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 don't 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? :confused:

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.

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

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.

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 surprise 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 as well 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 every time I got it out I gave it a treat so that it would associate me with nice stuff.

It's definitely 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!

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.

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Originally Posted by kashumz

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? :confused:

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

Firstly, as brandy681 said, you just have to get used to her - maybe s holding out treats for her whilst she's 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

Im not sure whether 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 won't bite!! I think talcum powder works as well
Xx

^^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.

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Originally Posted by kashumz

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? :confused:

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You should always let your hamster sniff your fingers first to let them know you won't hurt them. Then just start petting it to let it know you are not trying to hurt it. Your hamster is getting old and some times old hamsters become mean. I suggest later you should try I different breed.

Let the hamster get used to yourr smell.

Try using clean socks than gloves

Stroke it, let it get to know and trust you then pick it up gently. Make sure you don't just suddenly pick it up really quick and shock it. If you're scared then the hamster will realize this and will get scared/nervous too. Relax. Give the hamster treats and it will accociate you with good/nice stuff. Don't feed it through the bars then put your fingers through the bars because if you do then the hamster will think your fingers are food because it usually receives food through the bars.

Feed the hampster from your hand. Make it used to the fact the hand is a good hand, with lots of nice treats. Then stroke the hampster with the hand, feeding it afterwards. Keep this up, and slowly the hampster will be used to the hand.

When I got my first hamster he bit me for the first week. I stopped him by flicking him gentaly on the nose when he bit. Then when I picked him up and he didn't bite then I'd give him a bit of apple. It's worked with both of my hamster.

This is what I did. If you have an old hamster house, ( a simple house w/ a straw roof will work best ) put it sideways in the cage and put a treat or wood chew in it and the hamster may walk into the house to get the treat. When she does, scoop her up w/ the house and you can hold her like that until you get used to her. I had a hamster that was to mean that if you put a glove or anything in the cage it would bite it and even when you lifted the glove 2 feet she would still be holding onto it w/ her teeth. Now I have a nicer hamster and when she gets grumpy I hold her how I suggested. Hope this helped. :)

Annais, sorry to say this but my hamster is dead and long gone. You're a little late

i dont know because i have the same exact problem but different hamster

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Originally Posted by sabrinas1998

i dont know because i have the same exact problem but different hamster

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You re-opened a 2 year old thread to say you don't know?