Constant biting- new hamster.

thesmallone · 01-01-2013, 07:24 PM

Hello all,

This is my first post, on the forum, so I'm brand new!
I bought a young (4wks at the time) syrian female- which I now realise was probably a little tooooo young- from a pet shop.
I've had hamsters before- when I was around 12-14 (I'm now 24), but I think we must have been given ready tames hamsters from the pet shop- as I don't recall having to tame at all.

I've had her about a week and a half so far, and she has made some progress with taming- as she was not tame at all, and would jump give herself a real scare if she saw my hand moving close by- so I was not surprised when she constantly bit me when my hand was close to her.
I left her for about three days to settle, in which time she was running around the cage quite happy. So I then put my hand in just for her to get used to movement etc, and let her come to me for a sniff whilst staying still, and would receive a bite- multiple times!!

She now doesn't jump when my hand is in the cage, and runs out to see me, and sniff and bite- oddly enough!
As she seems quite happy normally, and doesn't appear at all scared of me, I'm wondering why she is biting??

I daren't pick her up as she is fast, and is constantly biting me- so doesn't seem comfortable enough for me to be able to touch her/pick her up.

The biting doesn't seem to be aggressive- she doesn't bite hard, but I wouldn't say it was a nip- sort of in-between.
As she is doing it constantly, and surely she has worked out I'm not food by now (I wash my hands with either just water or unscented soap, and don't handle food close to handling time)-- is this territorial?

My questions are-

1) Will she stop biting fairly soon?
2) Does she just sound like a bad tempered hamster, and is unlikely to stop?
3) Does she sound territorial- and how do I handle this situation?

(I'm going to try the bath method, and transfer her with a ball- which she seems to like)

Also, I realise I haven't had her long- I'm just really a bit worried I've got a bad tempered little hamster as she doesn't seem to stop biting!!!).

THANKS!!

HorseyMandz · 01-02-2013, 03:21 AM

1) Hopefully, I think she is just quite nervous and unsure...
2) I think she is just young, slightly afraid and a bit curious. Try saying 'no' firmly after every time she bites you and leave your hand there so she knows it's not a way to make you go away

3) She may be a bit territorial but most likely she's just a bit afraid. You could try stuffing a small bit of tissue down your bra or in your socks and putting it in her cage after about an hour of wearing it so she can get used to your scent.

Some hamsters are a bit more bitey than others, and although Minnie only bit a few times, she took quite a long time (a few months) to be tame enough for cuddles, but now she's incredibly tame. As a general rule, females are less 'fall asleep on your lap' hamsters and more 'EXPLORE!!!' hamsters (though there are obviously a lot of exceptions).

thesmallone · 01-02-2013, 06:16 AM

It's very strange as she races out to see me, and comes straight over, sniffs and bites, it is almost as if she thinks my hand is food- and gives a bite which feels the same strength she does when she takes food- and it appears very deliberate and decided- not out of fright, but it doesn't seem aggressive enough to be bad temper/territory.
This is what puzzles me so much!!!

I think maybe you're right, it's probably a combination of curiosity and nervousness, and simply being young.

It's sort of weird rediscovering hamsters now I'm not 13 or so- I had no idea at all they were behaviourally so complicated!!

I had a very (haha) used sock put in her cage for the first week, so I'll have to put something back in.
Would you recommend putting a newly scented item as you suggested in after handling?- or say, a sock to stay in until the next cage cleaning, and repeating?

Was Minnie doing this type of lighter biting?- not the 'draw blood' type?- and just started to stop as she got older/more used to you?

And I also hadn't realised they were so responsive to voice- I'll try saying 'No' too- Should I say 'No' when she bites any part of me (I noticed her bite and pull my jumper sleeve when I made her walk over my arm to get out of her ball)- or will this overwhelm her, and just stick to 'No' on the hands mainly?

Thanks for your help- really appreciated!

(Ps she is most definitely EXPLORE!! hahaha... Oh God....)