Russian dwarf biting

[thorhamsterson]

:confused:

I recently got two Russian dwarf brothers, and named them Loki and Bucky (I'm a huge fan of Marvel). Bucky is surprisingly calm and loves to be handled already, despite that I only got them 3 days ago. But Loki bites really hard.

I just want to know what I can do in the future when he's properly settled in, taming wise.

Thanks:D

[velma]

From what I remember (it's a really long time since I had Russians) they can have really diverse personalities & some are super loving while others can be grumpy as you like :mad: so they don't all respond to be handled in the same way. 3 days is still really early days though so you really need to give Loki time to settle in & build up his trust slowly. There are lots of good taming threads on here to help you & hopefully some of the members with dwarves can give you a bit more specific advice :)

[Thin Lizzy]

3 days is very early! Some hamsters take longer than others to settle in and adjust.
I'd give him a few days.

[cypher]

Congrats on your 2 new fluffs!
As the others have said it is still very early to be taming a ham so do give little Loki some time to settle, just talk to him a lot whenenver you're near his cage so he gets used to you being around, he may be territorial, some dwarfs really like to protect their territory! You could use the tissue trick if you haven't already (put a tissue up your sleeve so it gets your scent on it then put it in the cage & repeat every day for a while) that helps them adjust to your scent being in the cage.
Always try to show him your hand from in front rather than above, if he still bites just give him the back of your hand where he can't bite for a little while before you try fingers again!
He may be less inclined to bite out of the cage so when he's settled a bit try getting him out with a ball, cup or box & see how he is outside his territory.
Hope that helps a bit.

[Thin Lizzy]

Love the names Loki & Bucky!
Cypher had said it all regarding taming!