Despite what many people think, in order to have a happy and gentle hamster you have to put a lot of work in.
They need to be played with for at least 20 -30 mins every day, and even longer when they are younger. They are very active creatures and mine eill run in his wheel for a minimum of 3 hours each night! They require a good supply of dried hamster food, and some fresh raw veg or salad everyday. They are partial to nuts/sultanas/dried fruit, and anything else that is not acidic, or strongly flavoured (no currys!).
When the hamster is young it requires confident handling and from that it will learn that humans are nice and friendly...and hopefully it will remain friendly for life.
As well as a cage and wheel, I built my hamster (my fourth hamster BTW) a run using perspex sheets with interlocking wooden ends. This provides it with 1 square metre to play in and it loves it! You can let it run around quite safely and it will enjoy its self. Do not let the hamster use a large run until it is tamed, otherwise you will have problems catching it!
Cages: ALL hamster will bite the bars of their cage. It can get very annoying for the owner. The best solution is to use a large plywood box (85 x 50 x 35 cm) with lid with a mesh window. I made one for my hamster usin 12mm ply and it love it. It has a padlock hasp on it, so that if I have kids round they can't get into it let the hamster loose!
Other tips:
Make sure the wheel is large enough for the hamster. A golden syrian will require an 8 inch wheel, whereas a common europeon might be happy with a 6 inch wheel. Wheels with open bars are fine as hamsters are very sure footed and will not trip up! My hamster has been running in an 8" open bar wheel for 3 hours a night for 14 months and has never tripped yet!
Hygene: hamsters are very fussy about keeping clean, they will wash for up to 10mins after waking up, it is best not to disturb a just woken hamster and they always like to use the loo after waking up after a decent sleep. Most hamsters will use a corner, as they like to lift themselves off the ground so as not to sit on the wet patch! It is quite amusing watching a hamster put his backlegs up the wall and releiving himself!
Some people use shavings for the cage, but I use shredded paper from the office shredded. Not only is the free, but the hamster seems to prefer it as it is softer than wood shavings for walking on. Becareful not to use newspaper as the inks make thier fur dirty and thus gives a nasty taste when washing!
Apart from all that, enjoy your pet! They are intelligent (to a degree) and love company, just sitting next the cage and talking to it is enough to make my hamster jump in his wheel and 'show off'!
Other tips:
Don't put the cage in a drafty or cold place as they are fussy and get chilled easily. Try to avoid putting it somewhere where ther is loud noise as their ears are sensitive! My hamster will hide in box if I play my guitar when he is awake!
Hamsters are creatures of routine and habit, once it has its cage arranged how it likes it will keep all its food in the same place etc.
Female hamsters seem to be easier to tame than males, although all four oy my hamstes have been guys! They grow large than the females and can be very good companions although more 'bossy'.
Above all, you WILL get bitten. This is because they have poor eyesight and good noses, they can smell your lunch on your fingers and they will 'tuck in' I genally wach my hand beofre an dafter handling my hamsters, this also means that it will be happy with a stranger if they have washed their hands with the same soap as you, and it is good hygene practice.
Remember, after being bitten, DO not get cross with it, it will very quickly learn that it has a Weapon against you! If you carry on as normal it won't even bother trying to bite you again, this is true!
Anything I have forgotten?
I have had over 10 years of hamster experiance so drop me a line if there is anything else you want to chat about: airgunsam<AT>hotmail.com (replace <AT> with @).
cheers,
Riff