I have a panda bear hamster who is 2 and 1/2 months old. Whenever I get ready to pick her up I get so nervous and shaky, and I know this make it worse because hamsters sense fear and dont like being handled by nervous owners. What can I do to make myself seem less nervous? She has bitten me twice and it hurt so much I'm terrified to pick her up. What can I do to make me get over it? I've read about hamsters who are little sweeties and don't bite. How do I make my hamster a little sweetie?

skyfox

Perhaps you could try wearing some sort of thick gloves for awhile, to allow yourself to become comfortable with holding your hamster and protect your fingers.

kashumz

Thank you for your answer, but wearing gloves can actually annoy the hamster

Thomas1970

Not really sure there is much you can do. They have different temperaments, though may improve with frequent handling. Just try to keep your hand as flat as possible and your fingers out of the way. And don't buy a Siberian dwarf. I owned one, and though they are very nice hamsters, they are fairly notorious biters. Only hamster I ever owned that bit me (many times), as did very few of my mice. Good luck.

templelane

Right I'm not a hamster expert but this is what I just did and it seemed to work..

Pick him up when he is stretched out that way it will be harder for him to bite you. Never suprise him! I've just tamed a hamster and I did this by stroking its back and then one side, then the other until I could gently hold its sides without causing a fuss. Then I gradually moved my fingers around and scooped it up. I put it straight back down and built up the time for picking up.

I was scared at first aswell and I found the stroking the little thing helped me because I learnt it wasn't bothered and wasn't going to bite me. Also everytime I got it out I gave it a treat so that it would associate me with nice stuff.

It's definatly worth attempting because it will make vets visits and health checks a lot easier in the future. Good luck!

Oh yeah and never touch it in its bed they hate that!

brandy681

I have owned many hamsters growing up and I have never been bit by one yet. Why get a hamster if you are nervous or afraid of them??? You will have to hold the little guy to get him used to you, play with him and hold treats while you try to feed him, etc and that is all the advice that I can give you is to hold him and pet him gently. If you are nervous, duh.. this is going to be difficult but be gentle and you shouldn't get bit. If you are scared of being bit than wear gloves and if you don't want to do this there is nothing else that you can do.

Cuddle_Bug

Maybe you should try getting her out of the cage with something over ur hand, or put ur hand in the cage and let her sniff it, then hold her for short periods of time, this worked for me

bacforever

Firstly, as brandy681 said, you just have to get used to her - maybe s holding out treats for her whilst shes in the cage and then stroking her, till you trust her reasonably.

I don't own hamsters myself but when I used to play with friends hamsters (as my friends wouldn't go near them), they would try to bite me but I would just let them run over me which caused even the most evil to lose all desire to attack my fingers. Then you can give her treats from your lap and enjoy your time together

xxvickyxx

Im not sure wether this works but you can get some gel for your hand in pet stores what will not taste nice for the hamster and so it wont bite!!! I think talcum powder works as well
xx

templelane

^^strange you should say that. The hamster I trained seemed to really like it when my hands smelled of hair conditioner or soap. It got really interested and sniffed them but never bit.