Hamsters belong to the subfamily of Cricetinae.This subfamily comprises 19 species that are further classified into seven genera. Hamsters are often kept as pets because of their cute size and appearance.Hamsters adopted as pets are normally kept in cages. Known as small pets, these tiny creatures have a body covered with fur and are quite small. The most common type of hamster kept as a pet is the most famous golden hamster, also known as the Syrian hamster. There are three other species of dwarf hamsters known as Campbell’s dwarf hamster, the Roborovski hamster, and the winter white dwarf hamster. These three are also commonly kept as pets. Hamsters are rodents and are crepuscular. They build their home underground in the wild.Normally in the wild, they remain underground to avoid predator attacks. They have a stout body and big protruding cheeks that are used for storing food and carrying it to their burrows. Their tails are relatively short and their feet are covered by fur. Their fur is silky and their legs are sticky. They have brown or yellow-colored fur all over their body. This animal has poor eyesight and most species are colorblind. Even though they have poor eyesight, they are known for being adventurous. They normally move using their other senses.They use their sharp senses to understand what attracts predators, and then to protect themselves from this risk. Hamsters are known to use their sense of smell for distinguishing between sexes and for locating food. Often the sense of smell is used by a mother hamster to locate her babies. Like other animals, hamsters use scent to mark their territory and for mating. These omnivorous creatures eat vegetables as well as meat. Hamsters that are kept as pets eat hamster food, nuts, and vegetables.After reading this article, you can also check out why do hamsters run on wheels and why do hamsters eat their babies.Should you hold your hamster?Hamsters are adorable creatures that are kept by many people as pets.Quiet and gentle, they require low-cost maintenance. It is important to hold your hamster if you are keeping it as a pet in order to create a bond with it. Owners may want to show affection by gently place toys to play with in their hamster’s cage, or owners may want to show affection by placing treats inside the cage. But the affection of toys and treats will work only when the hamster feels comfortable accepting the toys and treats in the cage. Now the real question is, do hamsters like to be held?If you are holding your hamster you must keep in mind a few facts. For instance, don’t consider holding your hamster immediately after you have bought it. Give it time to get adjusted to its new surroundings. It is important to wait about 24 hours before holding it properly. Before holding a hamster, consider following steps such as bending down near your hamster’s cage, and trying to communicate with it by speaking in a soft and gentle voice.Additionally, you can try to read a story to your hamster or watch television with it in the same room. Try to create a situation where your hamster views you as a friend instead of a predator. Other steps include washing your hands before dealing with them, as hamsters often turn away from a strong human smell. While you are holding them, it is important to cup them in your hands. This way they will feel more protected.Why don’t hamsters like to be held?Hamsters are adorable animals that can be adopted as pets. These animals have a body covered with fur and might remind you of a rat, except that hamsters are generally fluffier than rats.They have protruding cheeks and give birth to young ones. Hamsters definitely like to be held, so you can hold your hamster just not right away. For example, if you buy your hamster from a pet shop and immediately after entering the home you try to pick it up to cuddle it and give it all your love, the tiny creature is likely to try its best to wriggle itself free from your grasp. Or it might run away from you. It can be sad for people to realize that hamsters like to be left alone rather than being held at first.This might leave you wondering if perhaps your hamster doesn’t like being held. Well, the fact is hamsters are actually prey animals in the wild. These rodents are often hunted by bigger animals, which is why they have a tendency to escape. Hamsters perceive their surroundings by their sense of smell or their other sharp senses. Since they have poor eyesight, they use their other senses to locate predators. So, at first, you need to try getting comfortable with your hamster which can be done in various ways.Instead of picking it up right away, consider letting it settle itself in the new surroundings for some time. After 24 hours you can pick it up smoothly and cup it in your hand. Before picking it up, try to create a familiarity with it instead. It is important to let your hamster be free for the first time and let your hamster adapt to its new environment and get used to its surroundings. Your new hamster may use its voice to call out loudly, but the hamster may just be trying to find out if there are any other hamsters in the environment. It is also just its way of getting used to its new home.You might really want to show affection by petting it, keeping it held in your hands, and giving it a treat or food to bite. But more than something for it to bite on, it needs some time to bond. Once it feels free and adapted, there will be signs and it will begin to bond with you, and the process of holding it in your hands can begin.How to train your hamsters to be comfortable with being held?As mentioned before hamsters are tiny creatures and they don’t like being picked up immediately. Their natural tendency is to flee, run away or pull themselves out of their owner’s hands. This is because hamsters in the wild are often preyed upon by almost all animals bigger than them.It is for this reason that this species tries to free itself from an unknown person’s grip, often thinking that it is the predator. To avoid this occurring you need to make your hamster perfectly comfortable in your home. This can be done in various ways. Firstly, it is important to tame your hamster. Just after bringing a hamster home from the pet shop, put it in its cage. You can try to bend down and sit in front of the cage and communicate with it. Communication can be done by reading stories or by singing. You can also build a friendly atmosphere with your hamster by watching television with it in the same room.The bottom line is you must allow them to get to know you first. Let it get used to your voice always. Secondly, don’t try to hold your hamster right away. Instead, what you can do is place a small treat for it on your hands. Let the hamster sniffle it and come to you. Lower your hands down so that it has to place its paw on your hands to eat the treat. Once it does this, you can next keep the treat in your hand and you will find them slowly climbing into your hand to get it. In this position try to scoop it and cup it gently in your hands, stroking it with your fingers and showing your hamster affection. It is important to be gentle with your hamster for them to realize that you mean no harm.After you have done the first two steps, the third step includes letting your hamster explore the new surroundings. In cases like this, your hamster might jump from one hand of yours to the other hand or it might try to nibble food from your hands. When your hamster tries to move around, it is important to ensure that your home doesn’t have pet cats or other creatures nearby which might scare or even hurt your hamster.Lastly, when the need arises to clean the pool in your hamster’s cage, and your hamster hasn’t learned to be friends with you yet this is what you can do. Try to get a cup or a glove and place it in the cage. Out of curiosity, the hamster will probably try to see what this is, you can then gently put the hamster in the cup outside and clean the cage. It is important to keep the cage clean, so the above methods when followed should help your hamster feel comfortable and become better trained.How do hamsters react to being held?Hamsters are creatures that are often preyed upon by almost every animal bigger than its size. Known as rodents, hamsters mate to give birth to young ones. At first, a female hamster will keep her baby underneath her body and try to warm it up.Once a hamster turns 10 weeks old it reaches the age of maturity and can mate to reproduce. Breeders keep a male and a female hamster together in order to produce offspring. However, you need to have prior breeding experience to do this as a female hamster can be quite aggressive while she is mating.As hamsters are wild creatures, they are often eaten by various animals as food. This species has poor eyesight but sharp senses which they use to perceive their environment. Their sharp sense of smell and other senses help to locate predators and it is for this reason that they respond badly when held suddenly.If you put your pet hamster onto your hand while it is completely new to its surroundings, it will be frightened and will perceive you as a predator or a human trying to cause it harm. Thus, it will react by trying to pull itself out of your grasp or it will wriggle to get free and break out. In other cases, it might even try to bite your palm. This is simply because the hamster doesn’t understand that you mean no harm to it. Thus, if you want to pet a hamster you need to let it get used to its surroundings and give it a lot of time to settle down before you gently stroke it or play with it.Some tips must be followed when taking care of a hamster. Hamsters are nocturnal, so they sleep during the day, unlike many pets that sleep at night. There may be some biting at first but after a while, it will soothe. The hamster may not straight away be happy climbing onto the palm of its owner, there must be some training involved for it to begin this climb.Make sure that the ground is risk-free, and the floor or ground is clean before letting a hamster roam around to protect its health. Even when kept safely alone in its cafe, make sure that you feed the hamster regularly and keep it away from any other animal on the ground in your home. When introducing this small creature to children, beware that children might be very excited about this cute and adorable creature. It is so adorable that children will love it, but they must remain calm, not make any loud noises, and only gently show it affection so as not to frighten the hamster!Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for do hamsters like to be held then why not take a look at can hamsters eat apples, or how to raise a duck.
Hamsters belong to the subfamily of Cricetinae.