Can Hammies Love?

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Lil_Branchette

Lil_Branchette

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 10, 2009
Messages
123
Can hamsters love you in the similar way that a dog can? I've been observing hamsters before, but they don't show the same affection or recognition of their owner...Is it possible to love and care for a hammy so well, that he'll learn to love you and show love in return?
 
I suppose they can form attatchments but animals are not little people running around in fur coats.......
 
I don't think a hamster will show the same love and adoration that a puppy or cat will show, but I do think they recognize our love for them and being well-cared for, and will feel comfortable with you. I think a hamster that feels mistreated will run from you or bite you. Mine comes to me and likes to be held. That's as much love as I expect from him.
 
I think they will recognize their 'human' and learn to like being held and getting attention, but I don't think it will be in the same way a dog would show it.

My hamster ALWAYS comes out of her house and to the side of the cage if I'm in the room. She just watches whatever I'm doing... I could be doing homework and she just sits there and looks. She's so sweet, never bites or anything and is always interested in what's going on.
 
Oh ok. I was just thinking though, some hamsters I pick up bite me. One even drew blood. Curious, though, because that one hammy, I picked him up gently and I didn't startle him. Other people picked up similar hamsters, many of which bit (this is all at my work). What would happen if I bought such a hamster and gave him all the love and care, would he stop biting? What was the reason for biting? I don't think I scared him, because I did everything gently, as not to hurt the hamster...
 
Some hamsters may not liked to be picked up at all. Some hamsters are just nasty. Some might bite because you may have a food smell on your hand and they want a bite! :) I think a lot of animals can be reformed, to some degree, if you can give them lots of love and attention. You have to be patient, though, because it could take a while.
 
I once had a hamster who would bite. I got her when she was pretty old, she was the last one left of the bunch and even though I tried handling her a bunch, she would still bite.
But, when on vacation once, my boyfriend watched her for me and he really liked her and she wouldn't bite him.
So, my hamster went to live with him since they got along, so maybe it also depends on the person. As I know I didn't do anything to provoke her biting.
 
I think it came from being nasty...haha! Because some hammies nip me gently when they think I'm food. I even remember what happened when that hamster gave me the full-on bite, and how he sunk his mean little teeth into my finger. Usually, the hammies just "try" me. What must I do to help alter that behaviour in a hamster? Hold them a lot? I dunno if I can hold a hammy who will keep biting me...
 
Maybe try wearing leather gloves while you're getting him used to being held...? I think it must be scary for a hamster to be held if it hasn't been held since birth. Think of trying to handle a cat who had minimal human contact - would you try to pick up a stray? I think a hamster bites out of fear because that's the only thing he can do. Continue to try and pick him up for a few minutes whenever he's awake and get him used to being held. I would think eventually he will get used to you handling him and will stop biting you.
 
My opinion is that it is more trust rather then love. Hamsters, rats, mice, chinchillas - and most prey rodents - will trust if given proper attention.

My chins were very skeptical of Ricky when we moved in together. Now they like him more than me. I think it is because they associate me with cage cleaning, grooming, and getting moved around. They associate him with treats and low stress attention. Stuff like cleaning water bottles, changing out pellets, etc - doesn't really effect how they feel about me.

Hamsters are similar. I've had some really nasty ones, but most were aquired as adults. I've adopted a couple babies and when humans are part of their everyday young life (vs. being born in a wholesaler's or pet store's place) they are imprinted and more easily adapted.
 
So just being around the hamster will help? Also, can a hamster get used to you just by you cleaning his cage, or do you have to touch him and hold him? Because at my work, we clean the cages almost every day (clean cages, bowls, and houses are important when there are a few baby hamsters housed together). Also, every day we change the water and food bowls to make sure that all small animals are getting clean water and food. However, even with all that contact, hamsters still bite...Does that mean they need more one-on-one contact? Like playtime, for example?
 
Being around the hamster (cleaning the cage, picking them up and touching over them) will desensitize a hamster to human contact (which is a good thing). Hamsters are "bitey" creatures a lot of the time, even if they have been raised by a breeder who specializes in them - so I wouldn't expect them to not bite.

Best thing you can do it just handle them a lot, get them used to being touched. You have to consider where these animals are from, too. Wholesale breeders don't typically do much of the socializing that hamsters from show breeders would get.
 
Oohh, ok. Because at my work, we clean cages often, hold the hamsters often, and pet them, but they still bite. Do you think that I should leave something in the cage with my scent on it, or with somebody's scent, who handles the hamsters often? Will that help speed up the hamsters getting used to us quickly?
 
Lil_Branchette said:
Oohh, ok. Because at my work, we clean cages often, hold the hamsters often, and pet them, but they still bite. Do you think that I should leave something in the cage with my scent on it, or with somebody's scent, who handles the hamsters often? Will that help speed up the hamsters getting used to us quickly?
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Not that I'm aware of. But if your hamster didn't have a lot of human interaction when he was young, it may take a while for him to be comfortable with you. Just take your time with the process and be patient.
 
I agree, I would just keep trying to gradually desensitize them to human contact. Our little girl Nutmeg was never bitey, but was absolutely terrified of everything when she came home with us. Within a month of bringing her home, with consistent gentle love and attention, she became fairly comfortable with us. Since then, she has become incredibly trusting and is actually less skittish about some things than our chins! She also recently went through a leg amputation, so we had to force feed her meds... she hated it, but because she was so trusting, she never became the least bit aggressive. It just takes time... and I imagine being in a busy pet store makes it a bit more stressful for them. Also, what kind of hams are they? By a certain age, Syrians will start fighting with cagemates, and I'm sure that would add to the stress. And from what I've heard, dwarves are just more naturally high strung.
 
I know about the Syrian hammies, but yesterday, I checked out some books from the library about hamsters, and it said that dwarf hamsters actually benefit by having two hamsters per cage...I dunno if that's true, though...
 
Lil_Branchette said:
I know about the Syrian hammies, but yesterday, I checked out some books from the library about hamsters, and it said that dwarf hamsters actually benefit by having two hamsters per cage...I dunno if that's true, though...
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Syrians are solitary. A group of dwarfs can happily live together, but dwarfs tend to be more bitey than syrians.
 
Right, right. Also, just because dwarf hamsters live together, would that make them friendlier towards humans? Are dwarf hamsters by nature, friendlier than Syrians, or not?
 
I have had two diffrent types of hamsters when i was younger with tottaly diffrent personalitys. My parents first got me and my sisters there own algerian dwarf hamsters. I hated them. Just for the fact that every time you put your hnd in the cage they bit and hard. They never wanted to be around humans. The other was a golden teddy hamster. He was awsome he loved people. At night he would come to the cage and wanted to be held. He was a big lazy hamster for the most part and just wanted to be part of the family. He even didnt mind the dogs. He never bit. The only time he lunge at us is at the end when he went blind and was really sick to the point we had to put him down. Yet once he knew who we where he wouldnt try to hurt use. So i think it has to do with the hamster and the type honestly. When we got the dwarf hamsters it was at uncle bills and they had the cages where a 5 year old could stick there hand in there and terroize them (altough i still see some store like that).
 
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