How to hand train a hamster?

Domestic hamsters are "registered" in the houses and apartments of residents of many countries around the world, including Russians. These little fluffy animals constantly delight their owners with relentless playfulness and downright touch with their cheerful habits, creating additional accents of comfort and warmth in their homes. But in order for the hamster to acquire "good manners", it is necessary to train him systematically.

Domestic hamsters belong to the order of rodents - the most numerous of the mammals. They prefer a secluded lifestyle, but with proper training they quickly get used to the owner and love fun communication with him. They are crepuscular animals. In the daytime they are inactive and sleep until dusk.

Hamsters' eyesight is poorly developed, they do not react to color changes, but they have an excellent sense of smell and hearing. They are guided in space exclusively by smells and sounds, they are sensitive to touch. They have a good memory, are able to remember family members even after a long separation.

Sometimes people recklessly turn on a hamster, seeing it at their friends' house and watching funny tricks and games, having little idea that this is preceded by painstaking educational work with a pet.

You should not decide to buy a hamster without familiarizing yourself with its biological characteristics and lifestyle in advance. Talk to your family members, especially if you have children.It is better to refuse the purchase if someone close to you categorically does not tolerate the presence of rodents. Negative stress will not lead to anything good for the hamster or family members.

If everything is settled with everyone, make thorough preparations so that the hamster lives in a comfortable environment. You need a good spacious cage, a house for shelter and sleep, a running wheel, a feeder, a drinker, and accessories for games. Make sure that the cage is in a calm, quiet place, but without complete isolation, out of the reach of other pets. It is necessary for the animal to gradually get used to the sounds and smells around its home, to hear the voices of the household. Prepare a variety of foods, taking into account the recommendations for housing conditions.

By their nature, these animals are not distinguished by courage and are often afraid of everyone and everything, especially in a new environment after a purchase. The main mistake of many is that, having come home from a pet store with a live purchase, the new owners, in joy, begin to forcibly hold it in their hands, try to stroke it and, without stopping, lisp, naively thinking that the animal is delighted with such communication. Having received a well-deserved rebuff from the animal, they are sincerely amazed when the hamster bites painfully. In fact, the animal is under deep stress. He was parted from his usual surroundings, brought to it is not clear where, and was seized by strangers. A natural defensive reaction is triggered, the pet bites and struggles to break free, run away and hide.

Give your hamster complete rest for a while - this is about a week. Watch for food in the trough and clean water in the drinker. Don't stand too close when your hamster is eating.

Not a single pet will fall in love with the owner from the first day of acquaintance just for the fact that he acquired it. All animals go through periods of adaptation, domestication and upbringing, and such a little funny fluffy, like a domestic hamster, is no exception. The general rules for taming animals fully apply to hamsters: patience, calmness, slowness, persistence, kindness, affection, trust.

If the pet has got used to the new home a little and is no longer hiding in the house at the sight of you, you can gradually begin to get closer. According to your observations, you already know what kind of food he eats especially willingly, when he is most active, and when it is better not to touch him. You cannot wake him up during daytime sleep - this will cause severe irritation of the animal, nervousness, anxiety and even aggression.

Continue to actively accustom 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 aloud an interesting book every day in an even calm voice, sitting in a comfortable chair near the cage. If the pet has once again disappeared from you in the house, in no case do not get it out of there by force, be patient. Gradually, he will stop running into the house when you approach and will calmly take to the meal.... The hamster will understand that the sounds of an already familiar voice are not dangerous.

Now you can use your favorite fluffy treats to tame. Carefully place "sweets" in the cage: seeds, nuts, pieces of vegetables, dried fruits or something else that your hamster loves. If the rodent is calm, try offering a treat from your hand by grabbing the nut with two fingers.

Under the influence of emotions, do not overdo it with praise, do not try to pet the pet! You risk ruining everything: the hamster does not yet know your hands and will certainly be frightened, 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 take hold.

If you feel that your pet trusts you and runs after the treat when you approach, try to gently reach out your hand with the treat into the cage. Place food so that the rodent cannot reach it from the floor. Do not make sudden movements, do not push the pet - just wait calmly. After spinning around the bush, the fluffy will have to climb onto the palm to grab the treat.

When this happens, try grabbing the hamster. Fold your palms in a boat and slowly place your hands with the treat in the cage. The Fuzzy, as usual, will jump on his palms and start eating. Very slowly, move your hands out of the cage together with the pet, quietly pronouncing the affectionate words and the name of the fluffy. Most likely, the first few times the hamster will jump off the palms. Be understanding, do not insist. Repeat this parenting element systematically, persist and success will come. The pet will make sure your hands are safe.

But now you have successfully tamed the hamster and communicate with your pet without any problems. Grasp it with your palms on both sides, try not to let it jump off your hands. Just in case, keep it over a soft surface (bed, sofa) or over your knees to eliminate the risk of injury from an accidental fall.

When the hamster finally gets used to his hands, he will not try to dodge, but, on the contrary, he will run up to the cage door when you approach, he will gladly wander around your hands and next to them, sniff and examine interesting things.

It will take several weeks from the moment of purchase to the complete taming of the pet. 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 enters in the smell of food, cover the can and remove it from the cage. This will allow the hamster to easily "clean up" and put it back in without frightening.
• You can use the bathroom to get your pet out of the cage. Close the drain hole of the tub tightly, put a soft mat on the bottom so as not to accidentally damage the tub cover. Place the cage in the bathtub, open the door, step back and wait calmly. A curious fluffy will come out of the cage, and while he wanders along the bottom of the bathtub to explore the "surroundings", you can calmly cope with the cleaning. Put a clean cage in the tub and put something tasty inside. The hamster will calmly enter the cage for a treat, you just have to quickly close the door.
• 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 this, except in case of emergency, for example, to show it to the veterinarian in case of pet's health problems for examination. Severe fright will lead to additional stress, and the taming process will slow down.

The end result - to tame a pet - can take a month or more, or it can take 2-3 weeks. It depends on the breed of the hamster, its age and individual characteristics, and also to a large extent on the abilities of the owner himself, his endurance, perseverance and simple human kindness, condescension and generosity towards a weak living creature.

For information on how to train your hamster to hand, see the next video.