Agressive/recluse hamster

ellieiskinz · 01-28-2017, 05:59 PM

Hi! I have two dwarf hamsters Ivy and Luna that i purchased a couple weeks ago, Luna immediately began bullying Ivy and attacking her, i was told to wait it out a few days and buy them double of everything so i did just that. Nothing changed and Ivy wouldnt[[p- come out of her hideaway because everytime she did Luna would bully her back into it and even attacked while she was sleeping. Since then I have have bought Ivy a separate cage and transferred her so she could roam in peace but she still comes out very rarely. I'm a light sleeper and i sleep late and wake early but even then i don't really hear/see her unless i coax her out of her bed with treats but she runs back moments later. I've only managed to pick her up a couple times and she didn't seem very happy about it at all whereas Luna loves human interaction and always wants to sit in my hand and be petted when i open the cage. I'm not sure if its because she feels threatened of thinks of me as food but whenever i put my hand in the cage or pet her she bites me and has made me bleed a couple times, when i hold her she's fine and just tends to sit there and doesn't bite. I'm not sure if i need to try something else or just leave her be to come out and interact with me in her own time.

WinnieTheHam · 01-29-2017, 10:04 AM

Hi there, it's good that you separated them, that's the right thing to do and Ivy should settle down in time but she's still probably a little startled having being bullied recently. She's also probably a little stressed from the move so it's probably best you leave her to settle into her new home for a couple days. Have you bought separate toys and things also? there could still be the scent of her sister on toys and things which might be stressing her out too, so it may be best giving those a wipe and then let her settle in so she can spread her own scent across her cage and make it her own home.

Also make sure you wash your hands between holding the two, if you have Luna's scent on your hand and then put your hands into Ivy's cage she might be trying to defend herself thinking that your hands are Luna.

Patience is key and some hamsters take quite a long time to become tame. It can take months but it'd definitely worth it in the end. Look on youtube on how to tame a hamster, it's best to start will small things like talking to her and feeding treats through the bars. Youtube has some good tutorials for taming so I suggest you have a look.

Fingers crossed she settles soon

ellieiskinz · 01-29-2017, 10:29 AM

They have all separate things except i put some of the substrate from the other cage in her new one just incase she was more stressed out, i also picked up her hideaway and transferred it into the new home because she was refusing to come out for long enough for me to pick her up and put her in the new cage but since then it has been wiped down and the bedding was changed. I generally wash my hands after i've been holding them but there has been a couple times where i've fed them a sunflower seed at the same time so my hand couldve vaguely smelled like Luna at times. I'm gonna give her time and put some new things in her cage in the hope that she'll get up and explore a little more. I'll try staying up a little later to see if she'll come out.

WinnieTheHam · 01-29-2017, 10:39 AM

It's probably more likely that she's just stressed from the move then, which is why she is hiding and not wanting to come out. Give her a couple days without handling and let her settle into her new home and she should eventually start to come out of her shell a bit more.

Thin Lizzy · 01-29-2017, 10:44 AM

Hi and welcome to HC. You did the right thing separating them, you'll probably find they'll become more confident now they have their own homes.

Drago · 01-29-2017, 12:35 PM

Hello! It was definitely good that you separated them, you prevented what could have been a possible tragedy. Just keep taking it slow and work with them, they'll settle in and be much more friendly and confident

alipali1 · 02-01-2017, 07:43 AM

I had the same experience (minus the biting as I haven't started to handle yet)
We got two boys and one was so scared (we assume that's why anyway) and hid away and still does, I'm hoping Castiel will gain a bit more confidence now he's alone.
On the first night he was in the wheel constantly and hasn't really used it since.