Do you have a pet hamster and want to teach it how to cuddle next to you?
Some people think that their pets will simply want to start cuddling with them naturally, but that hardly ever happens. This is why it’s very important to teach your hamster how to behave around you.
It will take a while for the hamster to get used to you and up until then, it will try to avoid you. This is normal behavior from a wild rodent and is something that shouldn’t worry you too much. It will surely be not because you are doing something wrong but because of the natural instincts that hamsters have. The best thing you can do is to create a stronger bond between you and the pet.
It will be a lot easier for you to train your pet hamster once you understand the subtle signs it gives you.
You might also like my articles on whether hamsters can eat oranges, bread, or worms.
Below you will be given some really great tips to teach your hamster to cuddle, what signs to look for, and what are the best treats you can use to positively enforce the training.
How To Train Your Hamster To Cuddle
Find and use high-quality hamster treats to woo your pet.
Love goes through the stomach as the saying goes, so a great place to start in the hopes of making your pet love you is to find the perfect treat to use for training.
Some people might just try to use traditional methods like a loving voice when training their pets, but why not use something tasty to help reach your desired results faster?
One of the fastest ways of making a pet hamster understand what you consider the right behavior is with the help of tasty treats. They will make the hamster make the connection between you and something tasty but also between a treat and what is expected from the pet to do. This will make the bond stronger and the training easier.
One of the best treats to use when training your pet hamster is the Kaytee Timothy Biscuits. It will be really easy to make them start wanting to cuddle with you if they associate these baked apple treats with you and affection towards you.
These biscuits will have a taste they won’t be able to refuse, especially considering that they are designed especially for hamsters. The main ingredients in these treats are timothy hay and apple, both very appealing to small rodents.
Along with their great taste, these treats are also healthy for your pet, helping with keeping their teeth strong. This is a great bonus because it’s not really hard to find tasty treats for a pet, but it is very hard to make sure that these treats won’t cause any medical issues to the pet.
These treats will make your hamster want to be around you more and more.
Hamsters are considered pretty smart, so they will understand what they are expected to do and what’s in it for them if they will do the right things.
It won’t take long for them to naturally want to get close to you even when they won’t get a treat. This is when you will know that you are close enough to your pet’s heart to expect it to want to cuddle with you.
Start by Placing Your Hand Inside the Cage
There are a lot of ways in which you can try to bond with your hamster, and one of them will be to slowly get closer to the pet. You will be able to get a pinch closer to it if you put your hand inside the cage at first.
What would this accomplish?
This will show your hamster that you aren’t going to hurt it and are a safe part of its life. To make sure you are expressing exactly what you should, you should try to avoid grabbing the hamster aggressively or pushing your hand forward while it is in the cage. Being too aggressive towards the rodent will have the opposite effect of what you’re trying to do.
You should keep the hand in the cage until your pet feels safe enough to approach it.
They should get comfortable enough to get close and try to sniff it. You will know you gained their trust when they will get used to your smell and will have no problem getting in and out of your hand.
You should always try to bond with your pet inside its cage because this is the safest place for it.
Don’t go through this part of the training too fast, or you risk making things harder by having a hamster that is afraid of you.
Have patience and wait for the hamster to feel safe before moving to the next step.
Handle Your Hamster Daily
Most people don’t know this but even if you gain the trust of your hamster, this trust can be lost if you ignore it for too long.
You can be really close to your rodent but, if you avoid any interaction with it for 2 weeks, you might lose all of your progress and have the animal get used to the new normal of being isolated again.
Noticing that their pet becomes more distant is when some inexperienced owners get frustrated and start to think that there must be something wrong with the pet’s behavior. They blame everything aside from the true culprit – themselves and staying away from the pet for too long.
It is vital to stay close to your pet as much as possible while trying to gain and keep their trust. This is to make them get used to you being around.
Training your hamster will be a thousand times harder if you don’t do this. If you aren’t considered a big part of their daily life, they will have a really hard time getting as close to you as needing to cuddle with you.
Although this is one of the hardest parts, it is also very rewarding and fun. Keep in mind that at this point, consistency is key.
Try to Use a Hamster Ball
If you want to make your hamster want to get out of its cage to be closer to you, then you will need a fun way to do it.
A hamster ball will be an easy way of making the pet get out of the cage for some fun time and exploration. Spending some time playing with your pet using a ball will help a lot to improve the relationship between you.
You will have an easier time holding and petting your small rodent when it is tired from a long play session.
They will be less likely to fight and more likely to enjoy the petting experience.
You should continue to be patient at this point and not rush the process. Take your time and only pick up the hamster when you feel a connection with it.
It happens too often that a pet owner considers the pet is ready to be picked up too soon, ruining everything they have built up to that point by aggressively trying to pet it.
Don’t force this step if you still feel that the hamster isn’t too comfortable around you, even if it seems very tired after a day of playing inside the hamster ball. You can always try again tomorrow.
Gently Pet Your Hamster
Your touch is one of the things that will help you to bond with the pet faster.
You will want your hamster to be comfortable around you as a whole and to like getting touched by your hands if you want to have an easier time training it. This means that you will have to start petting them as often as possible. They usually like to be pet under their chin and on their back.
The more you do this, the faster they will start to trust you and be comfortable around you. This is the easiest way to win a pet’s heart.
If the touch is not gentle enough or if it makes the hamster feel threatened in any way, it will push it away from you instead of making the connection stronger.
The most important advice I have for you when you want to train your hamster will be to just be patient. You can lose all of the progress if at any point you will push things faster toward your desired result. Take your time, pet the rodent regularly and give it only the best treats to make sure you two get closer with each passing day.
Keep in mind that each hamster has its own way of getting closer to humans so what worked for one won’t necessarily work for all other hamsters.
Conclusion
The tips above should be enough for you to have an easy time when trying to train your hamster to cuddle with you. Take your time, give it love, affection, and a lot of treats, and, if nothing seems to work, try to tweak your training technique until you find the right recipe to get close to the pet.
