Hello! Newbie hamster owner to be!

[Thin Lizzy]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
He looks so tiny!

[ArBell]

Hello again everybody!
Here's a little update on the current situation!
First things first, I was able to get hamham (still haven't found a name for him yet) last Saturday instead of this Monday, so a full 2 days earlier!
Somehow, 'his' fur colour changed, from grey to the normal winter white colour. I'm not sure if the petshop gave me a different hamster, but what was sure was that on the day I went to collect hamham, there were no grey dwarf hamsters to be seen in the tanks. (Can 4 weeks old hamsters change colour?!)
Either way, I love watching this little ball of fluff!

Onto 'his' personality:
Awake time
He is very nocturnal, wakes up at around 2 am and goes to sleep in the early mornings. However, he does wake up fairly often during the late evening/nightfall to drink some water, eat some food, groom himself and sniff the air.

Food
He is a very picky eater and actually refuses to eat most of what his food mix - which was bought from the same petshop - contains. He will only eat it when there is nothing else to eat XD I think that he is a little foodie. He loves flax seeds and sunflower seeds (I've been feeding him around 3-4 miniature sunflower seeds a day, just as treats). He also ate carrots, celery, boiled chicken, brown bread, brown bread soaked in milk. (Actually he wouldn't originally eat the chicken, he totally ignored it when I presented it to him, and so I left it in his food bowl. I woke up to find that the piece of chicken has disappeared and conclude that he ate it overnight). He also had 2 nibbles of banana. (I left 1cm of hard boiled egg white in his food bowl for tonight - hopefully he will eat those as he seemed completely disinterested when I presented it to him, he even walked over it lol) I am worried that he is not getting enough protein in his diet and getting too much fat. I have ordered Burgess Dwarf Hamster Mix from the UK 1.5 weeks ago, so hopefully that arrives soon. Do you think that I have introduced too many different foods into his diet too soon? (The petshop assistant said that they usually gave the hamsters brown bread)

Wheel
Just like the food mix, I ordered a Trixie wheel over 3 weeks ago and I hope that this arrives soon (why do I have to live in the middle of nowhere!), so hamham currently doesn't have a wheel and I am scared he gets bored . I have provided him with plenty of cardboard/toilet paper roll toys but he isn't munching on those. However, he has taken a keen interest on a certain cardboard? box/packaging and has been munching/scratching holes into it!

Sex
I also think that 'he' has gotten noticeably chubbier since I got him, and it might be due to him being only 4.5-5 weeks old and thus growing/that he wasn't fed properly at the petshop/that he lacks exercise/that 'he' is a 'she' in fact and that 'she' is pregnant. I hope that it's anything but the latter! (I have tried to identify it's sex but I cant see anything! It's way too fluffy down there. I lured it into a transparent plastic cup.)

Curiosity
When he first got here, I made sure not to make too much noise so as not to disturb him (he stays in my bedroom in a bin cage). However, after a couple of days, he himself ventured outside of his DIY tissue paper igloo and likes to sniff the air when I'm around or when he hears noise. I conclude that he is a very curious hamham!
edit: He also desperately tries to escape his cage by trying to find a grip to climb up the bin cage - which is pretty much impossible for him at this stage >.< He like, scratches up the bin cage trying to find a grip - its slightly hilarious to listen to and watch but should I be worried?

Hissing and nibbling
However, It seems that I have not lucked out in the hamster 'raffle' as I am owner of a little hisser and nibbler
I get that it is 'normal' behaviour for new hamsters to nibble on your hand, as they are just trying to get your scent, but I have also read that many people have never owned hamsters that nibble. With regards to hissing, he hissed at me every single day so far, and it actually spooks me a little. He does not go on his hind paws, it's like he is just carrying on with whatever he is doing and suddenly there will be a weird noise, not quite sure how to describe it, but I've looked up some videos on youtube about 'Hamster hissing' and it sounds quite the same, just not as loud/dangerous but still spooky. He has done it when I was filling in his food bowl (put food into his food bowl still in the cage), when I have taken out his food bowl and put it back, when I have 're-fluffed' his bedding x2, when my necklace accidentally tapped against the bin cage when I was checking on his water.
Now I am aware that hissing is not a normal behaviour and that hamsters do it when they feel scared, but it scares me in return. As I previously said, I have never owned a hamsters before, however, I did handle one of my friend's hamster, back when I was around 14? It bit me hard and drew blood, and I guess that this incident instilled some sort of trauma in me, as when I hand-feed my little one a sunflower seed a day, he actually comes to take the treat from me, and sometimes he actually ignores the sunflower and goes cautiously for my fingers instead, and he sniffs them thoroughly but sometimes when he gets too close I kind of instinctively pull away and at the beginning this kind of threw him off a bit and he backed away, but then came back to take the seed (with my hand going backwards if I see his nose getting too close to my fingers instead of the treat) I didn't know I was scared of hamster bites until a few days ago. I guess that this will make taming harder?
I will give it my best!

edit: Hamham likes to pee in the same places (2 identified so far) so on the reverse side, I might have gotten an already potty-trained hammy!

Thank you so much for reading all of this!
To reward you, here are some pics of fluffball!
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And here is my question to you, more experienced hamham owners!
Would you please share a paragraph or two on your personal experience with hissing/nibbling hamsters? Whether they be dwarves or syrians, and how & how long it took you to tame them? Just to give me some encouragement, as I am feeling quite inadequate due to my recently-discovered fear...

[Thin Lizzy]

Congratulations on getting hamham home.
He does sound nervous, also you pulling your hand away will make him wary.
Try the tissue trick, stuff some unscented toilet paper up your sleeves and leave for a couple of hours then place in his cage, curiosity will have him sniff it, this gets him familiar with your scent, do this everyday adding to his cage for a week. Also ensure he has plenty of hidey places, this will make him feel more secure. Talk to him as often as you can softly and quietly and whenever he comes near praise him. Make sure you wash any smells from your hands so he's not tempted to nibble. Also give him more time to adjust, try and avoid a full cage clean for at least 3 to 4 weeks, hamsters like to be able to rub themselves all over their home and toys and make it theirs. Do daily spot checks on his toilet areas and use warm water to clean and remove any soiled substrate.

[Hamsterita]

Your ham ham looks adorable.

I can't help you with the hissing, my hamster usually doesn't make any sound. And he is not a model for good temperament either, he doesn't specially enjoy company. I hope someone can tell you more about it.

Changes in fur aren't strange, and if he has winter white blood, it could be something normal, but if he looks as a completely different hamster maybe he is. I don't trust pet stores... When he is more tame you could try to sex him yourself.

Don't worry about the food til the burguess arrives. But if he continues to do that kind of thing, cut a little bit the amount of fresh foods and treats that you give him. I hope your food and your wheel arrives soon.

[cypher]

He really is an adorable little guy

Their colour does change quite a bit as they mature so I'm not surprised you see a difference in him.
I definitely wouldn't give banana or bread, both are unsuitable for a diabetic prone species & really not necessary, it is best not to introduce too many new foods at once or two soon but if he's being picky with his mix & doing ok so far I wouldn't worry too much, he should do much better with the burgess mix when it arrives, he probably won't eat the grass pellets in it but no need to worry about that really.
I'm sure he'll be fine until the wheel arrives, it sounds as though he's finding plenty of ways to amuse himself!
They do grow fast so hopefully that's all it is & not that you have a pregnant girl, fingers crossed!
Hissing at you just shows that he's still very nervous, try not to interfere with his cage any more than you have to, go slowly with interacting & taming, try the tissue trick & just talk to him quietly a lot until he begins to get more used to you & his new environment.
I've had a couple of hybrids who hissed at me or screeched in the beginning but they soon come around with patience & a gentle approach.
Nibbling a bit is very normal for young hams & different to actual bites.
Do try & be brave & not pull away when he sniffs your fingers, if you are nervous try burying your finger tips in the substrate with the treat on your palm so he's less able to nibble or bite. If you pull your hand away you will only scare him & then he might bite for real!

[BorisPasha]

He's really lovely ArBell. He looks very alert and curious in those pics with his little ears up. I'm sure the hissing will stop once he's settled a bit and got used to his new surroundings Keep us posted on how he is getting on

[Drago]

He's very cute! Like cypher said, the coloration on hamsters tends to change quite a bit. It may change a bit when he grows older as well. I love how curious he looks. looking forward to updates

[ArBell]

Thank you Thin Lizzy, yes I've read up on it and will be doing that everyday!

Thank you for your words of encouragement Hamsterita! Just out of curiosity, do you know how long a dwarf hamster can survive without food?

I will try to be braver, thank you for your kind words cypher! >.<

Yes he is absolute adorable! Thank you BorisPasha and Drago, will keep you guys updated!

[Hamsterita]

No, I don't know how much time a hamster can survive without food. And I wouldn't want to check it myself . I know that they can survive one or two days without water, but obviously that isn't healthy. Keep in mind that hamster have a very fast system and they can go downhill very easily (they develop the diseases quite fast)

Give him what you have til burguess arrive, and that should be fine for now.


If you're too worried about bites you can always try to handle him with gardener gloves, but I think is best if he just get used to you (and you to him)

[ArBell]

Hello again! Quick update.
It's been 8 days since I've had hamham, and today I tried feeding him some flax seeds in the palm of my hands.

Background story:
I've been putting scented tissues into his bin every day, and have been hand feeding him sunflower seeds for a few days now.
Sometimes he eats the sunflower seed straightway, other times he gulps the sunflower seed (into his pouch) and sniffs and nibbles on my fingers. (He tries to body hug my finger and nibbles on my nail/tip of my fingers)
I did that today, and he did the latter.
As I lowered my palm of flax seeds into his bin, he courageously launched himself at them and had no issue whatsoever with walking all over my hand. Two sniffs later and he scooped up most of the flax seeds but two, which got stuck in the folds of my hand. He furtively tried to scratch at my hand to get to the remaining seeds LOL
After 2-3 seconds he gave up and decided that it was time to bite my hand!
However, I have come to the conclusion that even if he does bite me, being that he is but 6 weeks old, his bites are unlikely to break my skin and draw blood. So I remained calm and let him bite me a couple times, but then, he seemed like he was having a real go at it and started gripping himself to my hand and biting at it (it seems like he was bite-pulling LOL, he wants a piece of me to bring back to his nest?XD). At one point he was pulling with so much force (with his little paws) and his teeth didn't have enough grip that he actually pushed himself away and rolled away
That was so funny!

Anyway, I think that this hamham isn't actually scared of me, but why does he insist on biting so much
Maybe I shall name him Mr Nibbles.