I think my hamster hates me

[ilovetofi]

HELLO

so around 3 weeks ago i got a winter white dwarf hamster.
I visited her a couple days before i got her and totally fell in love.
before i got her, she lived with her sister in a pretty decent sized tank- not sure how big tho.
She was around 9 weeks old and quite tiny, but i knew that she was the one for me.


Now, i have started to create a bond with my little friend, (her name is tofi, by the way) but im still quite unsure.
Tofi will definitely eat from my hands, will sniff around them and doesnt mind if i pet her, but every time she sees a finger in her cage, she will start sniffing like crazy to check if i have food. If i dont, she’ll bite the heck out of my fingers. Its gotten to the point where my ring finger even drew blood when i simply wanted to let her get used to my smell a little more. I am now a little scared when she follows my hands around looking for treat while i try to spot- clean her cage.. I know that she has no bad intentions, in no way has she ever gotten agressive with me or bitten me out of fear- at least i really don’t think so!


I was worried that i might not be feeding her enough, even if her food bowl is always packed and never empty. pretty sure she is a picky eater too.
Tofi likes to exercise and gets hyper when i interact with her (which is probably a ]good thing?) But i am still very jealous when i see other people having such good relationships with their Hamsters and also when they talk about never having been bitten by their little furry friend. I am a first time Hamster owner, and im not that young and definitely did my research before getting Tofi. I love her so so much and shes really the cutest Hamster you’d ever see, but sometimes i just think to myself, maybe Tofi just really cant stand me ..

I am also not able to pick up Tofi in any way because she will just go to the tip of my fingers and look for food- and if she doesn’t find any, shell just bite me again! This has also stopped me from letting her free roam in a room i have set up just for her. I do wash my hands every time before i play with her or even clean her cage, but its really not making much difference for me.

PLEASE HELP ME OUT!!

[PurpleKat]

She might see your fingers as food as it appears with food normally.
If she's ok with palms and doesn't seem angry, I'd keep playing and be wary if it's just fingers.
Maybe place her in a playpen or somewhere safe while you spot clean.
How do you pick her up? I'd try to scoop the butt with your palms and keep fingers together. She's still young so might just be curious and will learn not to.

Also to discourage picky eating don't top up her bowl till she's eaten it all, needs to eat the whole mix for all the nutrients. If they have constant food they can become picky and only eat the high fat but tastier bits.

[CharlieHamHam]

To be honest, this is the same problem I have. I think that they are just curious but the biting, for us anyway, is quite terrifying. I haven’t quite figured out what to do about it either. It is great that you can pick up Tofi! I can’t even pick up my hammy! Something to try that may help with the biting (the pain anyway) is to wear cotton mittens or something similar to this. I honestly wish I had a good answer for you. I know what you are going through.

Good luck with Tofi!

[PuppyMintMocha]

If you don't already, try washing your hands with unscented soap and don't touch any food before handling to make sure they don't smell like anything she might think could be tasty.
When giving her treats, try setting them down in front of her rather than handing it to her directly with your fingers, so that she doesn't associate your fingers with food quite as much.
I would keep handling her so that she continues to familiarize herself with your fingers and learn that they're nothing fun to chew on.
If it gets too bad, I think that there is some sort of spray that you can put on your hands that tastes very bad and would discourage hammies from wanting to taste you anymore. I've never had a need to use it though so I don't know what it's called or anything else about it, so I would make sure to research it before going that route to make sure it's safe and everything.

Most of my hamsters have all started out trying to chew my fingers, but all eventually stopped. Some stopped quickly, some kept trying for ages before they eventually decided my fingers weren't all that interesting anymore. That being said, I've never had any that were SUPER bad about it, so I don't know for sure if those methods will work for hamsters that are very determined to bite.

Good luck with her!

[Shannonmcn]

Okay well first off a hamster genuinely isn't capable of hate. So get that out of your head. She might not like a hand in her cage, which is fine. She might be frustrated she isn't getting the treat she's expecting which is also fine.

I think the best idea is to handle her mostly outside the cage and without treats for a while. If she nibbles move your hand away and just keep doing that, she'll get the picture. But be aware that a lot of hams aren't going to be cuddly, they aren't going to be interested in your hands unless they get something out of it and that is also 100% fine! They're all different. The cuddly ones are the rarity from my experience.

None of mine see me as anything but a food dispenser or a climbing frame but they're not scared of me. They trust me enough to be picked up the odd time and that's enough. From a tiny prey animals who's only been domesticated for 50-60 years we are expecting a lot of them.

[DobbyTheSyrian]

Originally Posted by ilovetofi

HELLO

so around 3 weeks ago i got a winter white dwarf hamster.
I visited her a couple days before i got her and totally fell in love.
before i got her, she lived with her sister in a pretty decent sized tank- not sure how big tho.
She was around 9 weeks old and quite tiny, but i knew that she was the one for me.


Now, i have started to create a bond with my little friend, (her name is tofi, by the way) but im still quite unsure.
Tofi will definitely eat from my hands, will sniff around them and doesnt mind if i pet her, but every time she sees a finger in her cage, she will start sniffing like crazy to check if i have food. If i dont, she’ll bite the heck out of my fingers. Its gotten to the point where my ring finger even drew blood when i simply wanted to let her get used to my smell a little more. I am now a little scared when she follows my hands around looking for treat while i try to spot- clean her cage.. I know that she has no bad intentions, in no way has she ever gotten agressive with me or bitten me out of fear- at least i really don’t think so!


I was worried that i might not be feeding her enough, even if her food bowl is always packed and never empty. pretty sure she is a picky eater too.
Tofi likes to exercise and gets hyper when i interact with her (which is probably a ]good thing?) But i am still very jealous when i see other people having such good relationships with their Hamsters and also when they talk about never having been bitten by their little furry friend. I am a first time Hamster owner, and im not that young and definitely did my research before getting Tofi. I love her so so much and shes really the cutest Hamster you’d ever see, but sometimes i just think to myself, maybe Tofi just really cant stand me ..

I am also not able to pick up Tofi in any way because she will just go to the tip of my fingers and look for food- and if she doesn’t find any, shell just bite me again! This has also stopped me from letting her free roam in a room i have set up just for her. I do wash my hands every time before i play with her or even clean her cage, but its really not making much difference for me.

PLEASE HELP ME OUT!!

Hi! Im a new hamster owner too. My hammy bit me alot the first 4-5 days he stopped now but he seems to have 0 interest in me. Initially he stood near the gate of his cage and i assumed he was waiting for me but he just wanted to get out for playtime. Its been 2 months now. Its a little hard because sometimes the love is one sided. But eventually they calm down and they def recognise u.
One thing id suggest is putting the treats/food inside his bowl or whatevrr dont hand feed him rn as he may be biting u cz he smells food. Let him associate ur hand with bringing food, not being food
Hope i haven't rambled and that this will help u

[PuppyMintMocha]

Originally Posted by Shannonmcn

Okay well first off a hamster genuinely isn't capable of hate. So get that out of your head. She might not like a hand in her cage, which is fine. She might be frustrated she isn't getting the treat she's expecting which is also fine.

I think the best idea is to handle her mostly outside the cage and without treats for a while. If she nibbles move your hand away and just keep doing that, she'll get the picture. But be aware that a lot of hams aren't going to be cuddly, they aren't going to be interested in your hands unless they get something out of it and that is also 100% fine! They're all different. The cuddly ones are the rarity from my experience.

None of mine see me as anything but a food dispenser or a climbing frame but they're not scared of me. They trust me enough to be picked up the odd time and that's enough. From a tiny prey animals who's only been domesticated for 50-60 years we are expecting a lot of them.

Yes, this too! If she never stops biting you, you may just have to accept who she is and love her anyway. Out of the 6+ hamsters I've cared for, there was only one that I would say seemed to really LOVE to be held and pet, the others either disliked it or just didn't mind it.

[astrid]

Hi Lots of great advice here. I just wanted to add the 3 weeks (or even a couple of months) isn't that long.

When I first got my Syrian hamster Pippin, I also felt like he didn't like me at all. Each hamster is different, and it can take quite a while to bond with them. Now, Pippin is quite affectionate but it took months to get this point. He still doesn't enjoy being held though, and that's OK. But he is no longer afraid of me and usually seems quite excited to see me. Treats helped He also climbs on his tunnel and looks at me calmly, when he wants to come out for a little roam. If I take too long to notice it, or take my time setting up his playpen, he will climb into his hammock and start chewing the roof of his cage Nowadays, he'll step onto my hands quite readily to be transported to his playpen and back, and will also happily climb all over me, while trying to escape the playpen. But initially, he avoided me and especially my hands. It takes time, persistence and patience but, I believe, it is possible to bond with most hamsters to some extent. Let your hamster set the pace.

Meanwhile, if you're not letting her out because of her biting, you can use a mug, tube or some sort of scooper as a 'hamster taxi' and transfer her from the cage and back this way. They tend to climb in willingly.

Also, both of my hamsters took a while to separate fingers from food/treats (although I was lucky that they would just nibble rather than biting). If they began nibbling my finger, I would slowly (so that not to startle them) wiggle it and say 'ouch' or 'no' calmly, and they would understand. And in some time, they have learnt the difference. Now, they never nibble my fingers anymore and are always very gentle, when collecting the treats.