My new Syrian hamster runs constantly. How do I get him to bond?

Hamsters natural inclination being a small rodent is to be afraid/hide. Some patience and treats may help earn your hamsters trust. First try spending some time each day just sitting quietly outside your hamsters cage. You can read a book or something that doesn't require movement, just be near the cage. Once your hamster doesn't run away while you are quietly sitting you can start just placing your hand in the cage without trying to pick her up. Placing a tasty treat near your hand to entice her to come near. If you do this every day, eventually she will hopefully come to find you less scary and allow you to interact with her more!

You have only had him for a week. You need to be patient, let him smell your hand/finger, pet him a little , let him climb on your hand, rather than forcing him to be on your hand by picking him up. It will take time before he trusts you, It can take 2 months before he is comfortable with you picking him up. Put yourself in his place: You are a terribly big human trying to grab a tiny animal,... that is very very scary. You need to gain his trust,

I am sorry to hear about your frustration with your hamster! I Am sure you want to be able to tame him. Many hamsters can be tamed but it can require time and patience. The older a hamster is, the more difficult it may be to train them as they are already used to not having humans handle them. Try to only interact with your hamster when he is already awake. This may mean the night time since usually they are sleeping during the day time. If you wake him he is going to be upset already! Don't bother him if he is eating or drinking. Start off by just placing some treats into his cage and then setting your hand inside the cage, a little ways from the treats, so the hamster can get to the treats but doesn't have to touch you to do so. Leave your hand there for several minutes without moving it. Repeat this daily, until the hamster is coming and eating the treats. Once he is comfortable enough to eat the treats with your hand in the cage, start placing the treats on the tips of your fingers as you lay your hand flat in the cage, palm side up. Continue this daily, and hopefully with time he will take the treat from your hand, and if he does this consistently you can move the treat to the center of your palm. Once he will sit on your hand and take the treat, you can try gently picking him up. This may take quite some time, especially if he is older and not used to people. Best of luck to you!

I would watch your hamster to determine when to start trying to tame him. If he is starting to come out and explore the cage/environment for longer periods of time then he is starting to settle into his new home and be more comfortable.

Pompie is probably not as active as usual because of his new surroundings. Hamsters can be very prone to stress when their environment abruptly changes. He is most likely being more active when he is home alone and at night time because he feels safer. Since he is eating and drinking normally, I would not be too concerned. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

Hamsters are naturally nocturnal, so it is normal to be active at night and early in the morning. Hamsters may also pace back and forth if they are bored or stressed, so making sure Phish has plenty of fun things to do such as burrowing in bedding, running on wheels, having a toy to chew, etc can help. If he's however losing his balance, has a strange head tilt, or is showing other strange behaviors in addition, then it could possibly be an underlying illness and should be checked out by a local vet.

What you are describing is normal behavior for a hamster. In fact, I think it says a lot about his trust for you that he lets you hold him and does not bite. Many hamsters are too fearful to ever let their owners handle them regularly. Clout is probably just very curious of the new smells around him when you are holding him. It sounds like you have done a good job training him and that he trusts you so you’ve done well with him so far! I hope this helps. Let us know if you have any additional questions. Best of luck.