Very Mean Hamster

Diva · 11-02-2018, 07:20 PM

I getting very fed up with my hamsters aggressive behavior towards me. Me and my hamster originally had a wonderful relationship. She asked to be held, ate out of my hand and was never aggressive with me. The cage I first put her in ended up being too small (20gallon) so I bought her a big cage (a $200 dollar one). Ever since then she was been terrible to me. She bite once for no reason and left me bleeding (posted on this before). This time I tried to encourage to move away from here bowl so I could give her food for the night. Let her sniff my hand then I gentle pet her back and she snapped on me. I've done this many times before and never ever had this reaction. Like i said i'm getting very tired of behavior. I'd like to know how to stop this kind of behavior asap.

cypher · 11-02-2018, 10:24 PM

How long has she been in the bigger cage? It can take them a while to settle into a new cage & you need to give them time, it could be partly that or it could be something to do with the cage set up, if there's too much open space she may not feel safe, a photo of your set up would help to see if that could be the problem, the other possibility is that she is being territorial, if that's the case then it's best to interact with her out of the cage & try not to put your hand in the cage more than you need to.

alpacassei · 11-03-2018, 03:47 AM

She’s probably just scared from the new cage and added space. Make sure to give her lots of deep substrate so she can burrow to ‘safety’ and lots of hidey toys. A little lot of anxious hammies do better when there’s very little open space.

What species is she? Russian dwarfs can be more prone to cage aggression than other species.

Pebbles82 · 11-03-2018, 10:21 AM

How long has she been on the new cage? It could be set up things or too much cleaning out (they feel invaded and get territorial) but also they can do this when they’re in pain if they have an illness of some kind. How old is she.

Either way, the way to look at it is to work out why and how to prevent this because you know she has been a friendly tame hamster. Rather than see it as a deliberate attack on you and feel angry with her as that is self perpetuating - she picks up your stress and cross vibes and responds to them with the same. So it’s our responsibility to worldly out what the problem is because they can’t tell us.

Thin Lizzy · 11-04-2018, 10:10 PM

I'm sorry you're fed up with your hamsters behaviour. You must take some of the responsibility in this, hamsters are very good at sensing moods and feelings and will have sensed this with you. It's time to start afresh with your ham. As others have suggested, time varies when it comes to adjusting. I wouldn't have made the change in one go, I'd have introduced her to the new cage, by having her spend time in it over a period of time, increasing that time. I would also have added more hideouts so she would feel protected.
It's not too late to change things but, it'll take time, love, patience and encouragement.

Sasha04 · 11-05-2018, 07:00 PM

The others have given great advice. Let her settle in to her new cage. Also, it takes lots of patience. I’m sure she’ll come around. Keep us updated!