Help with mean little hamster!

[BiteyMcBite]

We got a two month old hamster three weeks ago and did lots of research beforehand, and we have done everything we’re supposed to do - large cage (100cm x 60cm), deep litter layer, lots of hidey-holes, toys, tubes, large wheel etc. We gave him three or four quiet days to settle in and then gradually started allowing a little household noise around him. We put items with our scent into the cage so he’d get used to our smells. Then we started putting our hands in slowly and not from above in case we scared him. Then we started putting treats in our hands and letting him approach to take them from us.

However, even with going so slowly and carefully, he’s still a bitey little sod and regularly bites down hard for seemingly no reason. For example, he’ll take the treat, but before I have a chance to slowly withdraw my hand, he’ll turn back and quickly bite a fingertip (and it’s painful - a deep bite that causes a lot of bleeding and a bruise). Are some hamsters just like this? Should we resign ourselves to never being able to handle him? I would have thought that, three weeks in, he would be a little bit more relaxed :-(

Oh and he’s a Syrian hamster, if that makes any difference.

Maybe he's sleepy and wants you to buggar off? Aren't they nocturnal?

Unfortunately some hamsters are just like this.
You can get lovely quiet ones but you can also get some feisty ones. It sounds like you are doing everything right. I would avoid giving treats by hand, just drop them next to him for now.
They aren’t great pets for kids as they are nocturnal and can get annoyed if woken in the day (not saying you are waking him in the day, just a general pointer)

I'm very sorry but in my opinion after having a caring DD who was hamster mad (we've had about 6 and she's even had them as an adult), was gentle with all animals, put real time and effort into all of them and is now a vet nurse, if they come bitey they probably will always be bitey.

They are mostly nocturnal, @Whereismyfleeceblanket- we only ever interact with him early morning and evening when he’s already awake and bouncing around the cage. We’d never wake him.

From what you’ve all said, it sounds like we just have a bitey one

It can take a while have you got a little carry case? Bath? No health concerns? Vets will treat hamsters and if caught early things like wet tail can be recovered from. I'd go slowly with taming if you think he is getting stressed the last thing you want is for him to get unwell.

I'd start learning his little routine of when he wants to wake up and play. Pop the carry case in maybe with a treat and take him to the bath to let him explore pop a few things in to he feels safe can't get out but can hide a little. Big garden gloves on to handle if you're worried about the biting. Just taking it very very slowly. Not for very long especially if looking stressed.
It took a good 6 months with one grumpy hamster and then others a few weeks.

In future if you want to keep them as pets you can rehome hamsters and they often come already little friendly fluffballs. There is a lovely group on Facebook for rehousing hamsters.

Things like millet sprays are good forage for them. I find if you enrich their life as much as possible you've got more chance of them relaxing. They are wonderful pets when they are friendly.

I think hamsters have poor eyesight but they aren't the best pet. Why do they recommend one hamster in a cage? They'll fight another hamster to the death and they don't have any problems with killing and eating their babies either.

IMO&E rats are the best small pet. Social, can be trained to do tricks, come to their name, like snuggling other rats and humans, clean (if you touch one it will clean itself straight away), although love sleeping will be active at any time of the day.

Hamsters, just like people, and any other animal, have their own personalities and that's kind of that.

It's why reputable dog/cat/horse ect breeders try to breed in friendly, gentle genes along with health and looks.

With Hammies and little pts there's none of that really, you do what you can to make them happy, as you are doing, but essentially you get what you get.

One of my older DDs has had 'little' pets for years. Latterly those little russian hamsters. All treated the same. Spoiled rotten! Some friendly some not.

Guinea pigs make fab pets IMO but are a lot of work if you want to give them a good life. Big runs, access to grass, indoors in winter ect.

Some are just biters.
We've had loads over the years since I was a child and have had very mild mannered ones who are happy to be handled and a few who will take a chunk out of you at any opportunity. If we needed to handle those for cleaning etc we would use heavy gloves. Other than that, we would keep the handling of the biters to a minimum and enjoy them from more of a distance.

I had a bitey one once. The vet had to use welding gloves to handle her when she went in for a surgery to have a lump removed.
But she was the most amazing girl. We used to transfer her into a homemade run using a little box and then we would just watch her running and playing. She had such character!
She lived to 2 and a half and was so much fun. I’d say embrace your hamsters quirks and accept that handling him might not be as you’d hoped, but you can still have lots of fun making him a run and things to play with.

We did get to the point that we could stroke her and feed her treats and even let her run over our hands in the cage, but we didn’t really pick her up without the assistance of a little box.

I've had 2 hamsters and both were bitey, despite doing everything possible to calm them. We decided we would get guinea pigs after and they were lovely. I wouldn't get a hamster again.

My kids started with a hamster but it was an aggressive bugger and nobody could really handle it. We then moved to rats, which, in my opinion are FAR better pets for children. They're bigger so easier to handle, not nocturnal, easily socialised and more intelligent. We continued with rats until the kids left home.

I'm not sure that hamsters are ever really good pets, especially for children. Unless you're a vampire, in which case they are perfect (up all night, mad for blood etc).

Hamsters usually bite because they're scared. Some take longer to settle than others, he's very small and you are very big and scary, and he's still just a baby

When I've had bitey small pets I've just worn a glove or sock at first, they've all stopped biting. Go back a stage. If he's biting with treats go back to holding your hand im his cage. Make sure he sees you scattering his food. Talk to him lots

Eventually hold the treat between your two fingers so you can move away quickly

OP, yes it does make a difference that he’s a Syrian hamster - they’re much more “bitey” than golden hamsters. Next time, get a golden hamster - they’re much more docile and handleable.

We had 2 hamsters. One was lovely and would let you handle him. The other was pretty vicious. Guess which one lived the longest!

''Enjoying from a distance'' has made me smile 🤣

Yes it's galling when you pick ONE pet for your child and they turn out to be a grumpy bugger - but chin up, carry on, and give the animal it's best life is the right thing to do and a really lovely life lesson to teach your children.

That not every thing always exists for them and their pleasure, and that an animal deserves your best care, life long, and to enjoy it the way it is.

And next time buy a couple of guinea pigs instead

3 weeks is still very early days - keep going with getting him used to you, but pull back on the hand feeding. I've had multiple hamsters over the years, and took it very slowly with the biters - they usually do come round in time. I've worn gloves in the past with the ones that like a nibble, and that's helped. Start off with bigger treats through the cage bars like carrot sticks, then gradually work up to the smaller treats from your hands - but this can take weeks. I love hamsters, but there's a knack to raising the wee monsters.

Can I tell you about one of my dds favourite hamsters please.
As a vet nurse she sees many an unusual case.
Someone bought in a mother hamster with a litter of new borns. One was very deformed with no eyes. Probably due to breeding with siblings before separating the sexes. The owner didn't want him. So my DD took him home. He had a lovely life with her and his dachshund brother for the 6mths he lived. He died suddenly in her arms (hand really) having cuddles.
He never bit her because his teeth never grew.
He was the size of a walnut and so very sweet. He liked being stroked under his chin.
She was inconsolable for ages but knew the reality.

We've had 3 hamsters over the years. 2 were absolutely adorable and one was a horrible vicious little thing. I've thought it was possibly an older hamster.

What we used to do is get my child to lay in an empty bath and let the hamster crawl all over to get him used to people. Worth a try.

Thanks everyone - we will persevere but will bear in mind that he might just not be a pet that we can physically interact with. I did actually want a rat, but when I did my research, discovered that you need to keep them in same-sex pairs and they tend to smell; so given this is the first time I’ve had a small pet (previously cats and dogs) I thought a hamster would be a more manageable starter small animal!

We got our hamster in August and he is quite bitey. We spend lots of time feeding through the cage and also talking to him so he gets used to us. He now lets me stroke him and have picked up a couple of times wearing a glove but he did bite it last time. He has a play pen so i pick him up in a little tub and transfer him to that.

Hamsters are bitey often Rabbits can be difficult. Guinea pigs are lovely can be noisy little buggers. Having been through a variety of pets I can honestly say the cats are by far the easiest we have been lucky and all our cats have loved a cuddle.

We've had hamsters twice, worst pets ever. One of them escaped and we never did find it.

That’s a shame! We had about a gazillion hamsters as kids/teens and must have been really lucky as they never nipped. They were such lovely and friendly little things. When they were v new we used to wear gloves sometimes for a couple of days just in case.

Golden hamsters ARE Syrians. Golden is just another name for a Syrian.

@BiteyMcBite 3 weeks isn’t actually very long, especially if your hamster wasn’t particularly well socialised by the breeder (and if they came from a pet shop they may not have been socialised at all).