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 :-(

When my daughter got one, we would take it in turns to get into an empty bath with a warm towel when he was lively early evening, he did nip but it gave him plenty of safe space to run around and trust us. He's been a gem, but will still nip every now and then, he's 4, so doing well

As a kid I had six hamsters over the years. All very lovely and docile except one. He was mad as a box frogs, totally fearless, and vicious as hell. He could only be handled using heavy duty gardening gloves, and even then he'd sometimes manage to bite through them if he was in a particularly bad mood. This continued for 18 months, and then he mellowed out somewhat, but still had the occasional grumpy day. So I'd recommend heavy duty gardening gloves, time/patience, and you may find that in a year or so your hammy chills out a bit.

A Syrian hamster is a golden hamster, the standard large orange sort.
The various smaller grey "dwarf" types are the ones that are generally less amenable to handling as well as being smaller and faster.

My advice for the bitey hamster is that he may be territorial, coax him into a small fully enclosed tub then handle him for short bursts in the bath (no water(!), plug in, old towel on the bottom so it isn't cold, have a couple of small boxes he can hide under if he feels exposed).

What a life for the poor animal.

What colour is your Hamster? The pale/albino ones tend to be more aggressive than the darker or wild coloured hamsters.

Yep, we had one hamster he was amazing, he didn’t bite, you could play with her and he’d snuggle on you. We got another and my god he barely comes out of his house, we’ve tried but he’s just not friendly like the other one.

Sadly that was your experience, they are not the worst pets ever! That’s rather dramatic.
Op, when l was a child had 2 hamsters, lived really good ages, one was 4years old the other 3 and a half

l would have them out of the cage a lot though, l carried them in my pocket they would just go to sleep, in there😂this was at home or curl up on my lap.They liked to be hand fed, loved apple, carrot, low fat cheese from time to time, as a treat, l didn’t over do it.Mostly like seeds and nuts, only gave small bits of fruit and veg, because of their digestion.
Avoid grapes, citrus fruits, sticky food.
@BiteyMcBite what l found really helpful was, a hamster exercise ball, which is plastic and clear, so they can see where they’re going, with lots of air holes.So basically they go in the ball, once a day and have the run of the house or room.Apologies was unable to do a link for one, there’s loads of places you can get them, just Google a hamster exercise ball.
My hamsters loved it, were so tame, would lick my hand🥰Another thing you could do, is scatter food, in their cage, bedding, which encourages them to dig and forage, which prevents boredom.I know l’m going on a bit😂 has your hamster got a house? in their cage, they like privacy.
Anyway, don’t give up op, it takes a bit of time, you really need to handle them regularly, that’s when they build up trust and become tame.

What’s the alternative.It is possible for them to have a good quality of life, it’s important though to give them plenty of freedom, play with them, handle them and for them to have a good varied diet.

This makes me think about the hamster I had in my classroom many years ago. She was a right mare and would take the hand off anyone. Just before Christmas she went missing and could not be found and when we went back after the holidays, we assumed she was no more. À good few weeks mare I took out my guitar to do some trilingue with the kids and realised there was a hamster sized home in the case plus all the strings had been nobles through. She had set up home in the guitar. The childrensfaces when she poked her head out of the guitar

A couple of my hamsters were biters and I'm pretty sure neither of them could see very well. Like worse than your average hamster.

One, I worked out that he could only see about an inch in front of him. If I moved stuff in his cage, I had to guide him round it so he knew where things were and if my finger got farther ahead than an inch from his nose, he stopped following and I had to go back to him.

The other was very much attack first, ask questions later. She thought I was a predator, I think. But she didn't seem to have great vision either.

This reminded me of a friend who took her hamster to the vet because she thought it had a tumour. She knew it was a male hamster. She was also a nurse. But she had to have the vet tell her the tumour was actually bollocks 🙈😂

Yes!
You can get a little language going between you and some piggies! Mine used to squeak when they heard the fridge open as well! When they were on the lawn i'd rustle the carrot bag and make a kissy noise and they'd run chittering and juddering over for they carrot. Consequently if i made a kissy noise anytime i'd get an answer from them even when they knew there was no carrots coming bless 'em.

We don't have any now and i miss them too. If i see piggies in Pets At Home i'll always have a look, and stand there making kissy noises out of habit but get no answer ☹️🤪

Rats are basically Pocket Puppies
DD's steal things and hide them in her underwear drawer, they are so clever and sociable and friendly they really should get better press - certainly make better pets than hamsters

To bite that hard I wouldn’t think he’s mistaking your finger for food anyway, if he thought it was food he would just try and take it as he does with the treat. A bite that hard is a go away message.

Our last one was bitey and scared for a couple of months, she started getting out of her cage for a run (I used gloves to handle her) and after that her temperament got much friendlier, she recently passed away at just over 2 years and she had been very sweet and easy to handle for most of the time we had her, it was just a rocky start

How I wish we’d got rats, @Hoppinggreen- from everything I’ve read, they sound like great pets. I should have gone with my first instinct!

In any case, we will, of course, persevere with our little ham. I’m hoping it’s just a rocky start, as with yours, @FairFuming, and we can continue settling him in and eventually he’ll trust us. And, worst case scenario, we’ll just make sure he has lots of toys and enrichment, and he’ll basically be a furry goldfish - a pet that we love and look after, but never touch

@BiteyMcBite If you don’t handle, touch him, it’s not going to get any better.Hamsters need, interaction and to be let out of the cage.It’s not fair to keep him if you’re not prepared to do this.
Further up thread, l suggested an activity ball, you never acknowledged, the whole point of this thread was advice from people who have had hamsters and have an understanding of what’s involved.
Is there anyway he could be rehomed? With someone who’s going to give him a bit of time.It’s cruel to keep a hamster, without handling and letting them out of a cage.

No animal bites for fun. But I'm sure you know that. I've adopted 'bitey' hansters that have turned into the most gentle souls, with time, patience and gentle care. Cosy paws hamster care uk is a fantastic group on Facebook with incredibly knowledgeable people who may be able to help and /or advise. It is, however, possible that you just have a hanster who wants to do his own thing, and not really have any human interaction. I had one like that and I loved him no less than any of my others (I've have 20 over the years!), I just respected his wishes and enjoyed watching him on his night camera!

@Boudica70 understood what you’re saying, but they do need to come out of a cage, for interaction and exercise, the only way that can be achievable is by being consistent, trying regularly.I agree no animal bites for fun, a way around that would be to wear gloves and handle once day or every couple of days, so they get used to at least one person.I personally don’t think it’s fair to keep, any animal in a cage, without regularly coming out.

@Justchilling07 yes I agree, it's important to be able to handle if necessary, especially for health checks, but in my experience it's unfair to constantly try and handle a hamster that really doesn't want the interaction. It just causes stress for them. That said, using the gloves and trying to build a bond is good, and often works eventually. There are just a few who really don't want it, and in those cases I feel it's unfair to keep trying with an animal that's clearly not wanting to interact. If the cage is big enough, and has enough proper enrichment, including at least 8 inches of bedding, plus a large wheel, lots of different hamster safe substrates and other enrichment items, it shouldn't be to their detriment.

Oh we had rats too. Similar issue (eyesight and don't poke your fingers through the bars and razor teeth), but incredibly intelligent. We had several and only one was a horrendously bitey bugger, we ended up rehoming him to a friend because I was scared my kids would lose an arm 🙈)

He could be overwhelmed from all the attention and want a bit of space. It could be just his personality. Or he could have something sore too and is afraid of hurting it. Hard to tell with these small creatures

We had a hamster, bitey little fucker. She lived for about 3 years just to spite us, tried everything to make her happy and less vicious but nothing worked. We have an adorable cat now, wish we'd got her originally instead x

my girls had hamsters, and I must admit they all seemed a little bitey sods. my daughter was bitten once, and it went septic had to have it drained and treated at A and E. cute as they are I think pets like gerbils are much better, we had gerbils and they were easy to train and very clever

They're not group animals. In the wild they each live alone in burrows. So they don't socialise or play. Your hand probably feels like a giant predator. Poor little creature isn't a sod, it's a tiny, frightened, prey animal.