How to Teach Hamsters Tricks

Hamsters are intelligent, problem-solving creatures. In the wild, hamsters have to cover miles of varied terrain in order to find food and the fastest routes to burrows in case predators appear. Pet hamsters can suffer from boredom because they cannot roam. According to "Training Your Pet Hamster," signs of boredom in hamsters include pacing or biting the bars of the cage for hours. Quick training sessions not only relive boredom but also help strengthen the owner-pet bond.

Things You'll Need

  • Treats
  • Dog-training clicker
  • Pencil with eraser
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Instructions

    • 1

      Discover your hamster's favorite treat. It could be fresh broccoli, popcorn, tiny morsels of cheese or a commercially made small animal treat. The treats need to be small, since you'll need several for each training session and a hamster's stomach fills up fast.

    • 2

      Bring a dog-training clicker and a handful of treats to your hamster when it is awake and active, which is usually at night. Your goal is to make your hamster associate the sound of the clicker with a reward. Simply wait until your hamster looks at you and immediately click and offer a food treat. Repeat this until your hamster looks eagerly for the food treat at the mere sound of a click.

    • 3

      Bring the pencil for your next session. Click and treat to get your hamster's attention, then present the eraser end of the pencil to your hamster. When it sniffs or moves toward the pencil, click and treat. It might take a few sessions before your hamster realizes that following the pencil will earn treats.

    • 4

      Move the pencil over objects so that your hamster follows. Click and treat. When your hamster is reliably following the target pencil, make up a trick.

    • 5

      Break the trick down into steps to make it easier to learn. For example, if you want your hamster to run up a ladder and ring a bell, break the trick into four parts: approaching the ladder, walking up the ladder, approaching the bell and touching the bell. It might take many sessions before your hamster learns to run up the ladder and ring the bell.