Help! I'm scared of Syrian Hamster bitting me:(

[bbbarker]

Well I think I spoke to soon, when I put Bruno back in his cage he came up to the second level to say hello and to also get some food off me. I decided I would put two thick socks on my hand place some food on it and place it flat in front of him. Although I couldn't tell whether he was biting because of how thick the socks were he put his paws on my hand and got the food. I feel if I do this a few times he will eventually sit on my hand. I think I am going to use this method with the socks just until I feel confident enough to take maybe one sock off and then have no sock on. I don't think Bruno is nervous around me hes quite confident it's just he has never been handled in his life and this is all new to him and me. I think we will continue to work together as we are doing and eventually I should get more confident. Thanks everyone for all your lovely comments and advice It's really helped

[bbbarker]

Is it normal that Bruno seems to want to have more to do with me when hes in his cage than when hes out? Syrian's are territorial and I would of thought he'd prefer to interactive with me out of his cage

[Thin Lizzy]

Velma's right about going at your own pace.
I used to think I was useless at taming because I'd hear stories about how fast others did it. But every hamster is different.
Well done on your progress with the sock. Bruno putting his paws on your 2 sock covered hand and taking a treat is brilliant, I agree use that method for as long as you want to, maybe after a while take one of the socks off. In time you'll feel less nervous, remember hamsters can sense if you're scared or nervous.
Another thing, make a big fuss of his progress telling him well done Bruno, what a good boy and I'm so proud of you. Believe me they love getting praised.

[Bbhami]

Hi there!

I got bitten by both my syrians few weeks after I got them. Don't feel pressured on taming them, some hams just need a bit more time than the others. My hams bit me when they got frightened but I don't think they're doing it intentionally. BB bit me before because he got scared of the sudden movement of my hand. Mellorine however is really a nibbler, she thinks everything is food so she tends to nip all the time. They will also show signs if they want to be left alone. The most effective method I used was the tissue method. You put a tissue on your skin for a few hrs the put it in their cage to get them used to your scent.

Hammy bites aren't that painful imo so don't worry about it. The rewards of taming a hamster fully is worth getting bitten once or twice. BB now wouldn't even bite however I harass him lol.

[cypher]

Originally Posted by bbbarker

Is it normal that Bruno seems to want to have more to do with me when hes in his cage than when hes out? Syrian's are territorial and I would of thought he'd prefer to interactive with me out of his cage

Some hams are a lot more territorial than others & some hardly at all especially if they have a large enough cage so it may just be that he's more excited & interested in exploring new things when out of the cage & less inclined to interact.

[Pebbles82]

Sorry the bath thing didn't work out well. But I guess it was her first time and maybe she was a bit scared. Charlie also used to do the turn to head to bite if you stroked him, but he never actually bit - it was just seeing me off. Glad the socks are helping!

[BluerayDarkes]

I can't really give any advice on taming hamsters, I had Syrian hamsters when I was younger and I don't think back then this forum was here to help if I had issues. All I knew was don't be scared be confident, I've been bitten a few times by hamsters and doesn't seem to hurt that much. At least for me. I kept handling them until they learned biting wouldn't get them very far, they always turned out to be the most friendly hamsters in the end.

I even had one that used to screech at me every time he got handled, I would only put him back in the cage once he stopped so he learned if he stopped making noise he got what he wanted. Never screeched again for all the years I had him.

Now I got Russian dwarf hamsters and though the care is the same I find they are different, and so glad this forum is around to help me brush up my hamster care as its been a few years since I had hamsters. We just put our hands in to the cage our male walks right on to it, the females we have we gotta scoop up as they're small and young. None of them have bitten us but they do give a few nips to see if we're food, one of them likes to scratch between our fingers as if we're dirt. (The females act like we're dirty every time we put them back in their cages, they instantly go to their silver sand and roll in it. Our male isn't bothered he will roll in his sand when he feels like it.)

So any advice that is given here follow it and see what works best, but above all else do not be afraid or at least try not to be.

[bbbarker]

Thanks a lot everyone I really appreciate all of your advice, I'm new to this forum and can tell I am definitely going to be using this a lot. I think it's really nice being able to communicate with people who like myself love Hamsters

[bbbarker]

So I thought I would update everyone, tonight Bruno went in his ball and had a run around my room as he does every night, tonight he was a lot more interested in exploring my room in his ball than he was last night so because of this he stayed in it longer. I then got a plastic storage container that is quite big and deep and put Bruno whilst in his ball into the container and allowed him to come out of the ball on his own. I then used the socks and put some treats on the socks (my hand) and at first he was putting his paws on the socks and was eating the treats, after about 5 minutes he walked on to the sock (my hand) and ate his treats there. I'm so happy! I'm not going to get too confident because like someone said in a comment, he may take 1 step forward one day and 2 back another day. I was also stroking him a few times and it didn't seem to bother him, I didn't stroke him too much though as he has never had this done to him before in his life and I didn't want to push him too much. I'm so happy with today's result and am definately going to continue with this method.

[velma]

I'm really pleased for you It gives you a real confidence boost, doesn't it? I think the socks trick is a good idea because now you're not worried if he bites you as if he doesn't you won't really feel it. I think he's trusting you because you're not flinching from him. I look forward to hearing how it goes