Meet Kuro and Shiro.

[john88]

I just adopted 2 female WW, one pearl (4 week old) and another is sapphire (5 week old). They were siblings from different mother I guess, since i bought both from the same breeder and they get along very well. And FYI they is my first hamsters.

My problem is the Shiro (the pearl WW) always bit my fingers whenever I try to scoop him up. Whenever I put my hand inside the cage she'll come and try to bit me. Kuro (the sapphire WW) on the other hand can tolerate being on my palm but a little bit jumpy. I had them for 1 week already, and I think Shiro is a bit too young when I adopt her (3 week old).

I did some reading on how to tame a WW and i think i got the first few steps, but its not working well for Shiro. Guys can you give me advises on taming Shiro? What age is suitable for taming? PLease help me....

[fluffymunchkins]

Shiro is definitley too young!!!!
they shouldn't even be removed from the mother until tehy are 4 weeks old :(
You should contact the breeder to ask why she was removed so early.

Keep it up with shiro, if you follow the advice on the wiki youshould see some improvement, some hams take longer than others :)
Treo used to bite quite hard when i first got him too, but using hand wash helped and he eventually grew out of it after a couple of weeks.

they sound lovely and i hope that shiro continues to be healthy as her being removed from the mum so youn poses a risk x

[Tish36]

Pups shouldn't really be sold until 6 weeks at the earliest, and not seperated from Mum until 4 weeks.

Maybe you should contact your breeder and ask why you got Shiro at 3 weeks??

In terms of taming, buy some thick gloves and sit in the bath with them. Take turns and over time, they will get used to you. But remember, they are still very young and are probably very frightened and miss their mum. Give them loads of protein like chicken and boiled egg white to help them feel a bit more at home :)

Oh, and lots of comfy bedding like shredded kitchen roll :)

[john88]

I feel bad for them. I get to know the breeder online, and I've tried to contact him a few times, but failed. He's such a horrible and irresponsible person...[-(
Thanks guys for your advice. Shiro is very healthy, and frequently seen on the wheel and always running around. Kuro is the opposite, he's lazy, chubby and eat a lot. lol...:):)
I'll try to feed them hard-boiled egg.

[Tish36]

Remember to only give them the white of the egg :)

Glad they are settling x

[john88]

I tried giving them peanut butter as some people suggest em. But I think peanut butter only suitable for Syrian because my hammies started having hiccups after eating. Or is it normal?

[fluffymunchkins]

peanut butter can impact their pouches if they pouch it, it doesn't really have any nutritional value that would be helpful either.
Some hamters do get hiccups, i suppose for the same reason we do :)

Chicken, egg white, baby food, weetabix and milk and porridge all help hammies that are ill or in need of a boost