My hamster just attacked me for the first time ever

[ShadowNinjaHamster]

Hello,
I've had my hamster since August and we've gotten along very well, for real. He has never ever bitten me before.
Today I wanted to give him a treat as I usually do and he came running at me and just bit my finger so hard that it started bleeding.
He was already awake, so I didn't' wake him up and then he started chewing the cage's bars (which he has never done before, for real).

Yesterday everything was totally fine. We even played in the evening and it let me pet him and I wished him goodnight and everything.

He has never behaved this way before and I honestly didn't know hamster's bites can hurt or even make you bleed.

He's now under the bedding. I saw some movement.

He has chew toys, food and a cage that's over minimum size. I've spent so much money on him he shouldn't complain. He also has a loving owner and I thought he loves me too.

[ShadowNinjaHamster]

Can I try again? Can I put my hand in the cage? What did I do wrong? I don't remember doing anything wrong.

[ShadowNinjaHamster]

Takes mealworms from me, toilet paper and eats from my hand, when I am out he starts attacking and biting me.

[ShadowNinjaHamster]

Should I go to the vet?

[Ria P]

Calm down. I've been bitten many times and you'll get over it. It's not the end of the world. Chances are that your hamster didn't attack you but defended his territory.

Did you do the regular checks like water bottle and wheel working ok in case your hamster tried to tell you something?

Keep in mind that hamsters have poor eyesight and he may have mistaken your hand as an intruder.

I've been bitten by tame hamsters for simply putting my hand in their cage when they didn't want it there, my finger has been mistaken for a dandelion leaf, i picked up a hamster when he couldn't see me approach and a number of other reasons.

Hamsters usually bite when startled, taken by surprise, when in pain or frightened, mistake a human for food etc.

What is so serious that you think he may need a vet? Do you think that he is in pain or ill?

[ShadowNinjaHamster]

Originally Posted by Ria P

Calm down. I've been bitten many times and you'll get over it. It's not the end of the world. Chances are that your hamster didn't attack you but defended his territory.

Did you do the regular checks like water bottle and wheel working ok in case your hamster tried to tell you something?

Keep in mind that hamsters have poor eyesight and he may have mistaken your hand as an intruder.

I've been bitten by tame hamsters for simply putting my hand in their cage when they didn't want it there, my finger has been mistaken for a dandelion leaf, i picked up a hamster when he couldn't see me approach and a number of other reasons.

Hamsters usually bite when startled, taken by surprise, when in pain or frightened, mistake a human for food etc.

What is so serious that you think he may need a vet? Do you think that he is in pain or ill?

But he has never bitten me before. He uses a water bowl and his wheel seems to be fine.
I tested it again by giving him meal worms and toilet paper from my hand. He took everything and then started biting my palm.

I understand that he can mistake me for a food, however, wouldn't he let me go then? He literally can keep his teeth on me for minutes and he also started cage chewing today, which he has never done before and when I am near his cage he literally keeps running at the place where I am at and chewing that part of the cage.

What should I do now? I have always let him know when I am near-by and about to handle him. Is it possible he's mad at me for some reason? Maybe I hurt him somehow while playing yesterday? I don't know. I don't think I've hurt him, because I love him a lot, but his behaviour is very different today. Also, I hope he's fine even if he swallowed my blood, because my finger was literally bleeding.

I don't know. I'll leave him alone and change change water.

[Ria P]

Yes, i know it is quite a shock to get bitten by a hamster unexpectantly. I felt quite sad the first time it happened to me and thought that my hamster didn't like me anymore. Hamsters don't think like that though and follow instincts instead.

I would back off for something like 24hrs and just talk to him or leave him alone altogether. Only make sure he has water and scatter feed through the top bars to give him something to do like foraging.

I have a foster hamster who bar chews soon as he sees me because he connects me with out of cage time.
Maybe yours connects you with treats when he sees you.
Try attaching a big piece of cardboard to the outside of the cage where he chews the bars. It works with my foster hamster. He goes on his wheel then. It's almost like there's no point in bar chewing when he can't see me.

[ShadowNinjaHamster]

Maybe he wants a new wheel? I don't know why that theory, but there's something wrong ��
I haven't made any changes to his cage and I don't know... He has always been super friendly. He doesn't even have bugs anymore.
He has no reason not to like me. I never hurt him and I every evening I've spent time with him playing and being on playpen, designing new tracks, running on my bed and having fun together.
He has never bar chewed before. I was thinking if my hamster even can do that but it turns out he can.

He bar chews only when I am close. He just wants to get rid of me. I don't know. I'm not touching him for now. I tried to talk to him and I told him that we have to get along, because he's all I've got and he has nowhere else to go, so we have to get along somehow, but after that he bit my palm and he literally keeps holding onto my finger, palm and he won't let go.

OMG THE WORLDS MOST AGGRESSIVE HAMSTER - YouTube -> I cant even find a video of how my hamster behaved. I put my hand in his cage, but he didn't react to my hand. I honestly don't know. I don't want to get bitten or bully him anymore, so I'll leave him alone. I just placed a few more toys there.

I feel like an awful hamster owner. And yes, he has a bigger cage than in the video. His cage is bigger than his playpen, but I can't currently afford a bigger playpen.

[Lilafernim]

I wouldn’t particularly worry about it. My previous hamster never bit me once except for one time when waking up so I understand your concern. I know you say he wasn’t sleeping but it could’ve been absolutely anything. It could’ve been a noise or maybe you moved quickly, even if you bought something home and he can smell it. Or if you’ve stroked local cats it could be anything.

No matter what I wouldn’t worry at this stage, as you’ve not said any other behaviour has been off, it could’ve been a one time incident. If it happens again I could understand your concern but as it is now there’s no way to tell if it was just a simple mistake.

[Lilafernim]

Also about the bar biting, again very rarely mine have randomly started bar biting for no reason. I’d let them out for hours and no rest! I think they just sometimes have moody days just like us.