of one and all, especially in the new environment after purchase. The main mistake of many is that when they come home from a pet store with a lively purchase, the new owners begin to hold him in their hands with joy, try to stroke and, without stopping, lisp, naively thinking that the beast is delighted with such communication. Having received from the animal deserved repulse, sincerely amazed when the hamster bites painfully. In fact, the animal is in deep stress. He was separated from the familiar environment, brought to some unknown place, seized by strangers. The natural defensive reaction works, the pet bites and tries its best to break free, run and hide.
Give the hamster a moment of complete rest - this is about a week. Watch for feed in the trough and clean water in the water bowl. Do not stand too close when the hamster eats.
From afar, talk with him in a friendly manner, call your nickname more often, then an association of familiar voice sounds with tasty feeding will form in the head of fluffy.
Begin to tame
Not a single pet will fall in love with the owner from the first day of his acquaintance just because he purchased it. All animals go through periods of adaptation, domestication and upbringing, no exception and such a small funny fluffy as a home hamster. General rules for taming animals fully apply to hamsters: patience, calm, slowness, perseverance, kindness, affection, trust.
If the pet has mastered a little in a new home and is no longer hiding in the house at the sight of you, you can gradually proceed to a greater convergence. According to your observations, you already know what kind of food he eats especially willingly, when it is most active, and when it is better not to touch it. You can not wake him up during the daytime sleep - it will cause severe irritation of the animal, nervousness, anxiety and even aggression.
Continue to actively teach the hamster to the sounds of your voice, and in order not to get tired of the monotonous phrases of your vocabulary, you can quietly read an interesting book out loud in an even calm voice, sitting in a comfortable chair near the cage. If your pet once again hid from you in the house, in any case, do not get it out of there forcibly, have patience. Gradually, he will stop running away to the house at your approach and will calmly take to the meal. The hamster will understand that the sounds of an already familiar voice do not carry danger.
We continue taming
Now you can use your favorite fluffy delicacies in taming. Carefully enclose a “snack” in the cage: seeds, nuts, pieces of vegetables, dried fruits, or something else that a hamster likes. If the rodent is calm, try to offer a treat from the hand, capturing the nutlet with two fingers.
Pet took food - you are on the right track, you have a small victory!
Under the influence of emotions, do not overdo it with praise, do not try to stroke a pet! You run the risk of spoiling everything: the hamster still does not know your hands and will certainly get scared, haste will throw you back to the very beginning, and small signs of trust will instantly disappear. Wait a few days, do the same thing every day, let the result be fixed.
If you feel that the pet trusts you and runs for food as you approach, try to gently reach the cage with dainty. Put food in such a way that the rodent cannot get it off the floor. Do not make sudden movements, do not push your pet - just calmly wait. Having rotated around the bush, the fluffy will have to climb into his palm to grab a delicacy.
Do this daily until the hamster is completely accustomed to the smell of your hands and completely ceases to be afraid to get into the palm of your hand for a treat.
When this happens, try to take a hamster in hand. Put your palms together in a “boat” and slowly place your hands with a delicacy in the cage. Fluffy, as usual, will jump on the palm of your hand and start eating. Very slowly push your hands out of the cage with your pet, gently pronouncing gentle words and the name of fluffy. Most likely, the first few times the hamster will jump off his palms. Treat with understanding, do not insist. Systematically repeat this element of education, persevere, and success will come. Pet will make sure your hands are safe.
How to pick up
But here you have successfully tamed a hamster and communicate with your pet without any problems. If you are going to take him in your arms, do not make any sudden movements, do not take it from behind or by the scruff: the hamster will be frightened and bite while protecting himself. Clasp him with palms on both sides, try not to let him jump off his hands. Just in case, hold it over a soft surface (bed, sofa) or over your knees to eliminate the risk of injury if you accidentally fall.
Hold it in your hands with the utmost care not to inadvertently damage the small fragile creature.
When the hamster finally gets used to his hands, does not seek to dodge, but, on the contrary, he will run up to the cage door at your approach, he will gladly wander around your hands and next to them, sniff and examine interesting things.
What to do while the hamster is not tamed yet
From the moment of purchase to the full domestication of the pet will take several weeks. At this time, it is necessary to regularly clean his home without significant harm to his emotional state. There are several ways to do this.
- Place a glass jar of hamster food in the cage. When the hamster comes inside to smell the food, cover the jar and remove it from the cage. This will allow the hamster to “clean up the apartment” unhindered and bring him back without frightening at all.
- To pet left the cage, you can use the bathroom. Tightly close the drain hole of the bath, put a soft litter on the bottom so as not to accidentally damage the bath cover. Put the cage in the bath, open the door, stand back and quietly wait. A curious fluffy will come out of the cage, and while he wanders along the bottom of the bath to examine the “surroundings”, you will calmly cope with the cleaning. Put a clean cage in the bath and put something tasty inside. The hamster will quietly enter the cage for a treat; you will only have to close the door quickly.
- There is another way - to cover the animal with a towel or put on gloves to get the hamster out of the cage, but experts do not recommend doing so, except in case of emergency, for example, if you have pet health problems, show it to the vet for an examination. Strong fear will lead to additional stress, and the process of taming will slow down.
The end result - to tame a pet - can take a month or more in time, and can take 2–3 weeks. It depends on the hamster breed, its age and individual characteristics, as well as to a large extent on the host’s own abilities, endurance, perseverance and simple human kindness, condescension and generosity towards a weak living being.
Consistently following the not so difficult recommendations, you will certainly be able to accustom the pet to your hands and enjoy positive communication with this cute animal.
To learn how to hamster hamster hands, see the following video.
