Any New Ideas

Hi i have 3 hamsters all syrian. I have my first Chewbacca or Chewy for short ( he got his name because when we bought him from the shop they put him in a box and by the time we got from the back of the shop to the counter he had chewed through the box)

Then we bought our other two Hamiliton and Fudge, these two werent handled very much and it was very obvious as they did their flipping on to the back routine and when the bloke picked Hamiliton up he bit him and blood was pouring but he tried telling us it was because he had Fudge scent on his hands. Hamiliton is my mums hamster so she when we got him home she wanted to look at him cause we noticed that he couldnt close his mouth properly and his teeth were well over grown but yet again he bit and blood was pouring so we booked him an appointment at the vets for the following day, my mum wasnt taking anymore chances with him so she picked him up with a towel. At the vets, the vet was looking all over him and again he bit and blood was pouring. That was the last time he ever bit anyone now he loves being handled and loves going in his ball running around the living room/kitchen, he surely lives up to his name.

When we got Fudge she was young still a baby and still growing where as Hamiliton was fully grown and had a couple of months on him. When we got her home got her out of the box to put her in her nice new home, she was off jumping all over the sofa we couldnt grasp her she was quick. Finally got her in her cage we let her settle and we put her jumpiness down to being young and full of energy now she has fattened up we figured she wont be as jittery and alot more calmer but we cant handle she is good at taking food from us through the cage and i have started having my hand in the cage with her food on it and she is fine but when it comes to cleaning her out its a nightmare and to be honest i dread it we have had her about 3 months and she has been out like the other hamsters about 5 times where as the boys we have them out every night in there ball no fuss. She attacks and goes berserk when you try to handle her so we only handle her when neccessary. But i would like to handle her like i do the boys any ideas anyone?

[suga]

Hi ya - first welcome to hc - its good to have you here.

I'm glad that the teeth problem was resolved for Hamilton and that you have a friendly hamster now on your hands which is great news. Your other little one sounds like a handful. I would guess because of the situation when you try to handle her that its a upsetting for you both.

The only thing I can suggest at the moment to you is to try gloves. I'm a very nervous hamster handler, especially when they are young as they are skittish and jumpy and seem to wriggle so much. I did invest in a pair of think gloves and a bit box. i would get hamster into a bowl, tube, basket of some description and then put her into the box. The box is huge, plastic with very high sides that she couldn't jump out of. I would then wear the gloves and scoop her up and put her down. Repeating this over and over for days on end so she would get use to it. Eventually I would then hold on to her a little longer and when she started to become use to me and me to her, i would pick her up with both gloves and then take one off, putting her back in the box inbetween so she's always safe.

It will give you a chance to get use to each other and as you both get more confident you can then remove the gloves and go hand free when you are ready. Don't forget to wash your hands between hamsters and other pets.

Good luck