Syrian hamsters are cute, fun, and rewarding pets. Many owners wonder about how smart they are and if they can memorize commands or be trained. Here’s the answer:
Syrian hamsters are rather smart: they can be trained to do simple tricks, navigate mazes, and respond to their name. A treat is a strong motivation for them to learn. They have poor short-term memory but will remember things over time and recognize you as their owner.
In this article, I will discuss the intelligence of Syrian hamsters and their abilities when it comes to games, training, and memory.
Are Syrian Hamsters Smart?
Many think that hamsters are rather simple creatures; however, they are clever pets that are capable of many things.
Recognition
With a little training, hamsters can learn to recognize and react to their name.
They won’t make out the words or understand the concept of a name; however, they will respond to it in a manner you teach them. This requires daily communication, where you cay their name with a particular intonation and pitch and give them a treat.
Over time, they will associate the sound of their name with a reward and react to it. This can be useful if you want to call them, make them approach you, or give them a command. Stay consistent with the training, and the results will show soon enough.
Hamsters also learn to recognize their owners. They have poor eyesight, which is why they don’t rely much on making out facial features. Instead, they will recognize your smell, voice, and movement and will be able to distinguish you from other people. If your family or friends regularly interact with the hamster, it will learn to recognize them, too.
Memory
Hamsters’ short-term memory is poor, so they will only memorize things upon regularly encountering them over some time.
However, they have relatively good spatial memory. This means they recognize their environments, remember routes, the location of food and water sources, and similar.
Spatial memory can be effectively used in training and developed even more through games and exercises.
Training
Hamsters can be successfully trained, and Syrian hamsters are considered one of the easiest breeds for teaching tricks and commands.
The key to effective training is a consistent reward system. Hamsters’ memory is food-centered: they have a strong sense of smell to scent it, are willing to forage for it, and overcome obstacles in search of feeding. If you put them in a maze, they may remember the route to food even weeks later.
This can be used to teach your hamster tricks and more fun forms of interaction with their owner and environment. Still, it will require consistent work with your pet and a significant amount of time.
Games To Train Your Hamster
How can you train your hamster, and what tricks can you teach them? This will be individual for each hamster’s abilities, yet there are certain fun games and exercises you can try that work with most of them.
Basic Exercises
You can begin by teaching your hamster simple tricks: stand, jump, roll over, and similar.
Again, a treat will be their primary incentive. Hold it above them to make them jump for it, or place it on their back and ask them to roll over. Always repeat commands out loud with the same intonation and pitch, and only give the food to your hamster if it follows the command.
Mazes
One of the most fun and rewarding games to play with hamsters is making them go through mazes. You can buy a maze or build it out of a cardboard box and improvised obstacles made of objects you have at home.
At the end of the maze, a treat should await your pet. They will quickly memorize routes, so change them once it gets too easy. Start simple and make the maze more challenging over time to train your hamster’s intellect and memory.
Conclusion
Hamsters are more clever than many people think. They can recognize their owner, respond to their name, memorize things, learn commands, and solve puzzles. You can train them to do all these tricks with a treat incentive.