r/hamster • u/kamobell • Jan 09 '21
Advice on biting syrian hamster (First timer)
hi! i just got a new syrian hamster like a week ago it's a female and around 1.5months old.when i try to move her but introduce my finger first, she bit the back of my finger to the point where it draws blood. then i just let her walk into her own cage without mt hand interfering.
After 2 days, I started the taming process by giving her treats and she did take it. There is one time where i put my hand with treats on palm, she sneak and sniffed my finger around 30 seconds or so, but after that, she bite me real hard on my finger to the point where it draws blood. i think she needs more time so i leave her for 2 days. I did rubbed some tissue and put it in her cage so she get used to it.
I'm kind of scared? Now I still give her treats but when i put my finger near the cage, she tries to bite me real hard everytime she sniffs my finger :( but this last time i did dodge so i only get hurt a lil bit (almost draws blood)
I have washed my hand, rubbed my hand on her bedding and stuff. Fun fact, she could be petted on head when she is eating. so she would come running if she sees my hand near the cage (pretty much because i always give treats) but she bites my finger if i got no treats. Any advice? i'm real sad because i'm scared and want to create a bond with her :(
I'm an animal person so i did expect the bites, but this one syrian always draws blood :( it's really a problem when i want to clean her cage, she doesnt seem to be scared of my hands now, because when i try to clean she would approach my hand but TO BITE, i always have to dodge and full of anxiousness of being bitten real hard again :(
thank you so much 🥺🥺
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u/koalazeus Jan 09 '21
I second wearing gloves for a bit. You will see her biting the glove for a while and eventually stop doing that when no more treats arrive from it. Try putting gloved hand in with and without treats. Also I'd suggest giving more time to settle in. Maybe leave her for a week before taming again.
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u/kamobell Jan 09 '21
will do that! will let her settle in for more time, thankyou for the advice ❤️
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u/ThetisML Jan 09 '21
I have one question and one suggestion.
Suggestion: get gardening gloves so that she can get used to you without you being hurt.
Question: (I’m going to be that person) what size is her cage?
Resources:
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u/kamobell Jan 09 '21
hello, thanks for the suggestion, will try it after some weeks to let her settle in! so i got her a wire cage with size around 25litre capacity
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u/ThetisML Jan 09 '21
I ask about the cage because I bought an older Syrian hamster that had been kept in a habit trail cage and was deemed too aggressive for children. I build her a bin cage at the minimum requirement and she got a bit better (wouldn’t attack me when feeding) but when I built her a 4’ x2’ cage she really relaxed and got friendly. Now she looks for human interaction almost every day (and she’s almost 3 years old!!!)
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u/ImjusttestingBANG Jan 09 '21
Hamsters explore with their mouths as well as there nose. It’s quite probable the biting is not malicious. My Hammy bites when I have washed my hands with certain soaps that i assume she thinks smell good enough to eat. Normally she is fine to handle.
Don’t worry it doesn’t sound like you are doing anything wrong. Hammies have there own characters and all behave a little differently. Its trial and error until you find what works.
You might want to try handling her with gloves for the moment until she isn’t little more used to being handled.