Worried about a nip

[Schmumly]

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for a bit of help. I've had my hamster (Colin) since the beginning of January and he is the friendliest little chap in the world. I teach Year 3 and I bought him to be a classroom pet. I took a good month and a half to make friends with him and finally took him in about a month ago. The patience has paid off beautifully; the kids love him and he seems to love the soft little pets and strokes. He climbs all over me and likes to hide in my jumper - completely in love with him if I'm honest. Everything was fine until last week when my boss asked to hold him. She held him really tight in her hands (I always let him go where he likes and am very careful to watch him for signs of stress) and he was clearly very distressed by the experience. He was fearful and took a lot of coaxing to get him out of his tubes. I decided to take him home for the weekend to keep an eye as he really wasn't himself and he was quite reclusive for a few days. He would come out to socialise, but he took himself back to his cage after 10 minutes and wouldn't take treats. This seemed to wear off last night - he took treats and seemed pleased to see me this morning - so I took him back in today. He seemed okay, but then gave me two nips on the finger at lunch. They didn't hurt and he wasn't being remotely aggressive and was running up and down my arm like usual (I may also have had sugar on my finger as I'd just had haribo) but the second nip did draw a small amount of blood. I felt like he was just telling me that he was at his limit and needed a bit of space, but I'm just wondering what to do next. I've taken him hom till after Easter to give him some peace and quiet and haven't taken him out tonight (just given him a few treats). Does anyone have any advice? I know it's a bit mad but I'm absolutely crazy about the little guy and I'd hate to think i'm stressing him out or scaring him.
Thanks,
Em

[cypher]

It sounds as though the nips may well have been due to food on your fingers so probably nothing to worry about.
You seem to be aware of when things are getting too much for your little guy so I think you need to just watch his behaviour very carefully, being a class pet isn't really ideal for hamsters as it does mean them being disturbed a lot when they would normally be sleeping & even the friendliest hamster has it's limits when it comes to interaction & handling so he may ok for short periods of time now & then but I wouldn't overdo it with the little guy.

[Schmumly]

Yes, i’ll Take it easy when he goes back. The kids love him so they won’t mind. I’m going to give him a few weeks quiet and tlc before he goes back too. He’s still s bit nervous, so I didn’t take him out, today, but he came to the door when I chatted to him a bit and took treats just as gently as always, so fingers crossed. He is a gorgeous little chap.