How long does it take for a pet hamster to become calm?

[John Deacon]

Hey gang. I just bought a hamster today. Awesome little girl. But question. She is of course a little skiddish. I assumed this of course, but does anybody know how long it should take for it to get calm while being handled? This is if I handle it like everyday. Thanks!

[Thunderscreech]

are you going to name it Lemmiwinks?

[Disco_Gee]

I would guess a couple of days but I have no idea what I'm talking about.

[Lesfunk]

I don't know. How long do they live?

[electracoyote]

Originally Posted by John Deacon

does anybody know how long it should take for it to get calm while being handled?

Crush up a Vicodin, put a little in the water bottle. After hamster takes a drink, 60 seconds ought to do it.

[WorkinOnIt]

Enjoy your furry friend. I never had one, but a buddy had one for a few years. Pretty cool pet really, but his did occasionally bite! Nothing serious of course... According to the article I found, it sounds like the hamster may need several days before she mellows out enough to handle her.

Good luck.

http://petcare.suite101.com/article....#ixzz0Ri0uEiXs
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Taming Hamsters: Take It Slow
If done aggressively, a hamster’s biting may also indicate fear or uncertainty. According to Hamster Heaven, if the hamster is a new acquisition, the owner needs to put some time into socializing the hamster.

Hamster Heaven suggests not handling the new pet hamster for at least 24 hours to give it time to adjust to its surroundings. After 24 hours, food can be offered by hand. Once the hamster is confident accepting food from the owner’s hand, which may take several days, the owner can then progress to gentle petting inside the cage. When the hamster is at ease with that much contact, probably after another several days, a paper cup can be used to gently remove it from the cage for further play and socialization. Eventually, the owner will be able to reach in and remove the hamster from its cage without fear of being bitten.

However, it is always wise to let the hamster crawl into the owner’s hand to be lifted out of the cage instead of the owner reaching in and grabbing it. A hamster that is grabbed suddenly may think it is in the grip of a predator and bite in self defense.
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[5StringBlues]

Subscribed for the inevitable Maki/Eric comments.

[IconBasser]

I'll answer your question with a physics problem.

how long does it take a 9mm bullet fired downward at an angle of -20 degrees from a horizontal x axis at an average velocity of Vavg= 900m/s to travel a distance of 3.5 meters along its flight path?



your end result should resemble this:

[Munjibunga]

A couple days. They last a couple years. Then they get sick, and you take them to the vet, who charges you $275 for surgery, then it dies anyway, and you go get another one for eight bucks. It's a vicious cycle.

Anyway, enjoy your hamster. We've had a couple. Each has its own unique personality. Some are nocturnal, some are diurnal. You just never know with hamsters.

Hamster Love

[SelenaBassGirl]

I bought a store bought one, and it bit my daughter and never calmed. I bought one from these people at a flea market that had a pet store set up, and they were handled a lot, and so we bought a pair..suppose to be sisters. I got one and got one for my daughter. Well, turn out, they were brother and sisters or male and female what ever..and their few min of "playing" together ended up in mine having babies like 20 something days later. So we had several hammies..when they died (first litter was not a good litter for some reason) we purposly breeded them again and raised two of the second litter. The more you handle them, the more they will get used to you and enjoy your handling them. And the more younger they are when you buy them too.
Their life span, however, isn't very long. And don't put them in cages together if you get more than one..they tend to kill one another!

[playinpearls]

hampster biting someone?! no! never!!

i owned a bunch when i was like 13-14. Munji has it about right....usually a 2 year cycle.

i would buy a rat before i'd ever buy a hampster again. I used to work at a pet store and rats are known to be the best rodent to own. They are smart, and they usually wont bite you unless you smack them or yank their ears off...and you can train them.

sucks that they get such a bad rap from new york...

[jive1]

Originally Posted by playinpearls

hampster biting someone?! no! never!!

i owned a bunch when i was like 13-14. Munji has it about right....usually a 2 year cycle.

i would buy a rat before i'd ever buy a hampster again. I used to work at a pet store and rats are known to be the best rodent to own. They are smart, and they usually wont bite you unless you smack them or yank their ears off...and you can train them.

sucks that they get such a bad rap from new york...

Rats make great pets. Almost smart as a dog.

Someday I'd love to have one. But right now I have a cat.

[Phalex]

The one my parents got me when I was about eight years old calmed down after about 10 or 15 seconds. Nobody bother to mention to me how tightly I should hold it in my hand. No biggy. I got another one that looked just like it.

[Against Will]

It depends on the personality of the creature. I had one that took about a month before it was comfortable being handled,. even then it'd try to escape. My girlfriend had one that was ok in about 2 weeks.

[bmc]

Perhaps this kind of therapy might work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_Jt_g10Jug

[MakiSupaStar]

Some are never allowed the luxury of calming down. Poor Lemmiewinks.

[bassteban]

Selena, brother & sister hammies might not be the best combo for breeding- just a thought.

[Eric Perry]

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

Some are never allowed the luxury of calming down. Poor Lemmiewinks.

I'll take lemmiewinks Sand-dweller, as I'm betting at some point in your filthy life you have, under the influence of whatever substance(s), mounted something akin to Erica the Hutt!

[groooooove]

Originally Posted by Phalex

The one my parents got me when I was about eight years old calmed down after about 10 or 15 seconds. Nobody bother to mention to me how tightly I should hold it in my hand. No biggy. I got another one that looked just like it.

[MadMan118]

A girl I dated had one of those, my cat ate it within 2 weeks of moving in. I moved out about 2 house after that. Hamsters ruined my life .