Hamster biting

Whatsernamex33

Hi,
I have a Syrian hamster, female, since early March. She's almost five months old now. Still very nippy and biting. I take her out often and let her climb into my hand. Bought chewy things to soften her teeth, etc.

Anything that I should be doing to reduce this? Should she be biting less at this stage or is this normal?

elfy4eva

Seems normal OP some of them are just Bityer than others.

Funnily enough my first hamster Nipper let me pick him up
no problem used to bring him round on my shoulder.

My second one joey was a right little Diva about being
picked up. Just different Hamster personalities (Hamster-alities?)

Fitzg

hi OP, aw I love hammies I think she is still quite young and that the biting might stop in time. I've personally had upwards of ten hamsters, all syrians and as the other poster said they just have different personalities.
Could you write a little more about what the circumstances are when she nips you?
I'm thinking over previous nips and they happened when...
some hamsters were really grumpy when I'd wake them up and would give a few nips until they felt awake (like me nowadays until I get some coffee into my system!)...
in this case, its still a good idea to wake them up as they need to be woken up to play in the early evening so that you get to bond with them, also they enjoy the stimulation that you can provide them. I got around those nippers by always whistling and giving food to them when they woke up, a dog biscuit or peanut was a good peace offering to compensate them for being woken and then they'd be happy and perky and enjoy running about.
Some hamsters were over focused on the idea of my hands providing food and would nip because they wanted a snack!!!
Sometimes if I played with them after eating, and my hands smelt of food the hamster would tuck in!!! ouch - so I learnt to wash my hands before handling those guys!
It's also useful to think about any scent that might be on your hands - do you have any other pets? dogs etc that might trigger the hamster into thinking your hands are enemies? they are very sensitive smart little fellows...and four months is still young enough that she might be just exploring her environment - in a what happens if I chew this - is this food/enemy etc kind of way.
Good going on giving her chews - their teeth grow constantly so they need to wear them down by chewing on stuff - I found toilet roll inserts and any and all cardboard boxes were great too
Em

baby and crumble

Hey OP.

Yeah, what are the circumstances when she bites? Mine has only bit me once and that was when I stupidly was feeding her trough the bars I her cage and then put my finger in.

Do you pick her up to take her out of her cage? If so that might be freaking her out, a hand coming from above to pick her up is very like a predator. Try to scoop her up with both hands from underneath.

Have you tried bath training? If you have a bathtub sit in it with no water and just let her run all over you. She'll stop associating you with being picked up which she mightn't like and it'll get her used to your scent a lot quicker.

Always wash your hands before interacting with her- hammies have super sensitive noses so she might e smelling food on you like another poster suggested. At 5 months she's still a 'teenager' and finding out what's going on. Does she draw blood every time? Or is it more of a gentle nibble? Every now and again Isabella will give a little nibble but its not sore and doesn't draw blood- i sometimes think its her way of saying hello or give me food!!!