Chinese hamster bites

[Annieanya]

Hiya,

I have a syrian and a rescued chinese (both females, separate houses). The syrian who I have had 3 weeks is coming on leaps and bounds; she is still fairly bad at being handled (as it is relatively new) but she is very happy, confident, unafraid, zero signs of aggression - just gets over exited and over enthusiastic to 'escape' and explore the whole room without the confines of my hands/her ball.

The rescued Chinese is painfully shy. She doesn't even like to come out of her igloo until we are asleep. As a result I have had to remove the igloo to get her to get up on a number of occasions to check on her, remove the wet bedding as she pees in there too etc. I can stroke her in her house, and I had picked her up a couple of time. But to my surprise tonight she was in my hand as I opened her house ready to put her back, she had been quite happy for about 3 minutes, I was cradling her not squeezing her at all, and she suddenly started to repeatedly bite me.

Like a goon I just said 'ow ow ow' and put her back. The net says I should have lightly blown on her. And I probably 'rewarded' her by putting her back.

I am very confused as to what made her bite at all as she had been fine, nothing was hurting her, I had handled her bedding so hopefully smelt like her...

Does anyone have any more tips about preventing a repeat of this biting?

From Anya

[lonelygoldfish]

Hi Anya,

I've had this kind of issue with my two Russians, but not with my Chinese. I think that they are quite territorial. They were when they were housed together and still are now they're apart. I got around the issue by 'cup training' them. I used a specific mug each time, and placed a seed or two in the mug to tempt them in at first, until they associated the mug with being handled (which they now love!), then brought them out of their cage in it. Once they were out and I was handling them, they didn't bite anymore. They were fine just being put back in my hand, but if yours isn't, then maybe use the mug to get her out and then back in again?

This worked with mine, but I'm not sure if your hammies issues are the same, but it might be worth giving it a go! My Chinese started off as being very shy, but I've had him since March, and he's come on a lot with regular handling.

Good luck with your new fluff balls

[cypher]

Rescued or adoption chinese are often painfully shy & take quite a long time to really come out of their shell & gain confidence.
Peeing in the house does make it hard not to disturb them too much (I know mine does it!) but it sounds to me as though your little girl was just feeling a bit nervous & had had enough of being handled at the time, 3 minutes can seem like a long time to a nervous ham! I don't think in this instance you were rewarding her by putting her back I think it's more a case of respecting their timidity & just taking it very very slowly with them.
Maybe don't try to handle her when you spot clean, just lift the house up & let her run around in the cage while you do it, keep talking to her whenever you're near her cage so she gets more & more used to you being around, if you haven't done the tissue trick it's not too late to try that too & just take your time with her, let her begin to come to you & she'll gradually gain in confidence.

[racinghamster]

Hi. The quick succession nipping is a sign she want`s put back down, so handling should be kept to a minimum and on her terms. cypher is right, let her walk about inside the cage/tank while you remove any damp bedding but remember, removing all of it will just encourage her to scent mark it more, so try not to remove all of her bedding/nesting as hamsters don`t like change. Same with cleaning the cage, just remove a few handfuls of shavings or whichever substrate you are using and replace with some fresh. This is a better way to keep areas clean without fully removing everything and causing any stress.

I wouldn`t blow on her either. Putting her down and accepting she`s given you a message using her body language is enough to realise she`s unhappy or feeling unsafe. That`s all this is. It`s not personal! They don`t think like a dog so she won`t associate being placed down with reward or the fact that she`s won the argument. It`s merely down to her feeling frustrated.

Chinese hamsters are quite intelligent and mouse-like and usually become great little cheeky characters, but some do prefer their own company and if she is one of those, it`s a matter of allowing her space and little interaction/disturbance. x

[Annieanya]

Hi!

Thanks very much for you posts!

What is the tissue trick please?

I will try to mug thing.

I do spot clean, and leave 90% of her bedding (just take out the wet bits) but I will remember not to take her out of her house when I do this! Good plan!
I have also now chock filled he house with boxes and I can hear even as I type she is being a lot more active inside the boxes, gnawing and scuffling about.

Great suggestions! From Anya

[cypher]

The tissue trick is simply putting a tissue up your sleeve to get your scent on it then putting it in the cage so she gets used to your scent being a normal part of her environment & not a threat. I do this daily for a while when I get a new ham.
Sounds like she's happier with the little boxes in there now!
I think you're doing fine with the spot cleaning, unfortunately some Chinese just do like to pee in the house (& the wheel) & leaving some damp bedding behind doesn't discourage them like it might with other hams so just continue to take out anything peed on & clean anything else only when really needed.

[Hamsterz4Life]

Hi,

Firstly can I just say its great to hear you have rescued instead of bought and I applaud your efforts in trying to bring your chinesey out of her shell. At the same time, i do understand how your feeling. I also rescued 2 male Chinese(seperately) a month or so back - Bruce and Hugo. They were very shy at first, a nightmare to get out the cage and rather bitey once in my hand. They were like no other hamster before and I knew I would have to adopt a different taming approach than I've ever had before.

The method that worked for me was gradually gaining trust. As soon as I put my hand in the cage they would run away but Id use the previously suggested mug method but not to actually handle at first, just to get them out of the cage in a smaller space.
I wouldn't give them any treats in the cage as I wanted my hand to be associated with trust and safety, so gaining the trust via food was a good place to start for me. Whilst they were in the mug, I would offer treats with my hand, it took a while and several attempts but gradually they began to start taking it from me and become more confident time by time. So then I progressed to trying to touch them in the cage with the same hand that fed them and it took a lot of time and persistence but for me it worked very well.

At the moment I am at the stage where I can hold them comfortably albeit they are a little reluctant to come out of the cage but once they are out they are ok.

Now, I'm sure many people will disagree and to be honest I would never have thought this before and when I first saw the idea I labelled it as lunacy but I did use the blowing method and boy it worked.
I liked the blowing method to lightly blow on them(not causing any pain or anything. Just enough to stop them doing it so they know biting is bad) when they bit me, just enough to know they shouldn't do it. For me this worked brilliantly as I was able to stop them biting quickly and not flinch or jump and at the same time so I was able to "keep my cool" if you like when they did bite me.

I wish you the best of luck and people have suggested some great advice. I just thought it would be good to share my experience of a similar situation, in which I had success, with you.

[Vectis Hamstery]

I've found Chinese hams unfamiliar with handling or young ones can nip, almost to test you out. I usually say a firm 'no' and keep handling until they are calm for a moment and then let them down. I don't like to blow on them, especially if they are already nervous. I do find that Chineseys often settle if held for a moment in a cupped hand with the other held over the top to form a little dark cosy cave.


Good luck - time, patience and short handling sessions will pay off