Biting

[jsp]

Hi,

I wondered if I could ask for other people's experiences with biting?

My hamster is 6 months old now and he was a biter as a baby but I have been patiently taming him very carefully since we got him at 8 weeks. As a baby if we offered him a peanut he would dart round the peanut and sink his teeth into my finger, and he did that to the vet too, who did remark that he was quite "nibbly". However recently we were getting on quite well, and I could lift him onto my lap (kneeling on the floor) and let him sit for about 20 seconds and put him back in his enclosure without any aggression. My son no longer interacts with him at all as the aggression was too difficult for him to cope with.

This is his cage and exercise enclosure:

https://theitinerantbotanist.blogspo...blog-post.html

The hamster and I got into a nice rhythm recently where he would enjoy sleeping in the pipe in his exercise enclosure rather than in his cage. The two are connected by the long pipe so he can come and go when he pleases, as you can see from the photos. The long pipe goes down about 3 feet so it gives him a sense of sleeping deep underground, which I think he likes.

Here is where the problem arose:

It is not safe for him to stay in his uncovered exercise enclosure over night and in the evening I have to remove the connecting pipe and close his cage door.

A few times last week I needed to go to bed before he had woken up and I unfortunately had to wake him to put him back in his cage. I know that was not a good thing, and I realise in future that we need to change arrangements so that I never need to wake him.

One day last week when I woke him to move him into the cage he got so annoyed that he sank his teeth deep into my thumb, piercing the nail and pad, and going so deep that his teeth nearly met in the middle. I then had to have a tetanus jab and now, even though the wound has healed, I still keep losing the feeling in my thumb. I really cannot get into a situation where that could happen again as it was really severe and I need my fingers.

Because of this I am now not able to handle him, because I know he might do it again. I have bought thick leather gloves, but it is not easy to handle a soft hamster with thick gloves on and so that also makes him defensive and then aggressive.

I wondered if anyone else has been bitten as badly as that by their hamster, and has anyone else found ways to work with and enjoy a hamster that can sometimes bite like that? I need to find a way to enjoy his company, that doesn't involve picking him up bare-handed.

My current plan is to make a new daytime sleeping place for him that is enclosed and safe for him to be in at night. That way I never need to wake him to put him in the cage. I thought I would try to still make it be at the bottom of a long pipe, and I know he enjoys that so much.

I have had three previous hamsters who did not bite and who I got on well with. I've also had cats, and guinea pigs and other animals, including riding horses, so I'm pretty experienced at not getting on the wrong side of animals.

I'd be really grateful for any thoughts on how to proceed.

Thanks!

[LunaTheHamster1]

As you already know your hamster most likely bit you because you woke him up and probably moved him too quickly. Biting and making noises is the only way he has to tell you that he is not happy with being woken up. I would shut off the pipe to the playpit and let him make his new sleeping area actually in his cage. Just use the playpit for freeroam time on a night. I'm not sure why you want to have him in a sleeping area that is outside of his cage??? Did I understand that bit correctly?

[jsp]

Hi, Yes the thing about sleeping out in the pen during the day was just mainly because it was lockdown and my son was at home. It was nice to have the hamster have access to his playpen all day and he took to sleeping there.

You're right I could just get him to sleep in the cage and I suppose he would get used to it. It seems to make him very happy to sleep down the pipe though.

Other thing is that sleeping down the pipe seems to make up for the fact that he can't roam much. I just thought it was nice to let him do something that really seemed to give him so much pleasure. He goes to a lot of trouble to build a really good nest in the pipe.

My idea for replacing it was to have a long plastic hamster pipe go down to some rotastack hamster cage that my friend has kindly offered me as a present. That was he could still go down the deep pipe that seems to make him so happy, but then be sleeping in a secure hamster cage.

My question wasn't really about that, but how to cope with handling him when I know he might bite hard like that. I wondered if anyone had ever been on the receiving end of a really hard bite like that?

Thanks!

[LunaTheHamster1]

The thing is I don't think he would bite you that hard again if you weren't upsetting him. So it is more about letting him sleep in a safe, undisturbed area and then chances are you won't need to wake him up to move him and therefore he won't bite. Particularly, if he is not biting you at other times, i.e. you let him wake up on his own terms and doesn't bite, then you know that waking him up and moving him will cause him to bite you, hard. So lessen the chances of this happening.

If you do need to wake him up when he is sleeping, just go very slowly in future and that should lessen the chance of getting bit too.

Yes, I have had a hard bite on my ear!!!! I had been making some nut balls and rubbed my ear with my hands, my hamster sniffed it out and thought it was food, she bit down and there was blood everywhere. (I was laying on the floor, so she had easy access to my ear) Never happened again.

[jsp]

Yes I see what you mean. I can see that waking him up was an error and led to the biting. I will make sure not to wake him again.

It's very scary to realise that the consequences of not knowing can be so severe. I had no idea that hamsters could bite that hard. I'm glad to hear it's not just me.

[jsp]

Can I ask if there is any value in neutering male hamsters like this if they are generally quite aggressive? I can only hold the hamster for 20 seconds without him biting me even when he is in a good mood and that's after 4 months of very careful taming and giving treats and nice things.

I worry, because my previous hamsters never bit me at all.

[LunaTheHamster1]

What species of hamster is he? I would say he obviously doesn't want to be held then Why don;t you start to pick him up in a jug/mug or tunnel etc and see what happens then. I do wonder if that whole pipe and playpen thing is unsettling him. Maybe he doesn't really feel secure in it. I would move him into just the cage part, with a proper darkened house to sleep in and see if he settles down a bit.

[jsp]

Thanks for keeping chatting.

He's a Syrian. I think you're right, he really doesn't want to be held, ever, but he really likes the playpen. The last few days I just kept him in the cage and he started knawing the bars. Then I allowed him into the pen and he is very eager to jump out and go for a walk. He even broke out through the tea towel that I use to secure the top of the pipe.

I worry because he clearly wants exercise but I can't let him out for exercise because of the biting and also because when he scent marks the smell is really terrible, which was not the case with my previous hamster.

I get the strong feeling that he is like one of those guys who likes his own company and doesn't like to have people on his territory. He spends a lot of time scent marking his cage, which he does by running his flank along the walls. When he urinates the smell is quite like a fox, which also makes me think that he is really territorial.

My previous hamster was totally different. She was very sociable, and love to take treats from my hand, and very gentle when held, and smelt nice. She was much less physically butch too and quite a dinky feminine form, whereas my current hamster is big. When he was angry the other night he arched his back and all his muscles stood out all over his body. I thought he had just not woken up yet, but now I wonder if he was giving me the body language that says "right now I will fight anything and win".

Thanks so much for chatting about it. He honestly gave me the fright of my life, and I just don't know where to start now as my confidence with him is all gone.

[jsp]

I suppose if he doesn't like the open playpen then having an enclose nest at the bottom of the pipe might suit him better. It wouldn't get him a walk, but it might get him a half nice life if I am not going to be able to handle him or let him out.

[LunaTheHamster1]

A tea towel isn't really the best thing to secure anything around a hamster.

Did you have your previous hamsters in this setup?

I think maybe focus on the cage and as I said previously get rid of the pipe and the playpen.

I can see your cage is on 3 levels and whilst that is not what is really recommended for hamsters as it is the floor space on one level that is more important, not height, there are maybe a few things you could do that makes the cage feel more secure for the hamster. for example, in the bottom level you could maybe attach cardboard, hemp mat or grass mats to the side and get more bedding in, so your hamster has a really deep section to burrow in.

Male hamsters do not normally smell as much as females when it comes to urine and scent marking. Do you think it is possible that your hamster has a uti? could that be causing him to bite you when you pick him up? or how often are you cleaning his cage and the things in it, that can make them scent mark more. Have you discussed the strong urine smell on the forum before? or am i muddling you up with someone else?