Biting during taming :(

[Lauukin]

My male syrian Joji has had a couple days of taming. (Got him on May 23rd, let him settle into his home with no interaction until the 25th.) He was born April 11th 2017 if that helps you get a feel for his age.

I offer food, he happily runs up and takes it from my hand. If I rub my fingers through bedding to give my scent, he runs out of his home and tries to get attention from me, or if I lift my hand, he'll stand on his hind legs to get a sniff at my fingers. He's super super hyper (i got a male so id have a relaxed hamster...maybe its his age?) and if I run my hand through the air in the length of his cage, he'll run quick and follow it. These all seemed like signs that he liked me!!

I tried putting my hand flat with food in his cage. He climbed right on it, and ate the food while sitting there on my palm. No hesitation. He came from an at-home litter so he was a bit more used to handling than a pet-store hamster, I guess. His taming took basically no effort, it seemed. Then I put my hand flat in the cage without food. He walked on, then started biting me. At first just a light one, then the second time he drew blood.

I always wash my hands before hand-taming. I rub my hands with his bedding as well.

I then put socks on my hand ( I live where its 105℉/40℃ so I dont own gloves, haha) and rubbed it with substrate. He bit my hand through the socks. It didnt hurt obviously, but I could feel it. So he's comfortable enough to climb on my hand and run up to me, but he still bites me? Am I mistaking him following me with some kind of territorial aggression?

I put a bit of substrate in his travel cage, put my taming socks in it, and let it sit and absorb his scent overnight. This morning I tried taming again....and got bit! Again! He seems so comfortable with me, but he just bites. Is he mean, scared, hungry, or just bratty and young?

[cypher]

He's still very new & young so maybe hasn't quite figured out what's food & what's not just yet which isn't unusual.
Maybe take a step back with the hand for now, offer him treats from your finger tips but don't put your hand down flat where he can bit if yet.
If you get him out into a safe play area & just let him run around with toys etc you could start by gently & briefly stroking his back until he gets more used to hands.
As he begins to settle down more try again with your palm flat & see how he does then.

[dreamtree1234]

Lauukin, I am sorry that you are going through this, but please don't get discouraged. Some hammies just need a little more time in order to figure things out. You haven't had him long, and he is quite young, too. I would just keep using the tissue trick and feeding him with your fingers for now. After he is more confident and settled into his new environment a little longer, then I would retry having him be in your palm again. Take each step slowly and never feel bad if you need to take a step or two backwards at times. Each hammy has their very own time schedule. Give him some time, and you will find it is well worth the wait. Good luck with everything and please let us know any updates on his progress. What is his name by the way?

[AprilPearl]

It doesn't sound like aggression or fear to me. If he was scared, he would not be following your hand. If he was being territorial, he would chatter his teeth at you as well as biting. To me, it sounds as though he is just being inquisitive. Hamsters, being rodents, bite everything - particularly new things. He's probably just interested in your hand. The problem is, the more times he nibbles it, the more he will come to think of it as a chew toy. You need to break this association. Make sure you clean all smell of food off your hands prior to handling him. When you do interact, don't point your fingers at him, or he will almost certainly take a nibble as they are a convenient shape. Maybe you could try letting him sniff your balled up fist. If he does bite, you take your hand away. If he doesn't, you can reinforce the behaviour by giving him a treat. He is still young and new, so he will take some time to get used to you.

As for the hyper thing, baby hamsters are more active than adults. But, that might just be his personality. You will need to wait and see if he slows down when older. I too have heard that males are more relaxed than females, but personally, I think it is a myth.

[Lauukin]

Originally Posted by cypher

He's still very new & young so maybe hasn't quite figured out what's food & what's not just yet which isn't unusual.
Maybe take a step back with the hand for now, offer him treats from your finger tips but don't put your hand down flat where he can bit if yet.
If you get him out into a safe play area & just let him run around with toys etc you could start by gently & briefly stroking his back until he gets more used to hands.
As he begins to settle down more try again with your palm flat & see how he does then.

Yeah, since posting this I've just let him relax and haven't tried handling him much. He is in me and my partners bedroom so he's getting adjusted to our voices (I put some of our own human scent tissue in to help him)

Would you say theirs a specific amount of time to wait, or play it by ear?

[Lauukin]

Originally Posted by dreamtree1234

Lauukin, I am sorry that you are going through this, but please don't get discouraged. Some hammies just need a little more time in order to figure things out. You haven't had him long, and he is quite young, too. I would just keep using the tissue trick and feeding him with your fingers for now. After he is more confident and settled into his new environment a little longer, then I would retry having him be in your palm again. Take each step slowly and never feel bad if you need to take a step or two backwards at times. Each hammy has their very own time schedule. Give him some time, and you will find it is well worth the wait. Good luck with everything and please let us know any updates on his progress. What is his name by the way?

Thank you!! His name is Joji (long story short ; favorite musician. Here's one of my fav live shows he's done
https://soundcloud.com/saticsparked/...-room-may-2017 )

My friend had 2 Syrians and I haven't heard much more about taming than besides a few YouTube videos and her advice. Her hamsters tamed super fast so I thought maybe he was odd or I was doing something wrong! Good to hear all hamsters have their own way of learning and timelines. Makes sense.

[Lauukin]

Originally Posted by AprilPearl

It doesn't sound like aggression or fear to me. If he was scared, he would not be following your hand. If he was being territorial, he would chatter his teeth at you as well as biting. To me, it sounds as though he is just being inquisitive. Hamsters, being rodents, bite everything - particularly new things. He's probably just interested in your hand. The problem is, the more times he nibbles it, the more he will come to think of it as a chew toy. You need to break this association. Make sure you clean all smell of food off your hands prior to handling him. When you do interact, don't point your fingers at him, or he will almost certainly take a nibble as they are a convenient shape. Maybe you could try letting him sniff your balled up fist. If he does bite, you take your hand away. If he doesn't, you can reinforce the behaviour by giving him a treat. He is still young and new, so he will take some time to get used to you.

As for the hyper thing, baby hamsters are more active than adults. But, that might just be his personality. You will need to wait and see if he slows down when older. I too have heard that males are more relaxed than females, but personally, I think it is a myth.

I heard it was a myth but I figured males in a lot of ways would be easier, I heard female hamsters have a bad scent as well!

In regards to the biting ; he's climbed on my hand and bit at the flesh of my palm too. I'm going to do as was suggested and just take a step back and just offer some treats and talk to him before moving to palm-sitting again

[AmityvilleHams]

I happen to have a female Syrian who was immediately tolerant of being stroked without any major effort on my part,despite coming from a chain pet store Every hamster will be different in regards to taming,including what they do and do not accept such as some will allow stroking or take treats but refuse to be held among other things.

Positive reinforcement is crucial to a good bond with any animal,as well as eventually training certain behaviors.It may seem a bit strange,but hamsters learn in the same way as dogs,cats,horses,birds,and many other animals do(through positive reinforcement)