Still biting?

[racinghamster]

I can only suggest not allowing him onto bare hands until he`s used to actually being socialised. Each day when he`s fully awake and not tired or disturbed, you could use a tool like a pocket hammock or a towel to let him wander around on your knee, but without him being allowed to nip. Hamsters need conditioning into realising that a hand or a scoop isn`t a bad thing, but something to be rewarded for.

YouTube has some good (and some not so good) tutorials on Chinese and Russian dwarf hamster taming videos. But it`s mostly building each day on the positives and taking small steps, rather than concentrating on the negatives. I don`t personally feel that hamsters that bite are `bad`, they are just misunderstood and we would probably be the same if we found ourselves in a situation we were not comfortable with. It`s a bite and flight response in many ways. Keeping your hand flat rather than curved over might also help. But as I suggested earlier, I would use a tool for him to voluntarily walk into and be rewarded for it.

Always take a step back if things don`t go well. This means he`s not ready to move on yet. Only advance steps once he`s actually comfortable even with walking into or onto something.

[Facey]

My russian dwarf boy Boris has been the same. I've had him for a few months and handle him with mittens on that i've worn so they smell of me. He runs around on the bed and on my lap fine even lets me stroke his head and back without the said mittens. But as I tried to remove some wet bedding bare handed he went for me

[Fantastic]

Originally Posted by Truffle

I was just wondering if you have tried the bath tub technique, I don't think that I could hamster tamed my Syrian hamster without it.... I think that it was explain above in this thread. I am not entirely sure what 100 quarts is, but I understand that hamsters need at least 120 quart bins. I may not of got that right though.

I got the biggest bin I could find. And I tried the bathtub, but it just went horrible.
I put his ball in his cage, and he climbed into it, and I took him into the tub with me. At first, he emerged from the ball excited and sniffed around, but then he lunged for me. He literally went for my toes and tried to bite. I got really panicked and quickly scooped him up in the ball again, but he jumped out and tried to bite me again. He seemed really angry/stressed, but he's been out of his cage before (e.g. in his ball or in a little enclosure I make for him with toys in it). I don't know what's gotten in to him.
After the failed tub training session, I put him back in his cage. He doesn't seem to be responding to anything. (((

[racinghamster]

It`s shame he`s being like this Fantastic, but Chinese hamsters can be shy and can take time. I know that`s frustrating when all you are trying to do is be nice to him and give him love and fun, but we also need to understand why he is reacting this way and it could be that he`s biting because he`s very scared and insecure. Hamsters don`t bite unless they have a reason to, even if we don`t think we are doing anything wrong, it`s their behaviour that needs understanding and thought. I would bet that if you never actually handled him at all and worked with him in and around his cage, he would eventually settle. This is what I tend to do when I have one that isn`t willing or is showing signs of nervousness. It`s better to see things from their perspective than to keep being nipped all the time! The nipping is their way of telling us no, I don`t want that or I don`t like that. So their way of communicating.

Tell you what...you have him in a large Bin cage? I would suggest a smaller barred cage. My reason being that Chinese hamsters love to climb and perhaps giving him an environment that gave him better cover and security might help? He may want to entertain himself rather than be handled a lot, so it might be worth looking at. Adult Chinese hamsters are usually fine in 1cm or less bar spacing. You just have to be sure the cage you use has no obvious gaps around the door clips or escape routes.