beginning to bite after 7 months???

dmchippi · 02-23-2017, 01:27 PM

I've had my Djungarian hamster Edgar for about 7 months now and he has always been the sweetest little thing. All through taming he never bit me, barely even a nibble but suddenly he seems to think my hand/fingers are food?

I say he sees them as food because the bites never seem out of distress.
If he bites when I have him out, I put him back in his cage and he'll paw at the sides of the cage for my attention. Sometimes when he's having time outside of the cage he'll run up to my hand out of nowhere and start nibbling that progresses into bites hard enough to draw blood.
And I know he's not afraid of me in general because when I have him out he has no problems running up to me, sniffing around, seeming relaxed, ect

Obviously I make sure to wash my hands when I handle him, I've even tried rubbing his bedding on my hands after washing them in case and smell might be left over.

Recently, I have been giving him less treats because he's a tad overweight, but I make sure he has plenty of food so I know he's not starving by any means

please, How can I stop his biting?

Basic information:
Cage - two side-by-side 96 quart bins connected with tubes
Diet - a mix of pet store blends (like kaytee, all living things, ect...) supplemented with fresh vegetables (usually a small piece daily, a variety like broccoli, spinach, carrots, or whatever I have that is hamster-friendly) and usually one or two small live mealworms (pretty much daily, he really loves them. but I make sure that he never gets so many that it ruins his appetite for other food and he only gets them outside his cage so I can make sure he eats them and doesn't just pouch them live for later)

**Cinnamon Bear** · 02-23-2017, 01:43 PM

I heard that someone used to breed Campbells for betterment of the species, she's a member on HC and she said that she heard from people that their tame hammy all the sudden started biting them for no reason. So I guess that can happen to no fault of your own.

dmchippi · 02-23-2017, 02:07 PM

is there a way to train him out of biting like this?

**Cinnamon Bear** · 02-23-2017, 02:20 PM

All you can do is handle him where you won't get bit or put a treat down and pull your hand away. Or if he will take a treat from your hand and then bite, just don't let him eat the treat out of your hand anymore.

I had to do the same thing with my WW although she has been like that from day #1, even though I got her when she was real young.

Drago · 02-23-2017, 04:01 PM

Have you made any recent changes in your routine or changed around his set up? Hamsters are creatures of habit I find, as every night at 6:00 (when I get home) my hamsters are out and about waiting on their huts, ready to come out and play. Changes can make them nervous and uncomfortable so you must be sure to make changes gradually. The treats likely have nothing to do with it, but I would like to comment on his diet a bit. Kaytee is a very poor quality food as it not only is fatty and contains little to no nutrients, it also has many toxic dyes and preservatives. The best food you could possibly get for your ham is Burgess dwarf as it's full of nutrients and is small enough for tiny dwarfie mouths

otherwise, feeding veggies low in sugar like you've done, is very good and healthy! Although you should never feed live mealworms as hamsters have a habit of putting these worms in their cheek pouches, and mealworms have strong jaws and thus can gnaw at your hamsters, injuring them. To feed live, crush the heads first to rid of the biting risk even if you're monitoring him, injuries can still occur so it's best avoided. If he's making you very nervous, handle him with gloves and reward him for sitting still and calmly on your hand with a non-fatty treat. If he nibbles or nips, do not reward him. Good luck with taming and if you have further questions or updates, please notify us!

AmityvilleHams · 02-23-2017, 04:20 PM

As Drago said,Kaytee is not a good food at all.They may make a very small amount of safe substrate(Clean n Cozy,unscented only-scented is completely unsafe for any small pet and should never be used)along with a few safe toys,but they are by no means the brand to go to for animal nutrition despite all the ridiculous claims their products have.

Even the "higher end" brands of hamster food aren't good for diabetic prone species.Vitakraft for example contains fruit,which would not be good on a daily basis for such hamsters.Even the best of the best in the US would either need to be fed in a combined diet or would contain fruit,while Burgess dwarf is actually entirely safe even for a diabetic prone species and still provides adequate nutrition

It may seem expensive at first,but it is far more important to get your hamster off the junk food and onto something that is both species appropriate and diabetes friendly.This will also save you a lot on potential vet bills,while a hamster on a junk food diet isn't going to be as healthy and would also be far more at risk for health problems(even cancer,in the case of a lot of Kaytee products and plenty other things from the pet store).

**Cinnamon Bear** · 02-23-2017, 08:32 PM

Sometimes animals bite when they are in pain as well. I'd give him a good check over, tummy, genitals, everything

cypher · 02-23-2017, 10:35 PM

It is unusual for this type of behaviour to begin after such a long time, it does sometime happen within the first few weeks but it seems odd to start now. I would give him a good health check just to make sure there's nothing bothering him & also think about anything that may have changed around the time this behaviour began.
It could just be because you're cutting down on treats, you could try not hand feeding at all for a while, if he comes to you just put any food or extras down in front of him & withdraw your hand, otherwise you're doing the right thing already really.
Just be careful with those live mealworms they can bite & injure hams! You should remove the head before feeding them.

dmchippi · 02-24-2017, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drago

Have you made any recent changes in your routine or changed around his set up? Hamsters are creatures of habit I find, as every night at 6:00 (when I get home) my hamsters are out and about waiting on their huts, ready to come out and play. Changes can make them nervous and uncomfortable so you must be sure to make changes gradually. The treats likely have nothing to do with it, but I would like to comment on his diet a bit. Kaytee is a very poor quality food as it not only is fatty and contains little to no nutrients, it also has many toxic dyes and preservatives. The best food you could possibly get for your ham is Burgess dwarf as it's full of nutrients and is small enough for tiny dwarfie mouths

otherwise, feeding veggies low in sugar like you've done, is very good and healthy! Although you should never feed live mealworms as hamsters have a habit of putting these worms in their cheek pouches, and mealworms have strong jaws and thus can gnaw at your hamsters, injuring them. To feed live, crush the heads first to rid of the biting risk even if you're monitoring him, injuries can still occur so it's best avoided. If he's making you very nervous, handle him with gloves and reward him for sitting still and calmly on your hand with a non-fatty treat. If he nibbles or nips, do not reward him. Good luck with taming and if you have further questions or updates, please notify us!

@amytivlle hams & drago:
Thank you for the advice on the food! Is there a trusted site to order Burgess from? (I'm in the US and I've never seen this in a pet store, although I haven't really looked for it, and a google search came up with a few sites, but I don't know if they're trustworthy or not) And I'll definitely start crushing the heads for worms.

dmchippi · 02-24-2017, 07:44 AM

Environment wise has been pretty stable - I recently moved around some things in his cage (all of the same things are still there, just in slightly different positions. Maybe that could have upset him a bit

Recently (due to a variety of factors) I have noticed that my palms seems a bit sweatier, could he just be excited by the taste of salt? Could he just have associated my smell with salt regardless of situation?

It also seems like he only really starts biting after I've already given him a treat when he's out (whether by hand or laid in front of him) - when I first take him out he sniffs my hand but won't nibble, runs around and has some treats, then comes back to me and sometimes bites (not even always, the bites have become more frequent but they're still unpredictable)