Taming tips - Is this normal...

[adamknox]

Hi,
Well I got my hamster a little over a week ago and hes started coming out more and seems more confident. So i decided it was time to start taming >< well i offerd him a few treats and he accepted them (then looked for more) So gave him the odd one. I am handing them to him by holding the VERY tip of the treat (e.g a nut) so when he takes it i wont feel his little teeth sink into my hands... >< lol Well.. i decided to try it WITH a glove on. putting the treat in the palm of my hand/glove he walked towards my hand grabbed the treat and sunk his teeth as hard as he could into the glove and WOULDNT let go >< ... then he let go and went for my finger tips ><.. So now im scared as i dont fancy having a hammy hanging off my finger tips >< Do you think he wouldnt have done this if i hadnt of had the glove on? or was it the woolyness of the glove that attracted him to it? I am a bit worried as i dont wana scare him if he does bite me and i jerk away >< also after one or 2 treats he went NUTS and started running around the cage with excitment lol So hes deff up for some fun and games.

[Emmurz]

Hmm, it most probably was the glove, if you get him used to your scent he may in time get used to you, why not try sitting in the bath with a towel over your legs and letting him explore you? Taming unfortunately takes a lot of time with some hamsters but in time they will get used to it, handle little but often, 15 minutes every evening and work your way up untill you can spend half an hour with him each evening just having fun playing and cuddling.
Offer him a treat after you put him back in his cage if you had a succesful handling session and he may associate handling with good things such as time out of his cage and treats, this way he will be begging you to take him out of his cage!
Good luck with this if you decide to give it a go and keep us updated on the progress. (:

Just to add also, this is how I started out with my Syrian Chomp and he seems to love being handled, only problem is we cant spend much time together now as he's recovering from wet-tail.
Just keep calm when handling and your little ham will too.
Good luck!

[souffle]

Because you always smell like a treat he may be expecting your fingers to be treats too. It is best never to present a finger to a hamster as it is easy for them to bite it. Clench your hand and let him sniff the back of it. Try using the alcohol hand rub before handling as quite a few people find they do not bite a hand that smells of this. A week is not long so he may have had a bad experience at some point and need time to associate handling with pleasure. Be calm and patience and try and not fell too nervous. Hard I know. It is like riding a bike - once they learn they never look back with taming.

[melanieandlizzie]

I thought I would just add that my hammy kind of 'tests' what's a treat and what's your finger.
You have to be super brave though.
He bites very gently and pulls.
He seems to know the difference between fingers and treats by doing this.

I hope your hammy will do this, but your gonna have to be brave to find out!!!

[shazzy]

Originally Posted by melanieandlizzie

I thought I would just add that my hammy kind of 'tests' what's a treat and what's your finger.
You have to be super brave though.
He bites very gently and pulls.
He seems to know the difference between fingers and treats by doing this.

hehe, my hamster did the same thing the other day - but to my lip! I was pouting at her, trying to kiss her nose, and she ever so gently put her teeth on my bottom lip. She didnt bite down, but she kinda tested to see if my lip was edible or not

[Katty_Sheldon]

My dwarf used to really like biting me, so i tamed him with a glove on both, then one hand. After a month and a half of this, he can be handled without the glove, but still likes to nibble a little bit from time to time. Offering him a finger in a cage means that he will for sure try to bite me, because he thinks that all that is droped in his cage has to be a treat or an intruder... but out of the cage is really sweet except for pooping all around when he gets excited. So it took a month and a half, but it was real fun