Biting??

[HayleyBrooks]

Hey guys, just wondering about my little Honey...
She's 10 weeks old now but she's still trying to bite my fingers at every chance she gets, she's getting better at being handled and stroked but just wants to bite.
She loves tearing up toilet chubes and anything woodern, which is great as she doesn't bite her bars.

Have you guys got any little tricks or any ways to try n stop her from biting me??

Love to all

Hayley xx

[Katty_Sheldon]

I wash my hands with a soap that has no special fragrance (like strawberry, she would eat that...). Also i used gloves for hammie who bit a lot. Some hamsters bite only in cage... good luck!

[louisbs]

Get some simple soap to wash your hands with. If you have just eaten, thoroughly clean your hands, nothing smelly though as honey might like it and go for a chomp. Hammies have not got very good eye sight and mainly use smell & touch to determine what is food and what isnt.
Take your honey to the bath.. just sit in there with her.. dont touch.. let her get used to your smell.
Also offer treats in your palm, she will learn you mean good then
Just dont expect her to come round quickly.
Took me about 4 weeks, Now i can pick up my honey (squirmy little girly tho) and she doesnt bite. All hammies differ so take your time if you need to.
Is she in cage bitey only? or does she do it during play time too?

[Vectis Hamstery]

You're girl's still only a baby, so it may take her a while to settle to handling especially if she wasn't used to it before she came to you. Patience and persistence are keys. Taming and reducing nipping isn't a quick fix as the hamster has to learn to trust you.

If they're territorial in their cages, I use something to transfer them out, e.g. exercise ball, tube. As other posters have said, make sure your hands are clean with no food smells on them. If they're bite/nip when they're being handled I let them know that this is not acceptable (e.g. a firm no). I also make sure they aren't put straight back in their cage, otherwise they learn that biting=going back in cage. Mine stay out until they're well behaved after a nip. Oh, and they also get a lecture about good manners, but I think that's more for my benefit than theirs

Try not to show fear or be nervous when handling, as they seem to pick up on this. Recently I was handling the chinese hamsters I have living in a stack of bin cages. I have a particular female who has become rather moody with age and tends to give a mean nip. I reached in to get out the little young normal boy and picked him up with no problem. We had a lovely snuggle, so imagine my surprise when I looked underneath and saw 'he' was a she! I'd gone into the wrong cage and picked up my evil girl instead, but I'd done it so confidently and calmly she'd not nipped!