Does it matter while taming?

[toshi]

Hello, Toshi here, I was wondering does it matter if you are scared of a dwarf hamster biting you while you are taming it.
I mean, can the hammie sense your 'scaredness' and bite me because of that? Because I've always been really, really skittish about handling hamsters.
Thanks!
~Toshi

[Hamsters82]

Welcome to RR, Toshi. In my opinion I think they are like dogs where they can sense if a person is afraid. I've heard otherwise sometimes, but my brother and I both tamed our dwarf hamster, Harriet, as I was scared and he wasn't.

Is there anyone that can help you train your hamster not to bite hands? What I always did was I would pull down my sweater over my hands or use gloves, if Harriet bit, I'd put her down or say "no". After months and months (with both my brother and I doing this--my brother used his own bare hands), she began to get better.

I'm guessing you got your hamster from a pet store? If so, they never hand train their hamsters. Don't get me wrong, I loved Harriet, but hand trained hamsters are soo much better. But yeah, the above method worked for us, hopefully it'll work for you too. Also other great hamster owners are here to help.

Good luck and see you around the forum!

[lyn]

Hi Toshi. Nice to have a new member around. Everybody has different ways of doing things,but I'm sure with time and patience everything will be fine. If you have a Robo Dwarf hammie, they aren't really meant to be handled, but other dwarfs are definitely trainable. Your fear of being bit is absolutely normal. Hammie bites hurt for sure, but I don't know if a hammie can sense fear.
Always make sure before touching your hammie that your hands are clean and free of any smells, especially food. With my one Syrian hammie I have to wear gloves because she has a mental disability and always bites. Just try and remember that this little baby is much more afraid of you than you are of it.
I wish you lots of luck. With time and repeating your steps, you can be best buds with your hammie. Keep us informed please. Hope to hear some good news soon.

[toshi]

Thanks for the welcomes I'm intending to get hamsters (2, to be exact), but they are gonna come from my mom's colleague, so I think that means that it should have already gotten used to home noises. I'm getting them at around 3 weeks old, but from the previous experience I've had with other hamsters, I wanna start over again, turn over a new leaf, stuff like that; I'm afraid last time I've been doing almost everything wrong. xD I handled the hamster on the first day it arrived and it bit me (well thats normal, cause I was scared or something.), and I've only experienced with dwarf hamsters.

[Die Fledermaus]

Hi.

Pinky (Robin) know dwarfs very well. Hope she comments.

I stopped trying to train them a long time ago primarily due to lack of time. Takes a lot of time, and patience.

Maybe wearing a glove would help at first.

I think both Robin and I might say if you want to handle a rodent get a rat--they never bite. Some dwarfs do; maybe it depends on socializing to people as babies and juveniles. Non socialized rats just try to get away; they don't bite. Perhaps the dwarf would be happier just with you watching them play around, than being handled. They are so small it might make them nervous.

Extensive breeding of pet mice (that come in various colors) has resulted in mice that can be very tame. Buit dwarfs have not been bred to that extent, especially depending on their origin.

I don't know if they sense fear. Pehraps holding them nervously transmits fear and makes them nervous.

best wishes.

[pinky]

Hello toshi, and welcome!

I have never owned Syrians, but I get the impression that they are much less nippy than Campbell's dwarfs, so if it's the nipping that you are worried about you may want to avoid dwarfs. In my experience some have only nipped due to cage aggression, but others would nip if held for too long as well. And the degree of nipping is relevant too. A nip that's more like a bite and draws blood is a problem--of course you'll live in fear of that! Hams are all different. Some of mine just put their teeth on me; others would have drawn blood every time if I'd have let them.

Chinese hamsters once tamed are also relatively less bitey.

3 weeks of age--too young to be removed from the family unit. 4-5 weeks is recommended.

[Die Fledermaus]

BTW, I never had a Syrian bite me except in handful of cases where the ham was ill, or I mishandled him, such as pinning all four legs. See the thread "Zeb Strikes Back" from many years ago with photos of blood! It was all my fault, and Zeb lived a long life, the longest of all his siblings who I also had.