>I apologize ahead of time since my question is actually about my hamster
>instead of my gerbil. I have a siberian hamster
There is no such thing. This is a misnomer spread by pet stores.
You probably have a dwarf campbell hamster. They are often labelled
'siberian' by pet stores....there is a variety of dwarf hamster, 'Russian
Winter White' which is very rare. So...
>which we have had for about
> 2 1/2 months now. When we first got him he nibbled on our fingers
>occasionally. Now everytime that we try to pick him up or put our hands in
>his cage for any reason he bites, grabs hold of our fingers and will not
let
>go. Let me tell you for being such a small guy it really hurts.
This is definitely a dwarf campbell hamster <g>
>Is there anything that we can do to make him stop this? We always make
sure
>to wash our hands before to make sure that we don't smell like food or
>gerbils. I remember also hearing awhile back about how sometimes they can
>associate your hand with food if you feed them too much by hand so we
haven't
>been doing that as often. I do not know what else we can do. We have
>started having to use gloves b/c when we are holding him he will bite our
>palms and wrists. He even bit my husband on the chin the other day. Would
>it hurt him if we soaked our hands in something sour like lemon juice (or
is
>there something better to use)?
Dwarf campbells bite because they're scared, or defending turf.
If he just woke up, and you grab for him, he'll bite. If he's not an
'only hamster' he will bite, especially in defense of his cage.
Try scooping him up in a small cup, then transferring him to your
hand. This way the 'hand monster' is not after him and he won't
be on the defense. I have an old dead (aka puppy chewed the
edge) 2/3rd cup measure I use for this. I lift up the cup, the
hamster does a 'swap ends' and comes up to look at me over
the side, and I let him/her out onto my hand. Biters often don't
under these circumstances...
You might very well have to go to wearing gloves for awhile....
but keep handling him.
Do make sure he's up and about first before handling him.
>We really want to play with him more but since he just keeps getting worse,
>we are scared (mostly for fear of him biting us and us jumping or dropping
>him) to play with him. He seems very eager to play, he stands on his hind
>legs and scratches at the aquarium or jumps up on his toys so we will pick
>him up.
That's more like "I want OUT" than "I want to be picked up"
Hamsters are escape artists at heart, and yours is no exception....
Try sitting down on the floor so that there is less distance in case
he gets dropped. Make sure he's awake and moving around
the cage first....try offering your middle knuckle to him...(fold finger
over and offer the end of that knuckle to him), at about the height
of his head if he stands up. He will either rear up and box at it
with his paws or try to nip at it, or he won't. If he tries to nip, he
won't be able to because the curvature of an adult middle knuckle
is enough that they can't get their mouth around it.
I have one now that was really gentle but sort of 'untrained' himself.
I am waking him up several times a day to be offered my knuckle
after moving around the cage...and he still boxes at it. He then
gets gently scooped up and put on my hand for several moments
of being held and petted, including a position which makes checking
his underside easy for me....
*After* the playing session, I feed him. He's learning that a trip
to my hand means lunch....
Email me privately if you have any more questions or problems
Deb
Rebel's Rodent Ranch
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
