Do Hamsters Know Their Owners?
Author: Source: hamster-club.com
We all would like to
think that our favourite furry friends couldn’t live without us, but hamster
behaviour actually testifies to the fact that they really can form meaningful
bonds.
Every hamster owner
will probably come face to face with this question: does my pet miss my
presence? For how cute the hamster face is, it can sometimes be hard to judge
how far we’re anthropomorphising our furry friends. However, the time has shown
that hamsters do indeed form bonds with humans even when they’re playing raging bull casino, as
we’ll see.
Social Creatures
Hamsters don’t have
the best eyesight in the animal kingdom, especially when compared to animals
like birds or cats. What they are adept at recognising, however, is scent and
vocal tones. Even from simply handling them, your hamster can begin to
recognise your smell.
Owners will find that gentle, sustained exposure to their
hamster will result in a happy hamster that becomes more comfortable in their
presence. Where you might find at first that a hamster will recoil from a human
touch, enough non-invasive exposure will get the pet comfortable enough in a
particular human’s presence to eventually voluntarily climb into their palms.
Smell
Everyone has an
individual scent that won’t be lost on your hamster’s incredibly sensitive
nose. Once they’re acclimated to their owner’s smell, it won’t be long till
they come to welcome their presence. In fact, chances are high that when you
stand by their cage, they will be happily expecting you simply through their
sense of smell. Olfactory senses are actually one of the most potent means of
interaction that hamsters have with their environment; and once they have
developed that rapport with you, their owner, or their hamster runs, it’s
something they’re not likely to forget in a hurry.
Voice
When interacting with
your hamster at first, be sure to make sounds to them with your voice. While
their hearing is not quite as acute as their sense of smell, they nonetheless
are adept at recognising your voice even if you just play vogueplay.com/au/ next to them and make noises of delight. It’s
undoubtedly a survival mechanism, yet can help bring you and your pet closer
together. It’s no trouble on the part of you, the owner, and really helps
solidify the bond between your and your rodent on a personal level.
Sustained Interaction
To maintain the bond
between yourself and your hamster, it’s critical that you interact with your
pet continuously over a long-term period. This isn’t simply a recognition
mechanism that you’re trying to maintain: hamsters are remarkably social
creatures that can return an investment of attention ten-fold. Simply by
playing with your hamster on, at the very least, a semi-regular basis, you can
build a bond with nature’s cutest rodent with a minimum of input. There really
is no excuse for not devoting a few minutes of the day to petting, playing or
otherwise enjoying the presence of your furry friend. Just remember, these
beasts really do enjoy human interest, and the dividends you’ll get in return
from your animal’s own idiosyncratic personality can’t be measured.
by Albert Saliba