HOW CLEVER ARE HAMSTERS?

Do hamsters learn? Yes, they can. "Children sometimes teach their hamsters to jump over very small jumps, and I think hamsters can sometimes learn to come when they are called," says Pamela Milward. "In a hamster litter, if one of the babies finds an escape route the others all find it too. I don¹t know how they communicate it, but they do." So a patient child with a good hamster treat as an incentive could probably teach a hamster tricks, if these were appropriate for the little creature¹s nature.
One hamster owner reports that their hamster, Cybil, used to moisten the hard bits of her hamster mix. "This included orange, red and green bits which have the texture and consistency of very hard dog biscuits. These Cybil removed from her food tray and deliberately placed them under the water bottle on the other side of the cage where they were moistened and softened by water dripping from the spout."