Feeling down :(

bonkers4hamsters · 11-05-2012, 02:41 AM

As some of you may know, in September I got my georgous girl Bella. She is a pure pearl ww. When I got here she was tame, but in the last month she has started nipping, even when I have clean hands and I have tried blowing on her nose and saying no but she just ignores it. There have been some times recently when she hasnt bitten or only nipped a couple of times. It doesnt hurt but it shocks me and means that no one else in my family will hold her.
She also needs her nails trimming. I noticed she was up this morning so I had ago but she bit me quite hard (harder than she has done before) and she was so speedy and wriggly I couldnt even do a single one.
This means I am going to have to take her to the vets to have them done, which I am going to have to pay for (I am hoping they will do them) as I bought her not my parents.

Sorry guys, just wanted to get that off my chest.

purple_x · 11-05-2012, 04:29 AM

Is she definitely a pure WW?
I only ask because I got a little hybrid (I was told he was possibly a WW but we doubted it) and he started getting VERY irritable and started biting me and lunging for me every time I put my hand in his cage, before this he had been the sweetest little hamster ever.
Turned out he had diabetes and being irritable is a sign of that.

Do you have stones/terracotta tiles or plant pots?
If you put some of them in the cage, when Bella walks around on them it will keep her nails trim.

bonkers4hamsters · 11-05-2012, 04:40 AM

She is, shes a breeder ham.
She has a sand bath and I am going to put some stones in, although I have heard they should be sterilized and I am not sure how you do that.
Thanks!

essentiallysue · 11-05-2012, 05:15 AM

I hold my biters with a garden glove while I trim nails or teeth with my other hand. It takes a while, but with lots of patience it gets done. (this is for my dwarfs)
With my Syrians, I have to lay them on their back on my lap to do it. I wrap them in a small towel so they don't wriggle.
I use baby nail clippers or scissors, whichever seems the easiest.

bonkers4hamsters · 11-05-2012, 05:46 AM

We are gonna take her to the vets, I used to do my piggies nails but I have never done a hammie and i dont want to hurt her or stress her out too much. At least then I can see how they do it