Finally picked Digweed Up

[dosergirl]

I finally found a pair of gloves that fit me (i have small hands)
this means i was finally able to scoop digweed out of his cage. he bit but the gloves protected me. I'm hoping to get hm more used to being handled.

dosergirl

[angelic]

I haven't been following this one, is he too quick or too bitey? One of my dwarfs (Hannibal aka Psycho) was a nightmare when I first got him, he would bite forty or fifty times on every occasion I tried to handle him. Now I've had him for a few months he has stopped biting completely.

I think what made the difference was actually leaving him alone for a while, there was a period of about 2 weeks when I didn't handle him at all - he had wet tail. I found that after he'd recovered, he was absolutely fine being handled, I think the combination of not handling him, and isolating him in another room (again due to the wet tail) gave him a chance to calm down.

[dosergirl]

digweed is a biter. He's just always been that way. There was one occasion that he walked out onto my hands...pics below but i was really scared. I've had him since october i think and i've been working with him but he just likes to bite. it's part of his personality.
I'll let you know if handling with gloves works out in taming him.

[calvinator1]

My guy still nips occasionally if you catch him off guard. And Jeannie has a dwarf who has always been a biter - she still uses gloves when handling said dwarf.

[Die Fledermaus]

I heard about Jeannie and the gloves - never bites the gloves though, only flesh! ;D

Odd thing with Rainy the hamster grandma - gentle and docile in the extreme. But in the past two days if I petted her too long, or left her in a play/forage bin too long, she clamps her teeth on my hand; once she just hung there by her teeth as if doing a trick! Never broke the skin. Maybe she's getting grumpy, but she is still gentle. I'll warm up some egg whites and baby food for her soon.

[angelic]

I actually wonder if Hannibal was biting so much because he was ill when I got him - he developed the symptoms of wet tail about a week after I brought him home. I suspect he was biting because he just didn't feel up to being handled.

Mind you, he was the same as Jeannie's biter, when I handled him with gloves he never tried to bite, it was only human flesh he went for.

"she just hung there by her teeth as if doing a trick!"

One of my gerbs does that if you leave your hand in her tank too long. It really hurts! I think she gets frustrated if you put your hand in the tank and don't get her out, as she never bites once out. Also she leaves it for a couple of minutes first to see what you'll do.

[Die Fledermaus]

The oddest thing about Rainy hanging there was that not only did she never break the skin, it relly hurt very little. She just hung on tightly enough not to fall off! Clever.

[sunchaser]

Angelic said:

I think what made the difference was actually leaving him alone for a while, there was a period of about 2 weeks when I didn't handle him at all - he had wet tail. I found that after he'd recovered, he was absolutely fine being handled, I think the combination of not handling him, and isolating him in another room (again due to the wet tail) gave him a chance to calm down.

Erm, I thought dwarves were immune to wet-tail and the only dwarf breed that could get it were Robos??

[Hamsters82]

Yeah the gloves are always a good idea! Our dwarf Harriet always bite us too & we did the glove thing with her as well. Sure enough she wouldn't bite the glove & when I would hold her with my sleeves over my hands, she wouldn't bite. Then Josh, my brother, held her with his hands & she didn't bite him! So, yeah keep it up with the gloves until Digweed doesn't bite & then get him used to your clothing, I would say, then slowly your hand. This may take awhile, but eventually it does work. Good luck though & I'm glad you were finally able to pick him up!