I have some questions about my pets.

Question

1. I have 2 dogs. They are both malteases. One is 2 and one is 6. The 2 year old has curly hair and the 6 year old has straight.why is this?

2. My Dwarf hamster. He buzzes whenever someone sticks there hand in his tank. Once he bit my little brother and it broke skin. He was bleeding, but I got the hamster tested for rabies and he doesn't have any. He did the same thing to my mom. Why does She do this?

3. My cockitial. She seems very smart. She says comercials over and over again. She makes fun of my moms laugh. She also says regular things that birds like to say. I dont know why but she curses too. Then she bites anyone that does something she doesn't want them to do.

Please answer these questions I need your help.

Answer 1

Won't answer 1 or 3 but I can answer 2.

You're hamster is a territorial animal, and your brother and your mum invaded her territory. That's why she bit.

Before handling your hamster, ensure that any other pets are out of the way. If you have been handling food, wash your hands before attempting to hold your hamster because it's sense of smell is much better than it's sight and will be inclined to nip, thinking that your fingers are some tasty treat.

Your hamster will be very nervous about being picked up at first. For this reason, it is important that you do not frighten it or pick it up incorrectly as this will only make it anxious about being picked up in the future.

If the cage top can be lifted off, the process becomes much easier. You can pick up the hamster using both hands. This avoids you having to squeeze your hands with the hamster through a small cage door, which may frighten it.

To pick up your hamster, scoop it up using both hands and gently cup your hamster in your hands as you lift it out of the cage. It is best to sit down when taking the hamster out of it's cage so that you do not lift it too high. If it should suddenly jump from your hands it may injure itself if it is too far off the ground.

If you have to pick your hamster up with one hand, perhaps because it is not possible to lift the lid from the cage, place that hand over it's body with your fingers facing toward its rear and head facing toward your wrist. This way, if the hamster tries to nip, your fingers are well out of the way and there is nothing for it to bite. This also allows you to hold the hamster gently but firmly as you lift it.

Although it is possible to pick your hamster up by the scruff of the neck - because it has loose skin - it will not like this. This method of picking up your hamster is likely to make it unhappy about being handled.

HANDLING

Once you have lifted your hamster out of it's cage and are sitting you can let it run around in your lap whilst stroking it. Your hamster will love the chance to explore and it is a good way for your hamster to get used to the feeling of being stroked. Be careful that it does not explore too much and go running off - if it starts to run off, carefully pick it up and return it to your lap.

Another way to handle your hamster is to let it walk from one hand to the other. It is best to place the hamster on your hand so that is facing toward you and position your other hand in front of it so that it can step from on hand to the other. Once it has stepped onto your hand, move the first hand in front, so that it can step forward again. By repeating this movement, you can create a never-ending series of steps for your pet to walk on. As your hamster becomes confident about this, you can start to wrap your fingers around its body as it moves from one hand to another.

If your hamster becomes nervous and tried to jump whilst you are handling it, it is better to let it do so and then pick it up again, rather than try to keep hold of it. This could result in you squeezing the hamster, which is likely to frighten it. If you are sitting with the hamster facing toward you, it will not come to any harm and will simply lad in your lap unhurt.

As your hamster becomes used to being handled it will become less inclined to jump from your hands and will enjoy its time out of the cage. You can let your hamster run around outside the cage but do keep it under supervision to prevent it running off, getting lost or coming to any harm.

Answer 2

1.I'm guessing one of the dogs isn't pure bred.

2.He bites because he gets frightened whenever some sticks their hand in his tank, maybe due to the fact that someone has been mistreating her.

3.I have yet to see a cocktail that doesn't bite.

Answer 3

your dogs fur is down to their different genetics, just the same as you may have curly hair but your mum has straight.

your hamster is frightened, anything coming into his cage, especially if its  a top opening one will be seen by him as a predator, dwarf hamsters havent been domesticated as long as some othe rpets and they can still be overly jumpy and nervous.

as for your bird, shes a normal cockatiel, she will bite when shes not happy about something, shes picked up the cursing the same as any othe rwords she knows, its all mimickery, whatever she hears she will copy, the more attention she gets from some words the more she will use them. the laughing thing, she isnt making fun of her laugh, she is attempting to copy the noise she hears, and if it doesnt sound quite right shes not trying to make fun she just cant get it quite right.

i dont quite see what you need help with though, hope this answers your questions.

Answer 4

1.) Did you get your dogs directly from a breeder, or from a pet store? There's a few reasons why they might have different coats; one is that your younger one might have a little bit of another breed mixed in. Another factor is the age difference, it might be that as he gets older your little one's hair will straighten out. Usually Maltese dogs have straight hair; I'd say talk to the folks you got him from.

2.) Your hamster is probably "buzzing" because he's scared. When he bit your brother and your mom, was he cornered? I'd recomend trying to handle him some more by yourself. If he has toys that he crawls into, let him crawl into one and pick him up with that. Then sit quietly with him and see if he slowly relaxes a bit. Once he has, put him back in his tank and come back a little later for another session.

How did you get him tested for rabies? There's only two methods that I can think of using; one involves a blood test (which is unlikely, seeing as hamsters are so small and it's usually difficult to draw blood safely) and the other (more widely used) method involves your hamster going to hamster heaven. Unless your hamster has been outside and exposed to animals that are the usual culprits for rabies (racoons and bats are the main ones) he most likely wouldn't have it.

3.) Have you had your cockatiel her whole life, or was she living with another owner? It's possible that she picked up her swearing habit from a previous owner. Or it's possible that she picked it up from someone in your house when they weren't aware she was listening. She bites folks when they do something she doesn't want them to do because that's what birds do. They don't like rough handling, irregular loud noises (if your dogs bark a lot), and can get easily stressed. If you can, try teaching her to say something like "don't do that" instead of biting. She sounds like a smart bird, all it takes is patience.