Hamsters

[wolf_Q]

Anyone here have hamster? My sister used to have a dwarf hamster which was cute and pretty friendly. I need some positive stories about them though, as right now they are really not on my good side.

I helped transfer the animals to the cages at Petco today, and I was stuck with the hamsters (teddy-bear)....with no gloves and no warning either! They just hissed at me and when I went to pick one up it bit me...HARD...it jabbed those front teeth waaay into my thumb, and it was bleeding badly for at least 5 minutes. I helped catch a loose hamster a few days ago too, and it was also really mean...and all of the other hamsters I put in the cages tried to bite me too. The mice and rats were ok...all of the other employees said they didn't like the hamsters either.

I kept thinking "Who would want one of these as a pet, ouch!" Lol....but it was just the pain in my thumb thinking for me.....I know not *all* hamsters can be like that! I guess if I was shipped in a box like that I'd probably be grouchy too!

Please give me some positive hamster thoughts or I fear I will never get near one again! LOL ;) (and no, the Hamster Dance website won't help! :P)

[Fuzzy317]

I would respond, but my only contact with hamsters were with them in their habitats. :(

[Cookiebaker]

Amy, I'm so sorry about your bad experience with the hamsters! *ouch* is right!! The first hamster we got was a teddy bear, and her name was Nibbles. (Incidentally, the day after we got her she had BABIES :eek: we totally weren't ready for babies, and unknowingly I picked a couple up & she abandoned them :( ) Anyway, she was a doll. I used to have a problem with insomnia pretty bad, and every night I would take her into the bathroom (no nooks or crannies) and let her run free and play with her. She never bit us or anything. She was a real friend...

I was so sad when she passed on and we got another a couple of days later and named her Buffy. Buffy was just a baby, not even full grown. I tried spending a lot of time with her as well, but she was always more aloof. When I put my hand in Nibbles cage she would come running up and climb up, but with Buffy she always ran & cowered in the corner and you could force her up, but you could tell she didn't like it. Buffy never bit us, but I didn't exactly trust her either.

So I think that hamsters have a range of personalities, and maybe you just saw the worst of them. Or maybe they felt threatened with sudden movement...it's really hard to say.But the reason that we aren't getting more hamsters is that their life span is so short...you get attached and a few months later they are gone. :(

[zookeeper]

Did you happen to try to take them out right after they woke up? Hammies are extremely grumpy when they first wake up and do not like to be disturbed for at least a few mintues. We actually adopted a hamster from the humane society and this is what we were told. They also need to be socialised a little first before they become really friendly. Its not instantaneous.

My hammie Midge was the sweetest little girl ever, I miss her so much (she passed away last Apr.). We kept her in our bathroom and every mornign when I went to get ready she would be at the front of her cage chatting away to me. She would than do what I called her Tarzan routine, she would swing from the top of her cage all the way across.

I never thought hamsters were to smart but boy Midge was brilliant. We had to take her wheel away cause she figured out how to open the top of her cage by locking the wheel on her wood chew climbing to the top of the wheel and than pushing up she could open the door:) Luckily we foud her the couple of times she did this.

She also loved to cuddle, you could pick her up and she would climb up to your neck and shoulder and just cuddle there. She was just so sweet:)

I really miss her and am not going to get any more hammies as they do not live very long and it was too hard to lose her. I just felt like we were really getting to know each other.

So I would say that hammies are wonderful little guys, you just have to give them a chance to show you:)

[Tina]

That reminds me when my hamster Waffles(that went to the RB a year ago) she bit me like once and my daughter three times. I think my daughter stuck her finger in the cage and Waffles thought it was food. Or she had waken her up. When Waffles bit me I guess I woke her up and she bit me. It really hurt. Most of the time she was a loving hamster. But I still wore gloves when I got her out to put her in her ball. Cause well I was afraid she would bite. I don't think hamsters are bad. I guess we just pick them up at bad times.

[Logan]

I have NEVER been bitten by a hamster and we have had them as pets for years. Maybe it is because we never try to handle them right after they wake up, but truly, they have never been anything but gentle and loving to any of us.

[Uabassoon]

I had a hamster named Brock when I lived in the dorms. I couldn't handle not having a pet, so I sort of snuck him in. Luckily when my RA found out about it she wasn't upset, in fact she would occasionally come over to play with him. All the girls on my floor loved him and would take turns playing with him. When we would have floor mettings/dinners he was always there and we would give him some treats. He was such a friendly little guy. Here's a picture of my RB hamster Brock.

http://www.petoftheday.com/talk/attachment.php?s=&postid=209385

ps. ignore the mess in my room. I was kind of messy as a freshman.

[zippy-kat]

Originally posted by wolf_Q
Please give me some positive hamster thoughts or I fear I will never get near one again! LOL

hee hee... she grooms dogs as big as small ponies and yet it's the hammies she fears! :p :D

[Cookiebaker]

Originally posted by zookeeper
I never thought hamsters were to smart but boy Midge was brilliant. We had to take her wheel away cause she figured out how to open the top of her cage by locking the wheel on her wood chew climbing to the top of the wheel and than pushing up she could open the door:) Luckily we foud her the couple of times she did this.



Oh my goodness, yes! The first couple of times that Nibbles did this we thought it was chance. But then we witnessed her getting all set up to get her wheel stuck. We ended up having to put a big book on the cage top so that she couldn't push it off. :rolleyes:

[COCatMama]

Black bear hamsters are pretty tame, I had one named Stumpy (so named due to the lack of one leg) and he never even tried to bite me, or anyone else :). I also had many teddy bear hammies as a kid and I looooved them.

[kimlovescats]

As a matter of fact, I just bought both of my daughters hamsters for an early Christmas gift. THey had both had them before, and they each died with a few weeks of eachother about a year ago... so we are back to 2 again. One is a golden hamster, and one is a dwarf.

So far, these two are friendly, and only try to bite if you are silly enough to stick your finger in their face...hehe!!

[kimlovescats]

another pic

[kimlovescats]

Ok...one more of Hampton the Hammy! He is really cute ya know! hehe

[wolf_Q]

Originally posted by zippy-kat


hee hee... she grooms dogs as big as small ponies and yet it's the hammies she fears! :p :D

lmao actually I believe I groomed a St. Bernard the very same day wahaha.

Thanks for your positive hamster stories, guys! I enjoyed reading them. :) I really never thought hamsters were evil, I think just the ones at our store are on the grouchy side. My sister's dwarf hamster was really cute. :)

[Aspen and Misty]

I have had 2 hamster and out of those tow one I couldn't hold, Aspen (Yea my screen name is named after him lol). He was the meanest little thing. I swear everytime you went near his cage he would try to kill you. Scary little guy he was, I still loved him though. I taught him to climb into things when I stuck them infront of hime, like his open ball or a carring cage, that way I never had to touch him. I had a hamster named Sage, she was a sweety. I would let her come out and sti on the bed with me and all she would do is sit there and cuddle. She was so cute. She was the pretiest colors to!

Ash

[COCatMama]

Hampton is indeed VERY cute!! makes me want to run out and get a hammy !! but I'm afraid of what Juneau might do :(

[CathyBogart]

I have found a few tricks since I started working in a pet store.

Hamsters are nearsighted, so picking them up tends to work better if you lay one hand down flat in front of he and shoo them onto your hand. They associate things coming at them from above with "PREDATOR!", so ther first instinct is to attack. A piece of cardboard helps a lot if you have especially ornery hamsters. (They often are if they have just arrived)

If I'm in a hurry I use a big fishnet to just scoop them up. A little stressful on them, but it helps if they are sleeping or if you have to do something quickly.

Best of luck in the future, I know how much....*fun* Hamsters can be! ^_^