Taking off the gloves (and getting bitten)

[WeeLin]

My Syrian (Buffy) is normally happy to be handled while I’m wearing gloves, but she bites me whenever I take them off. Has anyone else had a similar problem?

I rub tissue paper on my hands, which Buffy uses for her bed, so she should be used to my scent. I talk to her, so she knows my voice, and I don’t disturb her when she’s sleepy. We built a bin cage to give her more space and she has plenty of toys, chews and substrates. We give her a good amount of (gloves on!) playtime every night.

Before I try to handle Buffy, I wash my hands with unscented soap and give them a good rub in the substrates. I put her in her playpen, so she won’t get territorial and think I’m invading her cage. I usually sit in the playpen with her, as she likes climbing up on me. She doesn’t seem aggressive, or afraid of me at all.

I’ve laid out my bare hand for her to explore, both with and without treats on. I’ve also tried passing her from a gloved hand to a bare hand. Every time, she’ll start biting (if I have treats on my hand, she’ll pouch them all first before she bites!). She doesn’t seem angry or frightened – she just casually starts chewing my hand. I wouldn’t mind little nibbles, but she does bite hard enough to draw blood.

I’m not really afraid of her teeth, as they don’t hurt much. Honestly, she hurts my feelings more than she hurts my fingers!

I think this might just be how Buffy explores the world. Every new thing she encounters – toys, her water bottle, my clothes and bedsheets, even the sand in her bath – gets nibbled (and she was NOT happy when she discovered what sand tasted like!). She’ll still chew at the gloves from time to time, though not very often. Weirdly enough, she’s never tried to bite my arms, ankles, shoulders, or any other unprotected skin. Although, she does seem keener to crawl up my arms when I wear long sleeves. Maybe she prefers to get a firm grip while climbing?

She does let me feed her treats with my bare hands and will normally let me stroke her without gloves while she eats. I really would love to ditch the gloves and hold her properly.

Has anyone else had a hamster like this? If so, what did you do? Did you manage to tame them, or did you stick with the gloves? Did you try anything different, or did the hammie just grow out of it?

[cypher]

I think the problem with gloves is as long as you continue to use them they don't have a chance to get used to hands & fully realise they're not food!
I've had a couple of Russians who were bitely to begin with & I just put up with it until they got out of the habit which they did after a while, if they bite I always put them down for a few moments before trying again so maybe they get the idea biting doesn't get them nice treats, no idea if that work with a Syrian or not, I know getting bitten is no fun at all but I'm not sure much else would work.

[WeeLin]

Thanks Cypher. That's good to know that your Russians grew out of their biting habits. When my Syrian bites, I stop to wash the cut and put a plaster on it, so that usually cuts taming sessions short. But I'll keep trying with her, and see if she ever stops finger-nomming!