I'm scared of my hamster!

[Sams Mum]

Hi everyone,

Taming my hamster is taking a little while as I'm scared of him! No real reason to be, as he is only 3" long (a dwarf) and hasn't shown any signs of aggression, but I'm scared of a hamster bite as I know they can be nasty.

I'm already hand-feeding him a couple of mealworms a day and/or the odd half or third of a raisin. I think he knows my voice now. He's a greedy little man - as soon as he's up, the first thing he does is look for food from me!

He comes out every other day or so for a run around outside his cage in my hallway and when he's out, I can stroke him with no problem. He just ignores me. On the odd occassion when he does turn around, I immediately stop stroking him in case he bites me!

I want to graduate to the stroking to starting to pick him up, but this really scares me in case he bites! At the moment, I pick him up by holding out a tall drinking glass for him to climb into, then when he's in it I tip it up so he can't get out. This works well.

He knows the smell of my fingers, as when he's out and about I will hold out my hands and he will lick me and have the odd very gentle nibble, but no bites yet!

How can I take the taming to the next step?

Many thanks,

Sam's Mum

[suga]

Hi Sams mum - i can confess that I too get scared of a new hamster. Lilbear when i got her terrified me and it took me weeks to pick her up without thick gloves . I get her out into a snuggle basket and stroke her in that when she's munching on a treat. i do handle her with my naked hands but it took a while. I've been licked and nibbled but nothing more. Keep your hands clean and just try picking up and putting down. don't try and do to much straight away take your time and keep talking so that hammy continues to be use to you.
I used a big tub to pick lilbear up and put her down in - and just kept doing it until I got more confident that she wouldn't bite.

[Rudy]

Hiya Sams mum

I have only had one dwarf and he was a crazy guy, lol. bless your heart hun, honestly most bites, if you ever get one, aren't terrible. i've had a few bites over the years, nothing serious tho although i have heard of people getting bitten badly. my brother had a bad bite when we were younger and it was a gerbil who bit him but it had a huge fright so no wonder it bit him.

you could sit with your hand in the cage, no treats and your hands clean with no smell of food, i think most bites occur through fright or through the smell of food on hands. i am sure if you keep up with what you are doing you will gain confidence handling him and once you have more confidence you will be able to move onto the next step. just go slowly and with time you'll be fine. sit with your hand in the cage, try and lift your hand slightly so he gets used to the movement and also you get used to him being on your hand. you sound as neverous as he will be.
he might even be ready to be handled but is wary of you as you pull away from him, animals can sense more than you know and he may sense your fear and be worried.

take care and relax.

lorna
xx

[n3ver3nder]

Hey there Sam's mum, I don't have any advise to give you regarding taming your hamster, I'm new to this too! All I can say is take on board what the others have said as it is likely to be sound advise.

What I can help you with however, is to put your mind at rest regarding the bite. I was bit by my hamster the other day, and it drew blood. I'm not going to lie, it did hurt, but the bleeding stopped quickly and with that the pain. Hamsters have small sharp teeth, and the closest thing I can compare it to is having an injection. Sure, it hurts while it's happening, but the shock is the worst bit and after that it's fine. It shouldn't trouble you afterwards, unless your skin gets ripped instead of a clean incision. I got bit on the finger tip, but was able to play guitar about 10 mins after it happened.

So, you've probably had worse pain in your life! Just take it easy and I'm sure you'll get there