Yes, a newbe with a behavior question.

[HaylBart]

Hello

Pixel does this every now and then but used to do it more frequently when we first got her. It wasn't an aggressive bite but more an 'exploritory nip' as we named it. She tends to do it when she first comes onto our hand after we've got her out the cage using her ball at the cage door - we never put our hands in the cage and lift her out - we let it be on her terms.

It has become less frequent overtime and we dealt with it by not reacting to the nip and giving her some sunflowers to eat to positively reinforce the nice behaviour that she offered. We also used to use a chew stick for her to nibble also - giving her an alternative behaviour to do.

I really wouldn't recommend pushing your finger towards your hamster as a way of positively punishing the behaviour, if your hamster is under confident this may not help the situation. By giving him something alternative to do will help him to identify the correct behaviour which is required. Shoving your finger at him will just reinforce that hands are a little scary and that he'll have to grab hold even harder next time around.

We found that by positively reinforcing and giving an alternative behaviour helped to build up Pixels confidence and it worked very quickly (short handling sessions each day).

I hope this helps

x

[HaylBart]

Ps. We also use a word to indicate a nice behaviour - 'good'. So each time she looks around and doing anything that wasn't nipping we'd say 'good' and then give her a treat. And overtime we increased the time between treats - we don't really need to use them that often now.

I use this positive reinforcement and bridge signal method when I'm dog training and it's worked very well with little Pixel...I'd recommend looking up Karen Pryors website (Karen Pryor Clicker Training | The Leader in Positive Reinforcement Training) if you want to learn more about the uses of this kind of training...it works so well and have been amazed at how well its worked with a hamster.

[shiny]

You could try rubbing your hands in his substrate before handling him so you smell 'normal' to him. Positive reinforcement as mentioned above is a great thing & amazingly clicker training can be done with all sorts of different animals

[MelvinsMomma]

HaylBart, thank you so much for your insight! You read online to give 'positive reinforcement' and that is the extent of most things, nothing on how to actually do it.

I'll look at Karen Pryor's website.

[MelvinsMomma]

Shiny, thanks I'll give that a try.

It's been a few days since I've had some real one on one time. So now that I have my 'weekend' from work I have some more time to work with him.

[HaylBart]

Originally Posted by MelvinsMomma

HaylBart, thank you so much for your insight! You read online to give 'positive reinforcement' and that is the extent of most things, nothing on how to actually do it.

I'll look at Karen Pryor's website.

Hey no probs - its amazing when you start to see results!
Positive reinforcement is using something positive (food, toys, something your furry likes) to reward the behaviour and increase the chances of a behaviour occurring.

So if hammy sniffs but doesn't nip give him a treat/stroke/something he enjoys doing - e.g if he's unsure of your hand let him hop off onto a surface which he is familiar with this will act as a reward. You can then build up time he spends on your hand.

It can be confusing when you get into the nitty gritty theory side of it! I imagine there will be some training vids on you tube which may help you.

Good luck with it all x

[HaylBart]

p.s Positive reinforcement and operant conditioning methods, described above, works with significant others! My Bf has been trained up very well lol - I kid you not! And he's not even realised it

Karen Pryor also has a book 'dont shoot the dog' which is an excellent reference book with lots of non baffling laymans terms within it....although it says dog in the title it can be used with all animals (and people - which is also described within it!) x

[MelvinsMomma]

Originally Posted by HaylBart

So if hammy sniffs but doesn't nip give him a treat/stroke/something he enjoys doing - e.g if he's unsure of your hand let him hop off onto a surface which he is familiar with this will act as a reward. You can then build up time he spends on your hand.

Make sense. So what happens if he does nip? Distract then reward if he sniffs but doesn't nip?