[Pebbles82]

I'm sorry to hear that too. Don't take it personally (hard I know). It is probably fear mainly and yes he felt invaded.

How long was he in the cage before you did the first spot clean? They need at least two weeks settling in time before they stop being skitty, but it sounds like he had that looking at the timescale.

So taming can very much be two step forwards two steps back! It's time and patience. Hamsters get more relaxed about things as they mature as well.

My suggestion would be to persist in what you're doing but wear gloves so you don't feel nervous about being bitten. So the hamster gets used to the idea that all you're doing is putting food out again. Meanwhile avoid cleaning anything for some time. It'll be fine - I left our robo a few months before spot cleaning his pee (because I couldn't find it lol and no smell coming from the cage).

So maybe start again with the two week settling in period and no handling attempts, just put food and water out and talk to him through the bars, so he starts to feel safe in your presence and familiar with your voice and sent.

They can also behave completely differently when out of the cage and taming can go much better then - because they're not territorial out of the cage. Most hamsters really don't like a hand in the cage or anything being moved or messed with. But they get used to it, if you're fairly respectful.

Our first syrian used to run at me if I put my hand in the cage - but his cage was too small and he was stressed. Our current robo also ran at me - that was early days too. He doesn't do that any more. Tiny little robo made me scream ha ha,

Our current Syrian is the first one to actually bite me properly - taming is going very slow with him. And he does it out of the cage. I've gradually learned that he only does it when he can't see my hand coming. When he's got his head down and trying to dig a hole in the carpet in the corner of the playpen. When I've put my hand there to try to move him along - that's when I get bitten.

I've solved that by adding a flying saucer to his playpen as well as a wheel and he loves the saucer so much he's stopped bothering to try and dig in the corner of the playpen.

It's been nearly four months now and I can now picking him up without him threatening to bite. It's still early days because he is still very tense when picked up and only just tolerates it for a minute or two.

It's time and patience. In our case I think our Syrian had a bad experience with hands when very young - he was still very young when I adopted him.

Your dwarf may have had some very scary experience before you got him. If he's startled it will be fear. Yes he is seeing your hand off. So wear gloves and talk to him nicely. If there's a chance he could run or fall out of the cage when running at you, put cushions on the floor near the cage (and hamsterproof the room if possible).

Maybe take things slowly for the next two or three weeks now. If he does bite you when you've got gloves on, stay calm and just say "no, naughty" in a stern voice (but don't sound angry). They really do respond to tone of voice, just like other pets. So also tell him he's clever and beautiful and sound upbeat.

Our Syrian also drew blood and for a day or so I didn't like him! But then he looked like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. It's predominantly fear and self protection. I giant thing tried to mess up his burrow and chase him! So now he's seeing the thing off. He'll learn!

In two or three weeks you could maybe find a way to get him out of the cage for some taming - it's much better to do it out of the cage. If you have a hamster ball you could see if he'd hop into it by putting that near the cage front (hamster heaven is good for that! Even just inside the cage door). Then pop the lid on and use it to carry him to a safe area where you can let him out for some out of cage time and gradual taming.

The bathtub is popular. With the plug in - make sure it's dry - add a couple of toys maybe and let him run around in there.

I have made very slow hand progress with our Syrian - if I put my hand flat, palm up, like I normally do with taming, he would bite that - and properly bite it. So a tip I learned was to put your hand in (bathtub or wherever) like a fist with only the back of your hand for him to sniff. That works. They get used to the hand and the scent.

I have now got to the stage where he'll eat food from my hand without biting me and have stopped wearing the gloves!