How-To: Come with Kai

Want to teach your pet hamster to come when you call him like Kai does below?



First, gather your supplies. You will need a playpen, click pen, and your hamster's favorite treats.

*Important Notes*: Your hamster should be somewhat comfortable with you before you begin to train him to come. If he is not comfortable with you, you could possibly end up scaring him, which could harm your relationship.
Also, you don't want to lose your hamster while you are training him so make sure you keep him safe! His cage/bin, a playpen, or hamster proofed room are all safe places to practice.

Here are the steps to teaching your hamster to Come!

Step 1: Set up your hamster safe place without any toys. The smaller the space the better at the beginning. I started in a pen.
Step 2: Place your hamster in the hamster safe place.
Step 3: Have a treat in your hand ready to go.
Step 4: Call your hamster to come, followed by kissing noises until he reaches you. Don't give up if he doesn't come right away, your hamster doesn't have great eye sight and he will need to hear you in order to find you. Keep making nonthreatening noises until he finds you.
Step 5: Once your hamster reaches you, click your click pen and give him a treat.
Step 6: Remove your hand from the pen, let your hamster move away from you and try again.
Step 7: Keep practicing until your hamster can come when there are toys inside his hamster safe place. Then practice in a larger area.

Red Light Special

Kai under his red light

After having Dillan and Kai for a few months they still tend to only come out at night once all the lights go off. It was upsetting me a lot. I was at the point where I was frustrated and exhausted from waiting up all night to see them. I thought to myself, why have a pet if you never get to see and enjoy it?

I did some research online and found that Roborovski hamsters can't see red light. Oh boy did that excite me! I did some tests with an iPhone red light app and found that it seemed to be true. I decided to go on eBay and buy 2 red LED Red Light strips to hang over each of their cages. I wasn't sure how bright they would be so I opted for 2 that would be able to light up Kai's section since it's a little bit smaller, about 2 feet long.

When the lights came in quickly installed one over Kai's spot and I was quite impressed. They were very bright and Kai didn't seem to notice a thing. I decided to install the second light over Dillan's spot and kept my fingers crossed as I turned off the lights and turned on the red lights. Dillan is more timid than Kai and he came right out of his house just as he usually does as soon as I turn off the lights. I was in awe! I can finally watch the boys at night without having to sit in the dark and hope I can make them out.

How-To: Teaching Herbert to Stand

Herbert learning Stand

The first trick I decided to teach Herbert is Stand. It's probably one of the easiest tricks to teach your hamster, since it is a common behavior that they do often. Herbert is constantly standing at the edge of his cage asking to come out to play once he wakes up or standing at the edge of his playpen when he hears my voice nearby.

Once you have gathered your training supplies, which consist of your clicker, treats, a secure location for your hamster to train (a playpen, bin, or cage), and your hamster, you can begin.

Here are the steps to teach your hamster to Stand.

1. Pick a level and stable surface to have your hamster stand on.
2. Have a treat in your hand. Show it to your hamster.
3. Lift the treat above your hamsters head.
4. When your hamster's front paws come off the floor and he is standing, click and then give him the treat while he is still standing.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 until your hamster will do it without you having to have a treat in your hand.
6. Practice Stand on different surfaces.

Herbert learning Stand on different surfaces.

Notes:
*Make sure there isn't anything around your hamster that he can use to cheat by placing his front paws onto to help him balance.
*Keep your training sessions short, 10 minutes tops. Hamsters have short attention spans. It might take several sessions until your hamster is standing without a treat in your hand.
*Only add your command when you are 100% sure that you can get your hamster to stand. Your command will come before you give your hamster your hand signal (lifting your hand above his head).

How-To: Training Hamsters 101

Training your hamster should be relatively easy once you know the basics. He will respond best to positive reward based training. What does that mean? When he does something you like, give him a treat. Don't harm him. Hamsters often scare easily and harming him in any way will hurt your relationship with your new friend.

Herbert eating a carrot

First thing you will need to do is find out what kind of treats your hamster likes best. These will be the treats you use to reward him for doing the behaviors you want and like. It will also sometimes be the treats you use to get him to do the behaviors you want. Each hamster is different so take the time to try different foods and find out exactly what are your hamster's favorites. Also, keep in mind that your new friend is very small. You will need to make your treats small too. You might need to break up your raisin or peanut into 8-10 pieces so you can get the most out of your training treat.

Herbert getting ready to train

Next you will need a clicker. A clicker marks the good behavior and is always followed by a treat. Often it helps training progress faster. Use something that is soft sounding, not loud. A loud noise might scare your hamster. I am currently using a click pen as a clicker. Every time I click the pen Herbert gets a treat. He loves it!

Lastly you will need a place to train your hamster. You can train him in his cage or in a training arena or playpen. I would start in his cage and once he is comfortable with playing in his playpen start training there as well. Once he knows how to do his tricks in those two places start to practice in even more places!

So there you have it. The basics for training. Now you can get started.

How-To: Taming Your Hamster

The first part of training your hamster is taming him. You can't teach your hamster anything if he's too scared of you to come get a treat from you. So to start you should be just working on gaining your hamster's trust. Every hamster becomes comfortable in it's own time span. Some take days, some take weeks, some take months. The taming process usually goes faster with younger hamsters rather than older hamsters that have never been handled before. Just remember let your hamster control the pace and don't be surprised if it takes a little longer than expected. I once had a baby hamster that took about a month to be completely comfortable with me and have heard of owners that have had it take even longer.

Herbert's original home

Now we have to remember that Herbert is a 2 year old hamster, he already trusts humans and knows that we are not going to hurt him from his previous owners, and when Herbert came to live with me, his previous owner actually gave me his current cage. So to start I left him alone for a little over 24 hours. After that, since he was eager to come out and play, I used his ball to move him from his cage to his playpen only if he decided to get into the ball on his own. If he wanted to stay in his cage, I left him alone. Usually a few hours later he would decide he wanted to come out and play.

On day 4 I cleaned Herbert's cage and by day 5 he seemed right at home. He was grooming, stretching, and not acting stressed at all. Currently I pick up Herbert for short time spans. Usually to move him from one place to another. I still try to let Herbert decide when he wants to come out of his cage and if he does I'll hold him a little while he's in his playpen or before he goes to run in his ball for a bit. I believe having Herbert stay in his original cage that he has lived in most of his life drastically reduced the amount of time it took him to start to feel comfortable in his new home.

So, how do you tame your hamster? Here's a break down for you that will take about 2 weeks.

First, you want to give your hamster time to get used to his new environment. Smells, noises, it's all new to him. So start by putting things in his cage that smells like you. Take some toilet paper or bedding and get your scent on it (maybe put it in your shirt for a little bit). Then put it in the cage. Do this for a few days (3-4). Don't try to touch him, don't try to pet him, don't try to pick him up. Just let him smell you by putting things in the cage that have your scent on him and let him get used to the new sounds of the house, your room, and your voice and family's voices from a distance.

Next, sit by the cage and talk to him softly so that he can get used to your voice up close. Don't scare him. Don't make sudden movements. Go slow. Watch and speak softly and continue with the scent stuff above. I would do this for another few days (3-4).

If you think your hamster seems settled you can move onto the next step. Make sure to wash your hands before you do this step. You don't want your hamster to mistake you for the food. Also make sure you move slowly and are quiet. You can talk softly, but remember we do not want to frighten your hamster.

Next, take a treat your hamster really likes and slowly put your hand into the cage. Pick one spot on the bottom of the cage and stay there. I would recommend a spot on the opposite side of the cage than he is. Do not try to follow him around the cage with your hand and the food. Let him approach you. If he doesn't the first few times you try this that's fine. He's still getting used to you. Just having your hand in the cage is a plus. If he does approach you don't make any sudden movements. He should go for the treat and not your hand, unless he is not hungry. Let him climb on you, walk around, and don't move your hand. Just let him explore and get treats. If he does go to bite your hand slowly pull it away without saying anything. I would do this for a few days (3-4).

Last, start to move your hand when your hamster is on it. Remember, go slowly and if he wants to jump off just let him (unless of course he is too high and will get hurt from the fall). I would start by slowly lifting my hand an inch off the ground and moving it from side to side. Then I would proceed to higher lifts as he feels comfortable. I might slowly bring my other hand in with a treat as well. So he will be getting treats as he sits on your hand and your other hand slowly comes closer to him. By the time you are finished with this step, you should be able to pick up your hamster without any problems. Remember to hold him securely, like he's in a little cup. Also, remember that we do not want to chase the hamster around the cage when we pick him up. We are waiting for him to approach us.

Herbert asking to come out and play

Take things slowly and if there are any problems at any point you can always take a step back to the previous step. There's nothing wrong with taking a little extra time to get your hamster accustomed to you. We want to teach our hamster to trust us. We want them to be comfortable with us holding them, but some need more time than others.

FYI -You will most likely need to clean your hamster's cage during the taming process. I would recommend using a plastic cup or something to help you pick up your hamster and placing him into a safe enclosed area. Also, never reprimand your hamster for trying to bite or biting you. Doing this will likely scare your hamster and harm your relationship with him.

So there you have it. Good Luck Taming!

Training a Hamster Necessities

Training Your Pet Hamster Book

So, before we start training I thought maybe some of you would like to participate in this experiment too, so here is a short list of some of the items you will need to keep your hamster friend happy followed by training needs.

THINGS YOU NEED FOR A SYRIAN HAMSTER
Habitat with lots of floor space. Skip on the multiple levels unless they are enclosed. Hamsters can fall off levels and hurt themselves.
Hamster food
Bedding to burrow and nest with
Water bottle
Wheel. I recommend the Jr. Wodent Wheel. May others are too loud or too small. (Currently Herbert is using a Silent Spinner. It is a tad small for him. I plan on getting him his own Wodent Wheel soon.)
Hidey. A house to nest in.
Toys to chew and play on. These can be wood chews, treat chews, toilet paper rolls, or anything else hamster safe.
Veterinary. You never know when you might need a veterinary. Make sure you have one you like before you get your hamster.
Spare time to play with your hamster.

THINGS YOU NEED TO TRAIN YOUR HAMSTER
Good hamster book for extra knowledge on hamsters, how to train them, and what they are capable of doing. I really like Training Your Pet Hamster by Gerry Bucsis and Barbara Somerville.
Playpen or place to practice your tricks.
Extra toys to teach your hamster how to use.
Clicker. Make sure it's not too loud. You don't want to scare your hamster. I am going to use a click pen.