My New Winter White Is Way Aggressive

rockdogg33 · 05-27-2015, 01:29 AM

I just bought my daughter a new winter white. And when we brought it home it was the sweetest thing. The first day when I would put my hand in the cage to scoop it up it would walk right up and in to my hand. Then while holding it it would run from hand to hand having fun then go into his ball nicely. Then 24 hours later he completely changed. Now I put my hand in the cage and he comes up and attacks me. Biting aggressively and hard. Most of the time drawing blood. The only way for me to get him out of the cage is by letting him crawl onto a spatula type scoop. And he freaks out about going into his ball. What can I do?

Naraivi · 05-27-2015, 01:47 AM

Hi Rockdogg! The best thing to do is to probably give him a few days to get used to his new home and surroundings and then start to slowly train him from there. Make sure he associates your presence with safety so buy a few treats and try hand feeding, maybe at first just placing the treat on the floor near him and then progressing to holding the treat whilst he eats. He probably just needs some time to settle in!

cypher · 05-27-2015, 01:53 AM

Hi & welcome to the forum
I would stop using the ball, they can cause injuries quite easily with dwarf hams & it may be that s/he doesn't like the ball.
I used a ball with my first hybrid (before I knew better!) & he began to bite which he had never done before so I stopped using the ball & he was fine again.
Even though they may be quite willing to climb into a ball doesn't mean they are enjoying being left in there & as I said it can be dangerous.
I would use a play area of some kind instead, either buy a playpen or make one out of cardboard boxes or use a large plastic bin.
Your ham needs time to settle in too so don't try to rush the taming process, they do sometimes get a bit territorial over their cages so it's best to scoop them out with something they will climb into happily until they get more used to your hands.
If you haven't already do the tissue trick too, put a tissue up your sleeve for a few hours then put it in the cage, repeat that for a few days to help your ham get used to your scent & learn it isn't a threat.
Don't do any more cleaning than you absolutely have to, just spot clean where needed & don't do a full clean so you don't disturb your ham too much.
When you do clean always keep some of the old substrate, nest material & food hoard.
Hope that helps.

racinghamster · 05-27-2015, 05:03 AM

Exactly what Naraivi and cypher have suggested. Did you do much research on bringing home a new dwarf hamster? If you can imagine that hamsters like to sleep most of the day and into the evening, only coming out for a snack, a drink or to go to a toilet area, they don`t truly appreciate being handled if they are still half asleep! Using a ball is also a no go. Hamster balls are slowly becoming a hazard to many small hamsters getting legs and toes caught in the air vents when they run and crashing into things they can`t possibly see. So my advice would be only interact with him inside his cage base and only when he`s fully active.

My Russian dwarf male is rarely handled and he has a daily routine which he rules. I`m only his slave!

I can appreciate you bought this hamster for or daughter but you don`t want her getting a deep bite. What you have bought won`t be a pure bred winter white if it came from a pet shop. It will be a hybrid and they can be nippy, so you have to work around that.

Patience is the key with all hamsters, so go back to the start and ditch the ball. Watch his antics and enjoy talking to him and allowing him to get used to his new cage, your scent and don`t do full cage cleans as hamsters like to retain their scent. Spot clean around him and tell him he`s a lovely wee man. Offer a sunflower seed from the end of your open hand (fingertips) and then remove your hand. Don`t leave it there to be nipped! x

rockdogg33 · 05-27-2015, 07:31 PM

Thanks for the input guys. I think I will stop using the ball. Is there anything I should put in his new play area or should I leave it just an open space?

cypher · 05-27-2015, 10:47 PM

You need to make the playpen interesting & fun to explore so put lots of toys in there, if you don't have many spare toys you can just use cardboard boxes & tubes, egg boxes or things like that, it's worth putting a wheel in too as they will often jump in the wheel for a bit of stress busting if they get a bit anxious!
If you just put them in a bit open space it will scare them & defeat the purpose really.
Mine are usually a bit OTT lol! but you can see one of my set ups in the second photo here if it helps Ickle Mickle! ; )

rockdogg33 · 05-29-2015, 08:30 PM

That's a great set up. Is that your cage or just your playpen? Because if that's your playpen I have no where near that kind of equipment yet. That's like what I have for his cage. In his cage I have a house a wheel and two levels of tubing and a second level platform. Now that you have turned me on to the playpen over the ball idea do I wanna set up the playpen completely different than the cage so its a different experience? Or similar to the cage so that its familiar to him?

cypher · 05-29-2015, 11:13 PM

I've been accumulating bits & pieces for years now so I have plenty of things for the playpen! You can just use anything you have to hand though so boxes & tubes can be just as much fun.
I find mine don't like the cage being changed but do enjoy exploring new things in the playpen so I'll change that around from time to time, it might help to put a couple of things from the cage or just scatter in a bit of substrate from the cage that smell familiar at first if your ham is a bit nervous, they are naturally curious though so generally enjoy exploring.