Man (or woman) eating hamster!!!! HELP

[Sue]

I recently purchased a female baby hamster from a breeder. I already had 2 Syrians (both female), one purchased from a local independent pet shop and the other from the RSPCA. I decided to have one this time from a breeder thinking that they would have been handled regularly and so I wouldn't have a very nervous, jumpy hamster to tame. I ended up having two hamsters from this breeder as I just couldn't resist another one that was there!!!!!

The one that I wasn't intending to have is so lovely, she is gentle and friendly and I couldn't wish for a nicer natured girl. BUT the other one is the complete opposite! I have tried to handle her from day one and spent time with her every day, but I have lost count of the times she has bitten me! She seems to be getting worse rather than better and now jumps at me from 6-8 inches away and bites. She is the same in and out of her cage. She is now nearly 3 months old.

Does anyone have any ideas about what I can do to stop her biting?

[Silver]

Hello there,

Some hams just don't like to be handled at all, & some hams will come round in time. I would back off completely for a while as I have found with ones that really dislike being touched, being forceful as in picking them up & touching them when you know they are not going to like it makes things worse.

I would just talk to the ham quietly from outside the hams cage, obviously feed & water as normal & just talk to the ham good girl/boy, talk about anything just so they get to know your voice does not mean you are going to touch the ham.

Some will in time come to you & then you can lower your hand in see how the ham reacts.

And some hams will never like being touched but live happy lives doing their own thing

xxx

[Amethyst_ice]

Your first port of call should always be the breeder. If they are a proper breeder they will have handled the hammy from birth so should be able to advise you etc.

As Silver said, some hammies do not like to be played with much.

Do you wash hands and change clothes between handling the others? Perhaps that might be something to try xxx

[Sue]

I have contacted the breeder and they have made some suggestions to try, but that hasn't worked. She has said that she doesn't handle them early on, just talks to them. This one obviously wasn't handled otherwise it wouldn't be like it is now. I am now doing what Silver suggested as I have decided I'm not going to get bitten anymore, the last bite has become infected now, so enough's enough! I was hoping to maybe show this one, but there's no chance of that!!

[Silver]

I know exactly how you feel because I had a dwarf like this once.

You just need to take things very slow, some hams come round & are lovely some are loners who like talking interaction but not touching interaction.

I used to have my fingers bleeding, once mine jumped up & hung off my chin by her teeth. She also bite me a fraction from one of my veins in my wrist man did that hurt.

In the end she would come out with me picking her up with thick sports gloves on & she would curl up into a ball & fall asleep on me for two hours before I used the gloves to get her back to her cage.

No glove trying yet though, you need a couple of months or more of just talking so the ham knows you are not going to do something the ham does not like.

xxx

[Amethyst_ice]

Hmmm obviously without knowing who this "breeder" is I can only speculate but personally I do not know of any breeders who only talked to young and didn't handle them. I fer you have met a backyard breeder and are suffering for it.

However many pet store hams are not handled and tame up nicely.

Can I advise against the glove method for handling. I personally believe that the ham needs to smell you and the glove is bigger and scarier and feels different under foot.

You need to be confident.

Scoop hammy out with a towel and let them just run over you, perhaps make a secure play pen, dont try pick up, just let them run over you.

Keep talking by the cage but the sooner you get the hammy used to handling without biting the better as it will only get harder as they get older.

Good luck.

food is the way to a hams heart

x

[Silver]

Some hams don't like the actual skin contact & only respond to some other item touching them instead of hands, which happened to me.

It's a waiting game the ham will let you know when it feels safe enough for you to try & touch it, it will be sitting listening to you & climbing the sides of the cage to interact with you

When this happens it's time to find out if skin is ok or gloves is ok to the ham

xxx

[Amethyst_ice]

While I respect your personal experiences Silver I have to disagree on a whole while taming hamsters.

This hamster is several months old now so merely sitting there talking prolong the whole process of taming.

I had one hammy that didn't come to the cage much and didn't like being picked up. He took 6 months to be tame but never bit me. I used to take the whole cage top off and scoop him up. You need to show the hammy that the hands are safe places, gloves will prevent this and also just avoiding them full stop wont magically mke the hammy tame. It will also make the owner more nervous I suspect.

The bath method creates a neutral environement, thus taking away terratorial behaviour, and allows the hammy exercise and also to get comfortable in the presence of a human.

While hammy is exploring the bath, if they climb onto you, speak softly and a gently stroking their back is a start. Also offering food. Food really is a good way to gain trust x

[Silver]

I disagree but that is ok AI

Like most things in life there are lots of ideas & opinions

With my ham, no skin was allowed to touch her, if I scooped her up her teeth connected with my skin the second she saw it

The only thing that calmed her down was to back off 100% to let her come to me, if this takes months then so be it I would rather a ham come to me to be picked up then doing something the ham does not like to the point of attacking me

xxx

[Amethyst_ice]

Like I said, I respect your personal experiences but the OP should try more methods before backing off completely.

It may be simply a trust issue.

Good luck and keep us updated

xx