Here are the 9 best DIY methods to teach your hamster to play dead. They are tiny pets, and you should take good care of them.

How to train your hamster to play dead? You can train your hamster to play dead by spending time with him, teach him commands, feed him his favorite food, and repeat the process. Hamsters take around 6 to 7 weeks to play dead.

Only Syrian hamsters know how to do and when to do this act. If you have any other breed of hamster, then don’t worry; we have a few methods to help them learn this great act.

How to train your hamster to play dead?

Play dead means faking death or pretending to be dead. There is also a saying that when you see a bear then lay on the ground and stop breathing, this is a perfect definition of playing dead.

Animals like fire-bellied toads, hognose snakes, hamsters, and American opossum play dead when they feel threatened. This little creature seems very cute when they are active.

Make a strong bond with your hamster

You can teach many tricks to your pet, only when you two have a strong bond. You should make a strong bond with him just by spending three to four hours daily with him.

Once you have a strong bond, you can teach him many commands and tricks like stand up, run away, sleep, jump, sit down, and circle.

Spend Time Together

If you spend time with your pet so that he can recognize your voice. Take him out from the cage daily and keep him in your hands. When he is in your hands, make sure that he is feeling comfortable.

If he is trying to run away from you, put him in the cage and give him a chocolate treat. Give only four little pieces. They like to eat dried mealworms; you can it for better results.

Try this technique daily; if this doesn’t work, leave him for a few days, and then try again. In a few weeks, he will get used to you. Also, rub his body gently with two fingers.

Start Giving Him Commands

Play Dead is not an easy command for the hamsters to learn, so you have to start with some basics. These basic commands include “stand up,” “jump,” “circle,” and the most important command, “lay.”

It will take twenty to twenty-five days to learn this basic. Also, keep in your mind that you have to teach him these commands one by one. Hamsters are different from rats; you can do the same with other animals.

Standup command

Start with a standup command. All you have to do is hold his favorite treat over his head and say, “stand up my boy,” he will get up on his leg to catch the treat. You have to repeat this three times a day.

Give him a treat as soon as you can when he stands up. If you are trying to make him stand and is not standing up, then it is possible that he is not hungry right now.

In this situation, put away that food and try later. Keep changing his treat so that he will not get bored by eating the same food. You have to be patient because it can take 4 to 5 days to learn standup. You can feed him asparagus stalks for better results.

Jump Command

Now, if your hamster has learned the standup, then start teaching him the jump command. Hold the food a little higher over his head and say, “Jump buddy .” If he jumps, then give the food immediately and say, “very well.”

Keep in mind that you have to teach him this only when he is hungry, and you have to repeat this two times a day.

If you are trying to make him jump and is not jumping or is only standing, then put that snack away again after a day or two. Even after a day or two, he doesn’t jump then change his snacks.

Your pet will take 8 to 10 days to learn this instruction. Hamsters learn this trick so quickly because they are more active than other species. 

Circle Command

A circle is one of the funniest and essential commands. You and your pet are going to enjoy this trick a lot. This is a more advanced trick than other tricks. First, make sure that he is in a good mood and he is hungry.

Just hold his favorite snack and move it in a circular motion and say, “hey move in a circle.” He will stand first, and he will try to catch the treat with a jump, but you have to move the snack in a circular motion until he catches it.

When he moves in the circular motion, give the snack immediately and say, “very well, buddy.” You have to do this in a day only once. He will take 3 to 4 days to learn this circle.

Lay Command

Lay is the most important command that it needs to learn. This will be very difficult for you to teach him to lay, but believe us, he will remember this trick more fastly than any other trick.

First, make sure that your four-legged friend is feeling active and he is comfortable with you. There should be no distraction because teaching this requires a lot of attention. Start by getting his attention.

Rub his back and his head with two fingers very slowly, now; put him in the cage and show him his favorite snacks. Hold the snack near his face but don’t let him get it. Now move the snack slowly to the ground, allowing your hamster to follow it.

Repeat this process until it follows this. Try to pull away from the snacks a bit away from him if he is not following this. If he is continuously doing this, his legs and hocks are on the floor, giving him the snacks.

Once he is consistently making this motion with the snacks, add the word “lay down. ” Say these two words while moving the snacks.

Repeat this process until your hamster lays down by hearing only “lay down” with no snacks. Give him the snacks when he lies down and says, “good boy’. 

Play Dead Command

So now your four-legged friend has learned all the necessary commands. Lay Down instruction is going to play the most important role in this trick.

Begin with giving lay down command and give him a piece of snack. When he is in the position of lying down, then rub his belly. Do this process for two days.

The Second Step of this process requires a lot of attention, so ensure no distraction. If there is any distraction, it will get frightened and try to run away.

Now gently roll your hamster on his side and say, “play dead.” He will try to lift his head, but you have to push the head back onto the floor. You should be careful while moving his head back onto the floor, or he will be uncomfortable.

If he feels uncomfortable, don’t worry; he will become used to it in a few days. Give him his favorite food after this process.