My hamster thinks I'm edible, HELP!?

Question

Ok, so I recently bought a female Syrian Hamster.

If I put my hand in her cage she's comfortable with it, but within seconds she cautiously steps up to my hand and tries to gnaw my

hand. The weird thing is it is DEFINITELY not a bite as in,

"Oh, I'm scared get away from me!" It's more like, "Hmmmm I wonder what this tastes like."

Somebody please help!

Answer 1

She probably thinks your hand/finger is food, such as a carrot.

Answer 2

Don't worry, I have the same problem. I put my hand in my new hamsters cage, he walked up to it, and took a little nibble out of my fingers.

She's just figuring out what you are. Don't scold him or anything, just tame him and soon he'll get used to you. You can follow my guide to hand taming.

Day 1-3 Leave her along except for changing food and water.

Day 4- Give her a treat through the bars of the cage.

Day 5 & 6- Put a treat in your hand and lay it flat in the cage. (If she takes the seed from your hand, move on to the next day. If not keep repeating until hamster is comfortable).

Day 7- Show her your hand and pick her up, only a few inches in the air. Set her back down as soon as she gets restless.

Day 8- Do this again. Lift her higher.

Day 9- Lift her up and see if she is comfortable with it. Keep repeating until she is.

Day 10- When she's comfortable, you can then take her out to play!

** Rememer that hamsters can't see very well. You must always talk to your hamster before you give her a treats or whatever so she knows yo're there.

Good luck!

Answer 3

hamsters can smell food on your hands if you didn't wash them before handling your hamster. So therefore they will bite your hand because it smells like food.

Answer 4

it may be that u have food on ur hand like the smell of food that can aus them to bite u  

Answer 5

I use hand sanitizer, or wash my hands before i put my hand anywhere near my hamster. That way I dont smell like anything tasty.

Answer 6

Lol, I don't have an answer, but I'm letting you know, im giving you a star because the title was so awesome.

Answer 7

i believe all it needs is to get used to you a little more. i have a rabbit and it seems to do that sometimes but after a couple times it will eventually stop?

Answer 8

Try washing your hands before you put them in the cage. or when you pick her up wear rubber gloves so that if she bites it doesnt hurt. or if you work with her slowley she'll get used to you and quite bitting. My hamster used to bite all the time and I took her out of the cage and slowley endured painful bites and eventualy she got used to me. after about a year I had her to wear she would sit on my shoulder and read with me lol. but she still bit my friends and family

Answer 9

Many hamsters nibble on their pet owner's hands. There are three reasons for this - firstly they do this as a sign of affection (it is the reverse of biting which they would do when they do not like the smell), secondly they do it to see if you would give them some treats (this happens when you are used to giving them treats, so they associate your hand smell with treats) and thirdly because of our body salt which they think is food (even if we don't sweat, we can give out minute amounts of salty moisture through our skin and hamsters have a keen sense of smell and smell that too)

Whichever the reason, it is completely normal for your hamster to nibble your fingers. Just make sure you wash your hands thoroughly before handling your hamster since any smell of food in your hand can make her bite your hand unwittingly thinking it is food.