Hamsters aren’t visibly emotive animals like dogs, cats, parrots, and rabbits. So, knowing if hamsters love you can be difficult for most owners to determine.
Well-treated hamsters display clear signs of comfort and loyalty toward trusted humans. We could consider this a form of love, care, and affection.
Hamsters avoid human company and refuse interaction if they haven’t forged a special bond with you.
How Do You Know If A Hamster Loves You?
Body language plays a significant role in assessing how a hamster feels about you.
A hamster that loves its owner will seek to spend time together, requesting one-on-one attention from a trusted human companion. So, it’ll react when it realizes that you’ve entered its room.
There are certain signs that your hamster holds you in high regard:
Remaining Visible
Hamsters have excellent hearing, so they’ll know when you’re approaching. They’ll also use their keen sense of smell (olfaction) to detect your physical presence.
Once a hamster acknowledges your arrival, its survival instincts will be initiated. Hamsters believe defense is better than attack when protecting themselves from potential physical threats.
A hamster will hide when concerned that somebody or something will harm them, including you.
If the hamster has no reason to fear you, it’s more likely to hold affection for you. It won’t attempt to hide in the substrate or flee to another part of its cage to avoid detection.
Not being terrified of you may sound like a low bar to clear in a hamster-human relationship, but it can make a difference in maintaining a bond with a hamster.
If a pet hamster allows you to see it or decides to remain visible, that’s a sign of trust and affection. Some hamsters never show themselves, so they’ve been named ‘ghost hamsters.’
Permitting Handling And Petting
Handling doesn’t always come naturally to hamsters. Wild hamsters won’t encounter humans, so you’ll need to gain the trust of a hamster before it allows you to pick it up.
Expect a hamster to resist handling when you first bring it home. After a few days, it’ll steadily grow to trust you and allow you to handle it without panicking and biting your hand.
If the hamster has affection for you, it should approach you without coercion.
Petting must be gentle, no matter how much your hamster likes you. Hamsters have small bones and can get hurt, but they may doze off on you once trust has been established.
Don’t take it personally if a hamster doesn’t like being handled or petted, as this doesn’t come naturally to them. Some hamsters will never be comfortable being picked up, but this doesn’t mean the hamster dislikes you.
Relaxed Body Language
You’ll be able to tell a lot about how comfortable a hamster feels by its fur and overall demeanor. A hamster yawning in front of you is a sign of relaxation.
Other signs that a hamster feels relaxed include grooming, exercising, and preparing its bed before you. If the hamster is scared, it’s unlikely to feel comfortable undertaking these activities.
Even if your hamster loves you, it doesn’t mean it’ll always remain calm and collected. External stimuli can stress Hamsters, especially loud noises and strong scents.
Thankfully, if the hamster holds affection for you, it’ll soon be soothed by your company. Speak softly to the hamster and wait for it to return to its previously calm state.
Stretching And Yawning
As hamsters are prey animals, they’re suspicious of anything they don’t recognize.
Yawning could be seen as a sign of weakness or frailty by a predator. If a hamster is happy to do this in front of you, you’ve likely earned its trust and affection.
Allogrooming is uncommon among hamsters. If you’re fortunate, the hamster may follow a stretch and yawn by licking your hand. This is an act of grooming and a rare show of affection from a hamster.
Approaches
A trusting hamster will approach you with a view to spending time with you. There are several ways to assess how it feels, starting with how your hamster reacts when close to the cage.
Hamsters need to wear down their teeth, but they may be keen to escape the cage when you’re in the vicinity. Fearful hamsters will seek to escape and run away or hide.
Requesting Attention
Some hamsters will seek to gain your attention by exhibiting unusual behaviors. Alternatively, the hamster may crawl on your hand or squeak and verbalize when it sees you.
Most hamsters keep a low profile and avoid interaction with sources of danger, including humans. If the hamster seeks to get your attention, it feels safe and at ease in your presence.
Spending Time Together
A hamster that spends time with you for no reason other than your company indicates a strong bond.
Offering the hamster a snack will convince most animals to approach you. A bona fide sign of love will be a hamster that remains nearby after eating.
The same applies to a playtime session. A hamster that returns for more interaction loves its owner. If your hamster moves away once its needs have been met, you may have more work.
Sadness when Separated
One of the reasons people adopt hamsters is the theory that they’re low-maintenance animals. As hamsters live in a cage, they don’t require constant supervision.
Just because a hamster can keep itself alive when left alone doesn’t mean it enjoys complete solitude. Hamsters can grow depressed if they lack all forms of company and interaction.
If you wonder, “Do hamsters miss their owners when they’re gone?” the answer is yes.
How a hamster reacts to the absence of an owner depends on the relationship. If the hamster grows lethargic when left alone, it may miss the interaction with you that it has come to expect.
Hamsters won’t show visible affection like dogs or cats, but this doesn’t mean they’re emotionless or uncaring. Rodent pets exhibit a different love that humans shouldn’t anthropomorphize.
