Is "hand chasing" always a sign of agression?

[Lone_Cosmonaut]

I got my new female russian dwarf hamster last week from Pets at Home. She's got a nice large bin cage, all natural wooden products, hides, wheel, plenty of substrate and she loves to burrow etc. I've been letting her get used to her environment and just talking to her, not bothering her, etc. However I noticed that despite being as timid and skittish as one would expect a new hamster to be in a new environment for the first few days, she seemed to calm somewhat and appeared curious/inquisitive when I'd put my hand in her enclosure to do minor maintenance stuff - not trying to interact with her, just things like fixing her water bottle or food bowl etc. I always try to work on the opposite end of wherever she is so she doesn't feel cornered and can zip into any of her hides if necessary.

When I noticed her acting curious I figured it was safe enough to attempt hand taming a little early. I fed her some treats with my thumb and forefinger and she'd take some, not take some, the kind of thing you'd expect. I admit I've never handled a hamster before and it was actually me that was a little nervous with how ... Forward she is. She'd follow my hand all around the cage, even toppling or falling over things to try and keep up. I've been hesitant to let her have contact with my hand because the behaviour seemed a bit off. It looks cute and sweet but I know many hamster behaviours, even negative ones, do and I wasn't sure what to think. But I just found this video on aggressive hamsters that seems to show a similar "hand chasing" behaviour (1:10), although I haven't experienced any other behaviours in this video such as attacking what I put into the cage, narrowed eyes or scratching at the air/enclosure walls. She does loooove to chew on her wooden toys but that's a kind of lazy absentminded thing she does to keep her teeth worn down and does it when I'm nowhere near the cage.

Has anyone had something similar with their hamsters that turned out to be innocent, or is it odd behaviour? Do I just have a particularly bold and friendly/curious hamster or am I just humanising her mannerisms too much? I'm aware I could answer this easily myself by letting her touch my hand and see if she savages it, but like ... I don't really wanna do that lol. Any feedback is appreciated.

[LunaTheHamster1]

i think your hamster is just curious about what this big hand is doing in her cage - i would go for it - just stick your hand in and let her come to you. see what she does. There is only 1 way you are going to find out for sure.

Others may have better advice than me - but that's what i would be doing.

[LunaTheHamster1]

if you are scared of being bitten - put a glove on - or wrap something around your hand - and see what happens. It would be interesting if she still comes to your hand if she can't easily smell you as you have covered up.

[LunaTheHamster1]

if you are really scared you could always scoop her up in a mug and do you have a bath that you could do some bathtub bonding in? if you don't know what that is, have a look at this video. You could just put a leg or an arm in and see what she does rather than get totally in the bath with her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYUq82JkoLc&t=1s

[alpacassei]

My two non-aggressive female Russian dwarfs will follow me around the cage because theyre curious. They climb on my hands, lick me, and generally act cute (probably so I give them treats lol). One of my previous Russians, Mishka, was even friendlier!

Only one of my cage aggressive Russians (I have 3) will chase my hand consistently, the other two will only usually “attack” me if I get close to them or start moving things around.

Just let her come to your hand and see what happens. If you keep your hand in a fist then bites wont hurt near as much since the most sensitive parts of your hand will be hidden. Generally Russian dwarfs bites feel like a firm tug and wont bleed much if at all if she bites your fist.

Even if she is aggressive, its too soon to say whether its genuine aggression or just her being unsure of her new environment. Most aggressive hamsters can become tame outside of the cage aswell, it just takes more time and patience.

[Lone_Cosmonaut]

Thank you so much for the info! That's really reassuring and I appreciate it. I'm gonna give mine another day or so to settle in just to be sure I'm not moving too fast before I give it a go.

[Lone_Cosmonaut]

Thanks so much for the tips! I'll definitely try those out.