aggressive hamsters??

zaksmum

I'm minding my grandsons' hamsters while they are on holiday. I always thought hamsters were cute little things that a child could safely have as a pet - seems I was wrong.

I will be so glad when they go home. They've bitten me and hubby quite badly, we were pouring blood as the bites were deep. this was when we were cleaning out the cages and putting them in their playballs.

Is it natural for hamsters to be so aggressive or are these two psychotic?:eek:

MickMack

maybe they need a spin in the dyson to cool them off a bit

Nimeth

I assume they are dwarf hamsters since there's more than one and Syrians (much bigger) are meant to be housed alone. Are they dwarf hamsters? They tend to be slightly more aggressive than Syrians anyway. What time of the day did you fetch them out to clean them out? If you did it in the middle of the day, they probably bit you because they did not want to be woken up. Best time to clean hamsters out is in the evening or early morning as they're more likely to be up at that time.

Oh and I don't know how much your grandsons handle the hamsters. If they're not handled or played with much, they may just not be comfortable with human contact.

I doubt they're psychotic, just a little grumpy.:p

HTH:)

rising_from_the_ashes

Nimeth has summed it up very well and agree totally!:D

Only thing I'd add is - how old are they?

I used to keep them when I was younger and I did find they got very grumpy/bad tempered/vicious when they lived "too long" (even though they'd been sweet, well handled etc in their younger days).

Deep_In_Debt

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Nimeth has summed it up very well and agree totally!:D

Only thing I'd add is - how old are they?

I used to keep them when I was younger and I did find they got very grumpy/bad tempered/vicious when they lived "too long" (even though they'd been sweet, well handled etc in their younger days).

I'm also quite grumpy and bad tempered the older I get!

I'm not vicious though...just a bit old!

faded_flowers

Are they hand-tame? Could be he just watches them and has never held them!

If they usually are tame, they could be stressed by the change in environment (anything from the air freshener you use to your pet cats etc) or they may dislike something about you, for example the smell of cigarette smoke on fingers, perfume etc. Or you smelt of yummy food - did you eat chocolate before you started

System

When my kids were little we had a hamster. Sweet docile little thing. Me, hubby and the 4 kids could play with him for ages and he never bit once...... However, we never could understand why he wasnt as easy going on our eldest daughter. She never teased him, poked him or was mean to him but he bit her to peices ...... until we realized why.... out of all the kids she was the only child who loved peanut butter sandwiches.

prettypennies

I have two Russian Dwarf hamsters who barring the old playful spat have lived happily together for almost two years. However, this weekend, the more dominant one has had a real go at the more docile hammy (who loves being handled) and we have had to separate them. I was really shocked at the damage one had done to the other after living side by side for so long (he is still very weak bless him).
The lady at our pet store is a real dwarf hammy enthusiast and she confirmed they can become very crotchety in their old age and if one starts to weaken and become submissive, the other will become more and more agressive and dominant.

zaksmum

Thanks everyone. Nimeth, I don't know what kind of hamsters they are, but they were housed alone or the pet shop man said they'd kill each other as they're both males. We had 2 massive cages for them.

I cleaned them out about 7pm but they were both awake.

Rising from the ashes, they are only about 6 months old.

Faded flowers, the kids can't handle them as they've been savaged too by them!

They've gone home now but by the time they went, we both had several nasty bites.

I sussed them out in the end and wore thick gardening gloves to clean them out...I could feel their teeth trying to get at me through the gloves!

Glad to see the back of the little beggars!

elfen

Yup, they would do that if they're not used to being handled, or they're being handled but being squidged, so they give pain in an expectation of receiving it. It'll take a while for them to become more docile probably because the biting is now so ingrained they need to go back to basics with them - short sessions, always an adult around, one out at a time, treats when they go in/when they come out and don't bite.

Think this is why I've gone to rats.....my females are a bit loopy (they hide down tops and then try and clean my nails/ears/lips) but they aren't intentionally vicious - my 8 y/o niece can handle them and they like being picked up and cuddled and given free reign. And they can be litter trained lol

zaksmum

elfen wrote: »

Yup, they would do that if they're not used to being handled, or they're being handled but being squidged, so they give pain in an expectation of receiving it. It'll take a while for them to become more docile probably because the biting is now so ingrained they need to go back to basics with them - short sessions, always an adult around, one out at a time, treats when they go in/when they come out and don't bite.

Think this is why I've gone to rats.....my females are a bit loopy (they hide down tops and then try and clean my nails/ears/lips) but they aren't intentionally vicious - my 8 y/o niece can handle them and they like being picked up and cuddled and given free reign. And they can be litter trained lol

Well they can go to blazes! They've gone home now, thank God, so I don't have to keep patching up their bites on what's left of my fingers...!