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Old 07-22-2017, 05:46 AM  
kumys
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Default Biting hamster..?

I have two male dwarf hamsters; one named Rumex and another named Oxalis.

Rumex is fairly tame and fairly social. He's still a bit timid, but I think that's just his personality. If I hold out my hands, he'll crawl onto them, nibble them, lick them and so on. Occasionally he'll even greet me at the cage bars and if I make a clicking sound with my tongue, if he's hiding or doing something else, he'll usually investigate and come see me. He never bites unless you very obviously smell of food.

Then, there's Oxalis. Oxalis seems to actually be way more sociable despite his.. problem. He's a lot more adventurous and confident compared to Rumex and whenever I'm anywhere near their cages, he practically demands to come out by climbing the bars, chewing the cage door and so on. Whenever I open the cage door, he climbs right out even if I didn't intend on letting him out because I was giving them food or spot cleaning .etc. He's not afraid of my hands. I can touch him, make rapid movements with them and move them around the cage. He'll even take food from them, but yet, HE BITES. REALLY HARD.

I don't think it's cage aggression because he'll even do it when he's not in his cage. I'll wash my hands really well with unscented soap, try and let him crawl over top of them while going home and while free ranging, but every time I do, he'll bite and sometimes he'll even bite and refuse to let go while doing a bit of a "pulling" motion, if that makes sense, as though he's trying to eat my hand. This has made me very afraid to touch Oxalis outside of petting him (he doesn't go out of his way to bite my hands, it's only if they come in contact with his mouth/nose area), so he usually gets put back into his cage by letting him crawl into a cup or by using gloves.

Is there any way to curb this?
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