by Jane Parrott

Created on: April 22, 2008

How to handle an aggressive hamster.

You are now the proud owner of a cute and cuddly hamster! Congratulations!

Now look out! Hamsters are cute and cuddly looking, but often that is where cute and cuddly end. I've owned six hamsters and each and everyone of them had a different personality all their own. If you have the time and patience, you can turn cute and cuddly into just that. I had two that were cute and cuddly already. One, that if you could moved fast enough, you could hang on to it. One that sort of put up with us after a little taming, and one named biter. She was almost one year old, beautifully colored, soft as silk, with a bite like a dinosaur. I promptly renamed her Snapper'. She came from an abusive home where two young children poked, prodded and generally drove her crazy from what I heard and could see, and she didn't trust anyone or anything that entered or walked by her cage. My story of taming shows how well it works. However, the taming comes with some rules but the outcome is phenomenal.

Rule #1: Patience! Patience! Patience! You must do things as your hamster allows or you will never accomplish gaining their trust. Sometimes however, you can do a couple at a time and have some fun.

Rule #2: To get your hamster to trust you. Feed it. Anyone who wants to handle the hamster needs to do this, so make it small pieces and share the chore. Carrots can be cut into thin pieces, so can broccoli, celery, and lettuce. Feeding your hamster small pieces of treats work well too. Do as much as you can by hand.

Rule #3: Keep the cage clean and sized well. No hamster, who cleans themselves several hundred times a day, wants to live in a pigsty. Fresh water, and food are a daily must, and fresh bedding every 4-6 days is essential. Running room is important too.

Rule #4: Get the hamster used to your smell. Put a small piece of material from your clothing, such as a piece of a ruined shirt or a piece of an unmatched sock that has been washed into the cage where it sleeps so the hamster can get used to your scent.

Rule #5: Pet first, pick up later. Once the animal knows that the big hand coming in the door will not hurt him, he won't be quite so afraid and want to bite. The use of tightly fitting gloves will smell like you, yet protect you to some degree from being bitten. Just remember to approach a hamster from the back, not the front, he might think you're food or a threat. Put yourself in your hamster's place. If someone bigger than you reached out to

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