Unhappy Biter

[SwaggySyrians]

Both Nora and Reuben bite. Nora has always bitten since I got her - bar chewing has rarely occurred but she chews on everything else including fingers. She is generally a pretty happy ham although now that she's over a year old she's become lazier and prefers to stay in her bed.

Reuben has always been an absolute sweetheart - he is a tiny little thing and will happily climb onto your hand or run about the carpet - however since he moved in with me (he was originally in a separate room) he has become a very anxious biter. He was more of a family pet originally than anything but my sister who is much younger and was the sole responsibility basically ended up getting bored with him. He climbed and hung from his cage bars every single evening and has chewed the paint off the bars all the way around the cage, even bending a few. I've tried multiple things to stop this and while the bar chewing has reduced a bit, the climbing continues. He is happy to chew edible toys but touches nothing else and only occupies himself by climbing on his ramp and making unhappy noises all night. In the past couple of weeks I have been unable to handle him as he sees me as some sort of threat. He now bites upon being approached and will nibble on any finger through the bars (he has never done this, that is Nora's personality, not his!)

This lovely and gentle little guy has now become just as bad biting-wise as Nora, and it's quite distressing to see him go downhill. He was fine the first couple of weeks living with me, but there's been a sudden change. For info, he lives in the Barney Cage with a ton of toys, a ramp and an 11'' wheel. He's a Syrian, 11 months old approx.

Any help would be greatly appreciated - thank you!

[cypher]

It's hard to tell what might be going on, if he was fine for the first couple of weeks & is used to you handling him then it seems unlikely that the change is really the problem.
How is he otherwise, is he eating drinking etc ok? Biting can be a sign of illness so I would look for any other signs that he may be unwell.
Have you checked his teeth? All that bar chewing may have done some damage.

[SwaggySyrians]

Originally Posted by cypher

It's hard to tell what might be going on, if he was fine for the first couple of weeks & is used to you handling him then it seems unlikely that the change is really the problem.
How is he otherwise, is he eating drinking etc ok? Biting can be a sign of illness so I would look for any other signs that he may be unwell.
Have you checked his teeth? All that bar chewing may have done some damage.

He's eating and drinking fine as far as I can tell. He has a couple of patches around his neck that look a little thin hair-wise but not bald and the skin looks fine, so I doubt it's anything to worry about.

His teeth don't look 'abnormal' as per say, although his top teeth are very short and at slightly different lengths. One tooth is slightly longer than the other on both his top and bottom teeth, although the difference is minimal. Both sets of teeth have been sharpened down a fair bit and aren't as flat or straight across as Nora's are, despite her being a crazy chewer.

He bit me again deliberately as I tried to check his teeth so that indicates the issue is still there! He's been chewing the bars all evening.

[cypher]

Not really sure what to suggest then, was he alone in the room where he was before, no other animals & do you have your other ham in the same room he's in now?
It's usually fine to keep multiple hams in one room but it could possibly be that which is upsetting him & causing a change in his behaviour.
If it's not a health issue then it's really just a case of trying to figure out what might be making him unhappy.

[SaltyPickles]

The absolute same thing is happening with Ares, my Siberian hamster. He used to be such a sweetie. Anyway, the way I fixed it, I just wore really thick gloves to make him stop biting because the gloves were really awkward to bite. He got the message.