New Hamster Owner

[UndrcoverGenius]

Hi Everyone! A few weeks ago I got four beautiful female hamsters! I love them so much. They are VERY active at night. They are very friendly. I can hand them pieces of food and they will climb up on my hand. But they bite REALLY hard. I thought it was maybe because they thought my hand was food. I try to wash my hands before picking them up so they do not smell like food. Nothing is working tho. I can't stop the biting. Would that Bitter Apple Spray stop it? They are not afraid of me. When I walk by their cages they come over for me to play with them. Does anyone have any ideas about how to stop the biting? I want to hold them so bad! Thanks a lot!

[animalmagic]

Hey, congrats on your new hamsters. Just wanted to check first of all- your hamsters are dwarves, right? Cos if they're Syrians they must be housed singly.

Bitter apple spray may stop them biting- but if you can figure out the reason they're biting, you should be able to stop them doing it. Do they mainly bite when you grab them/pick them up? Because they might not like you picking them up, and that might be why.

I don't know, others will have better advice, good luck!

And post pics if you can! ;)

[UndrcoverGenius]

I'm not sure if they are drawfs! When I bought them I asked if I could keep more than one in a cage and they said yes. It was just a good idea to buy ones that were already together. They are pretty small tho. I'm so worried now! Will they begin to fight? They get along really good now. They always squeeze into the same house and sleep together.
They try to bite when I let them walk on to my hand. It doesn't seem like they are afraid. They just walk on and sit a few seconds that bite my fingers. Yesterday I was touching one of their hands tho the cage and I didn't see that another one had walked over. The one that walked over took a little bite at me.
I will post pictures soon. They are sooooo pretty. My little babies!

[animalmagic]

I very much hope that they're dwarves- otherwise once they get past the baby stage they will fight, as Syrians are solitary and must live alone. Also be 100% positive that yours are all female- you don't want to end up with unwanted litters!

Do they look more like this type of hamster:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d16/abby_keelan1/normalww.jpg

Or like this:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d16/abby_keelan1/panonfloor.jpg

[PetLuver21257]

In other words, do they have a line down their back and a white underbelly? If so, they are dwarves, if not, they are Syrians which need to be separated immediatly. They are biting you because you are sticking your hand into their cage and they think that it is an intruder. So they bite your hand for protection. Try putting them in their rolly ball, or in a tube and let them walk onto your hands from that. Good luck! And post a lot of pictures! :) :D

[dwankrista]

^ actually, not all dwarves have the line. that is a trait of certain colors, not all. waylon doesn't have the line (he is a blue mottled ruby-eye).

[PetLuver21257]

Well most of them do... I think that at least one of his hamsters is going to have the line...

[Caitandcritters]

I have a thing I do where I take them out with a cup or something like that. Dwarves (which I hope they are) are quite territorial. My sweetest girls will still bite me if I try to pick them up in their cage. So try taking them out with a mug and then holding them on your lap, or in a bathtub so they can run around on you and get used to you. Just remember to wear clothes! ;)

[LMDH]

Not all dwarves have a line as Dwankrista pointed out, and only agouti colours have a pale (not usually pure white) belly, self colours are that color all over.

Are they drawing blood when they bite?

My dwarves nibble, they have poor eyesight so sometimes try to taste things when they are out. They dont bite me very hard, but my partner has quite tough skin and they do nip him quite hard, but dont draw blood.

If theres no blood then i would saw they are just trying to judge their surroundings.

[UndrcoverGenius]

Oh no! They are Syrians!!!!! I have extra cages so I can seperate them now. Should I just go ahead and seperate them now or wait a little bit? They are so adorable together. I only had one hard bite but it wasn't the hamsters fault. It was the first day I got her and I was placing her in the cage. She was afraid and bit me. The bites after were not as hard but they still drew blood. For me, any little poke draws blood tho. I was looking at my hamsters yesterday and I guess the petstore was wrong. One is definiately a male. This happened with my chinchillas. I bought two chinchillas that were supposed to be females and it was actually a male and a female. She had 6 babies! Sadly only 3 made it tho. I love the babies sooo much tho! I don't want to breed the hamsters tho! Too many hamsters esp. if they can not be housed together. Thank you guys soooo much for the advice! How do you add pictures? When I click the "insert picture" button it asks for a link. All my pictures are saved on my computer.

[animalmagic]

Okay. First of all.. I'd separate the hamsters now. Do you have four cages? It'd be best to separate now, as you don't know how old they are for definite and they could be mating or fighting already.

Pet stores are really bad at stuff like this. I really hope none of your hamsters are pregnant! Are they still very small? If you post a pic for me I'll try and tell how old they are.

You'll need four cages as like I said before, Syrians MUST live alone. They can fight to the death otherwise. They are okay together as babies but need to be alone as they get older.

I hope you don't end up with babies. To post pictures, set up an account at www.photobucket.com

You can upload the pics from your computer onto there. Then you will need to post the IMG link into here so the pics will show.

[UndrcoverGenius]

Thanks! Yeah I four cages. One isn't as nice but it will do until I can buy a new one. The guy working in the petshop told me that they were very young. Not sure if he is right. Here are the pictures!
This is a picture of Caramel making a mess while eating:
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e264/zer0_deficit/DSCN0399.jpg

Here is Caramel and Katrina sleeping together:
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e264/zer0_deficit/DSCN0383.jpg

And here is everyone really grumpy cuz they have to stay in the tiny carrier thingy while I clean their cage:
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e264/zer0_deficit/DSCN0415.jpg

Sorry the pictures aren't that great. I will take osme clear ones soon.

BTW, their names are Scion (grey and white one that has the most white), Sabrina (mostly grey and white one), Caramel (light brown goldish one), and Katrina (brownish grey one). I love my babies sooooooo much.

I also have 1 house cat, 4 rabbits, 5 chinchilas, 1 turtle, 1 iguana, fish, lots of cats that just came to live with me, and 1 bird, and 3 chickens.

[dwankrista]

ouch, yep, they seriously need to be separated immediately. they can turn on each other VERY fast and you will wind up with a messy situation and a bunch of dead hammies. :( the guy at the pet store should have told you this but pet stores are usually terrible and, unfortunately, don't know their heads from their holes (pardon the vulgarity :D). i'm so sorry this happened but your girls will be much happier and less stressed when they are living alone.

congrats on the girls and they are adorable! lovely names! :)

EDIT: i also forgot to ask what type of caging you are using? syrians need at least 20 gallon tanks to be housed comfortably and can get very stressed and uncomfortable in smaller cages. i highly recommend bin type cages. here's a link as to how to make one, as they are much roomier and cheaper:
http://www.petwebsite.com/article_read.asp?id=256&title=Make%20A%20Homemade%20Hamster%20Bin%20Type%2 0Cage

[animalmagic]

They're adorable! But they do look older than I hoped they'd be. Definitely separation time. They're very sweet though.

I'd so hoped they'd be dwarves- I feel bad that you're gonna have to clean out four cages instead of one or two now.

Good luck with them- nice pictures! :)

[UndrcoverGenius]

Eeeek! I am using one of those cages that are part plastic part metal. They have wheels and little hideouts at the top. Lots of tubes. They seem roomy. Super cute too! Well time to find places for the new cages hehe. So I have a total of about 15 cages to clean now? lol Oh well. I love my pets so much. I'm so worried now. The guy also told me that hamsters like warm weather. Is this true? Do hamsters like hay? I haven't given any but on the hay I have it has pictures of hamsters? Is there anythign else I really need to know about hamsters? I have been reading a lot online now about them. The petstore made it seem like they were nothing to take care of. Just toss a bunch in a cage and dump some food in. Geeeez is this petstore right about anything??? Oh yeah. Do hamsters need dustbaths too?

[dwankrista]

pet stores are terrible, from my experience. oh, the horror stories i could tell you. hams do like warmer temps as they are desert critters. as for the hay, it depends on what type. i've heard of hay causes cheek pouch abcesses and punctures when the hams store it, so i don't know if it's a good idea. as for the dust baths, chinchilla dust is actually too dusty for the little critters. while chinchilla sand is an alternative, i know dwarf hams do need them, but i'm not sure about syrians. i do know some syrian owners who give their hams chin sand to roll in from time to time when their coats get slick-looking, but i don't think it's a requirement. :)

it's sad that pet stores make it seem like animals are disposable and easy to take care of. i blame them for many of the animals that turn up at shelters. animals get ill or people wind up with animals, like you did, that cannot be housed together and they ship them off. kudos to you, however, for keeping these four girls. :)

i know what you mean about the cages. currently, i have 3 rats, 3 mice, 3 campbell dwarf hamsters, 3 horses, 5 kitties, 1 boxer, and 1 albino african clawed frog. :D the compani9onship and their unconditional loyalty makes the work all worth it.

[animalmagic]

I'm glad you decided to keep all of them anyway. That's so great. I don't think Syrians require a dust/sand bath. I'd stay away from hay just incase they hurt their cheek pouches, like dwankrista said.

Keep us updated! :)