Do Dwarf Hamsters Bite?

March 16, 2013 By Sarah Yee 54 Comments

Do dwarf hamsters bite? This is a common question by potential hamster owners or parents looking to get their kids a new pet hamster. The short answer is yes. However, it is not common and dwarf hamsters rarely bite without reason. Also, dwarf hamsters are more likely to nibble than to inflict a real bite that draws blood. Since neither nibbling nor biting is ideal, we’ll refer to them both as biting in this article. The following explains why dwarf hamsters bite and the ways you can stop a dwarf hamster from biting.

Why do dwarf hamsters bite?

The hamster is startled
A sleeping hamster or one that is unaware of your presence may react by biting if you try to pick it up suddenly.
The hamster sees you as a threat
Hamsters are territorial and may see you as an invader if you poke your finger into their cage. If you are reaching for your hamster from above, it may also regard you as a predator and bite in defense.
The hamster is frightened
Are you holding your hamster too tightly? It may frighten your hamster and cause it to bite.
Your hand or fingers smell of food
Hamsters have highly sensitive noses and if you’re handling your hamster right after touching food, it may mistaken your fingers for food and start nibbling on it.
It also depends on the hamster’s personality
Some hamsters are more prone to biting than others. My two robo dwarf hamsters, Ichigo and Blueberry, have vastly different personalities. Ichigo has never bitten me under any circumstances but Blueberry has a tendency to nibble on anything that’s put near his face.

Here’s Blueberry the robo dwarf hamster biting at my glove:

How to stop a dwarf hamster from biting

Wash your hands before handling the hamster
Alert a hamster to your presence by putting your hand slowly in front of it and letting the hamster sniff your hand before attempting to pick it up
If your hamster is territorial, try playing with it outside the cage in a neutral area
If your hamster looks scared or takes on a defensive stance, leave it alone for a while instead of trying to interact with it
If a hamster tends to nibble, put on gloves before interacting with it

Training your dwarf hamster not to bite

According to the book Hamsterlopaedia, “reprimanding” your hamster by giving it a light tap on the nose and saying “No!” can teach your hamster that biting is unacceptable and may stop this bad behavior.

But here’s a different tip left by a reader, “cms”:

You should never ever hit a hamster for biting you. Not even a little bop on the nose. They should never see your hands as something that gives punishment, only treats and love. The first time you bop a hamster, they won’t ever forget. Try lightly blowing on their face (not hard enough to scare them) it will let them know that they aren’t supposed to do it without making them afraid of that big looming hand. If you strike them for biting, you’re only reinforcing the fear that caused the bite in the first place.

Madi

I have a dwarf hamster named marshmellow I try to pick it up every so often and it jumps right out of my hand .! and I tried putting food in my hand and trying to get him used to me and all he does is smell me and ends up biting me … one time he bit me so hard I drew blood I want my hamster to like me and I really want him to be calm ,what should I do ??
- Sarah Yee
  
  Hi! What kind of dwarf hamster is Marshmellow and how long have you had him?
  
  You might also want to try the taming tips on these pages
  http://dwarfhamsterblog.com/robo-dwarf-hamster/
  http://dwarfhamsterblog.com/russian-dwarf-hamster/
patrick

hi,
we got a new hamster last week.
it is already staying with us for a week becouse his old owner went on vakation.
but she didn’t want him annymore so we could keep him.
he is really cute and i want to take good care of him, but he bites a lot.
and he made my hand bleed serveral times.
the brother of his old owner told me she used to smack him (rather hard for a hamster) and yell at him when he bites
she also did other things he didn’t like but i don’t want this message to be too long

i watched serveral youtube video’s how to approach him and that i musn’t chaise him and leave him alone the first day and all kind of tricks to let him get used to me and stop him from biting me.
it is a dwarf hamster so it has to do something with his nature, but i am also shure it has to do with how his last owner misstreated him.

i often just slowly put my hand in his cage so he has to come to me. and then he starts biting me
i don’t shock and i just let him bite me or twist my hand slowly and if i give up i slowly pull my hand away.

can you please give me some advice?
- Sarah Yee
  
  I think you are doing well with your new hamster. He will probably need time to learn that your hand is not a threat (unlike the old owner).
  
  I have a hamster who always bites, but nowadays he has stop biting so much and I think this has helped:
  
  – Wear gloves on one hand and let him go up to your glove
  – If he bites the gloved hand, let him. He should stop after a while.
  – If he doesn’t stop, go away and try again later 🙂
  – Use the other hand (without gloves) to give him treats when he stops biting glove
  – Pet him gently with the same hand (no gloves) when he’s eating the treat
  – Don’t let him bite your hand without gloves (move away if he looks like he’s going to bite)
  – Repeat the above over many days and he should learn that your hand and your scent = treats and not dangerous
  
  The above has worked for taming my Roborovski hamster (the one in the video that bites). He still doesn’t like me putting my hand into his cage, but I don’t give him a chance to bite me and he is more comfortable with staying on my hand once he is outside the cage.
  - patrick
    
    Thank you a lot for your advice.
    I also asked people on youtube but i don’t get any response from them.
    You reacted realy fast. xD
    And i think those are great tips and i think they will help.
    
    Before i readed your reaction this moring, i got two leather gloves from my dad (gloves for more grip on his baseball bat)
    I am washing them right now, but they smell like leather. Can i still use them or do I have to get other gloves to approach the hamster?
    
    Is it ok if I have more questions? I don’t want to spamm you.
    Anyway, thank you for your tips.
    - Sarah Yee
      
      You’re welcome! I try to check my comments everyday ^_^
      And I’m very glad you think they will help.
      
      The smell might be a problem because hamsters have sensitive noses. I usually use cloth gardening gloves (like the one that my hamster is biting in the video).
      
      And yes, it’s definitely okay! Please feel free to ask any questions, I will try to help if I know the answer 🙂
Toby

My dwarf hamster never bit anyone before until today when the person that was helping me out went to pick him up and put him back in the cage. It’s been over a year and he has never bit anyone. I’m concerned. Was it afraid of something? I couldn’t find the ball to put him in, so I used a bucket. Next time I clean his cage, if I do it the way I always used to, will he try to bite again or will he be normal again?… Thanks
- Sarah Yee
  
  Hi, is the person helping you a stranger (to your dwarf hamster)? It might have been because the hamster was afraid of an unfamiliar scent. It could also depend on whether the person had any food smells on his/her hand, how he/she picked up the hamster, etc. I can’t say for sure that he won’t try to bite again, but dwarf hamsters typically don’t bite at random so if this is a one-off thing, there’s a high chance he’d be normal again
Ally

Hi,
Thanks so much for this helpful article! I’ve had my dwarf hamster (Spice) for awhile now, but am having issues taming her. I began holding her with a glove, which she bit nonstop at first (simply because she wasn’t used to it, I think). Eventually she got used to the glove, and now hardly ever bites it, although she seems a bit jittery. I’d like to start holding her with my bare hands, but like the glove, I’m pretty sure she’ll bite me nonstop for a while. How should I graduate from gloves to bare hands without getting a lot of injuries? Thanks so much!
- Sarah Yee
  
  Hi! I’m glad you found it helpful. Have you tried wearing gloves on just one hand, picking her up with the gloved hand and then letting her walk over to the other hand?
  
  You could start with just one bare hand and see if she bites/tries to bite it.
  
  Let me know how it goes/if you’ve tried the one hand thing! ^^
Sarah

Hi! It sounds like your hamster has cage aggression. One of my roborovski hamsters is the same way. You might want to take a look at this: http://dashinghamsters.blogspot.sg/2011/11/cage-aggression.html It lists some possible causes and a few things that you can try
Sarah

Is there any chance that Pepper could be sick? I read somewhere that hamsters can turn aggressive if they’re sick. Or has someone else been playing with her and handling her roughly? I would pay more attention to her and see if she’s behaving any differently besides biting when picked up.
Sarah

Hi, thanks. I have no idea why…hmm has your sister accidentally frightened the hamster? Does she wash her hands before handling it?
Sarah

Hmm..maybe don’t offer your finger? Try this: Offer your palm and see if the hamster will go on it, and hold a sunflower seed in front of him with your other hand so that he’ll go for the sunflower seed instead of sniffing/biting at your palm. Don’t let go of the sunflower seed immediately and instead use it to bait your hamster up your other palm.
coraline

PLEASE PLEASEE MAKE BUYING HAmster item thing on hamster.sg able to ship to thailand! please
- Sarah
  
  We’re still figuring out how to ship internationally but if we do, Thailand will definitely be one of the places we’ll ship to!
  
  Incidentally, I’ll be going to Thailand in a few weeks time! Would love to see what hamster products you guys have over there ^_^
Domi

Hi I like your blog it has a lot of useful information.

i have 2 hamsters their names are Remy and Nelson and they are quite nice, i have only had them for 1 weeks and they are 5 weeks old. They do bite a bit too much for me and I’m not really sure what I can do about it… the thing is, they have never drawn blood but they still bite hard enough that it hurts. You said earlier that sometimes they bit because of food, well what about soap, will they bite you because of soap? And sometimes when they bite it’s hard enough that when I lift my finger up from the ground a bit, they just kind of hang there…is that unusual?
Thank you for your time!
- Sarah
  
  Hi!
  
  Yes, that’s unusual but I’ve seen it happen. However, you should probably not let them bite you so much or it might turn into a habit. If you are having problems lifting them without them biting you, you might want to use a toilet roll or something else that can pick them up. They’ll tend not to bite once they are on your hand. Wear gloves if necessary and you could also offer them a sunflower seed or a treat before attempting to pick them up to show that you’re not a threat.
  
  As for soap, especially ones that are heavily scented, it’s possible that the hamster might mistaken it for food or it could be the soap masking your smell so the hamster is simply biting in response to an unfamiliar smell
joey negron

I want one soooooooooooooooo bad
lulu

I just got a dwarf hamster from petco about 3 days ago and shes bitten me three times. I know she is still probably not used to me and her new surroundings which is probably the reason shes biting. ive placed my hand in her age while holding a sun flower seed in between my index and thumb but she went around the treat and bit my index finger. I don’t know how I can get her accustomed to my presence, I would really like to interact without the fear of being bitten.
- Sarah
  
  Hi, you could wear a glove on one hand to give her treats/pick her up and pet her with the other hand for the time being until she stops being so aggressive.
  - lulu
    
    ok thanks
- cms
  
  When you get a new hamster, leave them alone in the cage for a few days so that they can get accustomed to it before you start trying to handle them 🙂
cms

You should never ever hit a hamster for biting you. Not even a little bop on the nose. They should never see your hands as something that gives punishment, only treats and love. The first time you bop a hamster, they won’t ever forget. Try lightly blowing on their face (not hard enough to scare them) it will let them know that they aren’t supposed to do it without making them afraid of that big looming hand. If you strike them for biting, you’re only reinforcing the fear that caused the bite in the first place.
- AbbieKate
  
  I just started trying this with my 2 month old male russian dwarf and it already looks like its working! It makes him stop nibbling or biting immediately and he’s already trying to nibble noticeably less! Thanks for the tip!!
lena_dove

I think people should treat there pet dwarf hamphster the right way.
I agree with cms
ola

I got 2 robo hammies from a pet store about a week and a half ago. I’m guessing they are around 5 weeks old. They are related to each other and get along fine. I read online that i should leave them alone for a week so they get used to their new surroundings. I tried to place my hand in the cage to let them sniff. One of them, lucy, sniffed my fingers and bit me. Whenever I put my hand in they either bite me or run away and hide. i tried to do some things that i read online but i don’t see any improvements. they also aren’t big fans of most treats, so i can’t get them close to my hand. please help me, i would love to give the hamsters a good home, but I’m not sure what to do. thanks
Chloe

Are they female and male? If so they may have mated,females tend to be aggressive during pregnancy. You should talk to your vet.
sghamster

hi guys pls help my hamster has started nibbling me but has not happened before
sghamster

my hammie has already been with me for more than 3 months
sghamster

her name is snowy she is a winter white dwarf
Jasmine Harris

We have a Russian dwarf hamster and it bit me and my brother drawing blood so my dad put a glove on and it bit the glove and was hanging from it
Laura Edmunds

I am so sad. My female Russian Dwarf Marshmallow bit me so hard she drew blood. She has never bit us before and was the most happy friendly hamster we’ve ever seen. There was nothing different about our routine with her today.. I opened up her cage and said “Come Marshmallow” like usual and she hopped up on to the door and hopped in to my hand as usual. She was fine then I handed her to my daughter (her owner) (who Marshmallow loves very much) and she bit her 2x’s.. My daughter figured it was because she went to the movies and had pop corn smelling hands.Then she started biting a hole though the blanket on the bed! Then I figured I’d pick her up and put her back because we thought it was the pop corn smell when she bit me so hard it drew blood. I had to get a cup to put her back in her cage. This has never happened before. My daughters friend’s hammy did this, then they discovered she had a brain tumour and then it died shortly after. My daughter is terrified that this is now happening to Marshmallow. She is about 6 months old, maybe 8 months. Now I’m afraid to pick her up. Do you think that she is sick? She looks o.k. We are super sad. This is so unlike Marshmallow…. 🙁
- Polar Bear
  
  How big was her cage? Recommended cage size is 450 sq inches of FLOOR SPACE (not including lofts and stories). DIY bin cages are a great cheap option. If you get the store bought hanster cages that kids often like such as Crittertrail or Habitrail it is often way too small and your hamster will get cage agression. It’s also possible she was in heat and was in a bad mood. 6-8mo is pretty young (average life span is 2-3yrs) so I would place my bets on either or those two. If it is worrying you a lot, you can take them to the vet.
Coco Puff

My robo dwarf hamster, Brownie, bit my finger when I started taming it. (I don’t know what gender Brownie is.) It bit me twice, and now I am scared to place my hands into its cage. Since I was too nervous, I stuck my fingers through Brownie’s cage so it would smell me and get used to the scent. But as soon as it spotted my fingers, it scampered over to my finger and and started to rest it’s mouth on my skin. I quickly pulled my hand away. I tried this multiple times, but Brownie kept on scampering to my fingers. Is she trying to bite me again? Why do you think it’s biting me?
Izzyd

My Russian dwarf hamster has been in a very bad mood in the past few days and I’m not sure why. I’ve had him for almost two months and I’ve never had this problem with him before. He is always very friendly and has only ever nibbled my nails but always in a friendly way. He started bitting me yesterday and I want to know why and how I can stop it. He always draws blood and has often not let go of my finger. Please give me some advice on what I can do to stop this.
- Erin
  
  How often are you handling him? He might be getting stressed. Do you ever wake him up while he was sleeping? This also causes stress, which leads to a cranky hamster.
  Then again, he might just be having a bad day (or two). I would just leave him alone for a couple days; let him have his space. I also recommend wearing gloves if you need to handle him while he is still in his “bad mood.”
Jhamsters_knowledge

Hamsters like all mammals have personalities of their own so to try and distinguish ways to stop your hamster from biting is solely based off you and your relationship u develop with your hamster. I currently have to winter white dj hamsters and tho they are both vary tamed my male dj came with an attitude that was a bit tough to get over, and hitting him was never a way I thought could get him to stop biting me, so as lame as it sounds I turned to treats! Now to be successful with this tactic u offer treats for the first couple days no more than five days of this. Give them treats for nothing but while doing so allow them to come to cage and smell you out, give a light blow a wind into there face every time they approach the cage this is allow the hamster to have a full profile of your scent and not a mixture with anything else you may have touched. So after about five days of pure spoiling the little guygal with treats its time to change the game plan. Now instead of giving the treats thru the cage you are going to open the cage and place the treat in your hand and allow the hamster to come into your hand and retrieve the treat, now on the first couple rounds you may be bitten or nibble on bit this normal seeing you are doing things alot differently than what it’s use to. When your hamster bit or nibble , close down the treat session completely, this is significantly important because if you continue at this point you are leaving the hamster to believe that these are the actions they should take upon you. After a few tries the hamsters shouldn’t be biting u anymore and more concerned about getting to his or her treat before its taken away. After u have mastered that step, its time to try handling your buddy. So start by opening the cage with a treat in hand and seeing if the hamster try leaving the cage to get the treat from you, now this is another important thing to watch for, if the hamster makes effort to exit the cage to come get treat from your hand then your hamster has grown enough comfort with you to leave his territory and enter yours, as long as your slow and patience and not too loud because they are easily scared you should be able to handle you hamster from this point, and with each passing day your hamster wi gain more an more trust in you and soon you can pitch the whole treats for peace thing . I’m not a hamster expert at all but from person experience in dealing with these animals for the past 8 years I feel very knowledgeable about this subject to say the least. Hope this helps out for some, n good luck with your little friend.
******note*******
For first time hamster owners I strongly suggest Syrian hamsters or dj winter whites, robo hamsters are very very fast moving and very skittish, Teddy bear hamsters although very very cute have the tendency to be not so friendly little guys, again I’m no expert just what I have experienced in the past years when dealing with these guys
Κωστής Ζώης

I got 2 weeks now a russian dwarf hamster.. i am trying to tame it and play with it but it nibbles me all the time.. i wash my hands before and he/she stills chew me. I also give him/her a treat form outside the cage and it is eating it,but if i put my hand in and give him/her the trea, he /she will start snelling it and then smell my finger and start chewing it.. plz help.. i cant tame her / him if he/she is doing that all the time
- Katie
  
  My Russian dwarf hamster nibbles on me I haven’t hit it I have had him 2 days now and I just say so but now I’ve read up you can gentally blow near their face I’m gonna try and learn him but it Dosent hurt when they nibble on you that much!
  - Polar Bear
    
    2 days isn’t enough to start handling your hamster. Recommended time is 3 to 4 days of alone time (no touching although it’s cute and tempting) to let it settle in. Then you can do the scented tissue method to let him/her get used to your scent. Remember, your hamster nibbles because it’s trying to figure out what you are, and it has bad eyesight. You should really only be gently blowing on him if the nibble hurts (more like gnawing) or if the nibble turns into biting. Don’t punish him for being flat out curious!
Shannon Leahy

I have 3 hamsters that are all fairly new but one I just recently got is handicapped so to say and is born with it’s two back legs not working. And I don’t know the gender yet since it is a newborn and its name is nemo. I can’t get near nemo without nemo running to my hand to try and bite it nemo always chews everything and memos teeth have been getting so strong that nemo just drew blood even as a newborn. They said he/she was a very nice hamster at the store, but he was in the back because his family was beating him up. What am i doing wrong? Is there any way you can help i have asked others and have gotten very little responses a lot of the time.
- Polar Bear
  
  Your hamster was probably acting in defense – it’s used to associating physical contact with being bullied. The next time you get the runt of the litter (since your post is from 2 years ago) you’ll just have to work through it and gain its trust. It may take a while since hamsters that are born healthy can still be skittish and timid, and you can expect the runt to be even more so.
Erin

I would definitely read these articles, the dwarfhamsterblog has really helped me. if you have time, read as much as you can; you will be thankful!
Marsela Valles

Daughter’s hamster just started biting her after 2 weeks of having it..the first few times was just nibbles that didn’t hurt much. Then the last time it was two huge bite marks it went from two small needle point size bite marks to tearing the skin off… she’s such an animal lover and cried her eyes out not so much for the pain but because her feelings are hurt that her hamster is acting this way all of a sudden.
- Marsela Valles
  
  Forgot to add, he was good about her holding him he seemed to like it… so I don’t know what happened.
  - Polar Bear
    
    If your hamster seems to have regressed, restart the taming process. Also try the gentle blowing method this article suggests.
Jaelynn Adams

i have a chinese dwarf hamster and it acutally bit me under my finger nail on my left pointer finger and it started to bleed and i don’t know how to stop it and why it’s happening i always wash my hands before handling it and after and always make sure that he’s not fritened but he never is.
- Polar Bear
  
  My winter white was like that too – just gnawed at my fingers and hands for no real reason. Try the gentle blowing method that the article suggests. It works quite well. Mine stopped even nibbling after 3 days of trying the blowing method.
Oliver Chang

i had a piece of broccoli on my hand and it bit my hand instead.
- Polar Bear
  
  Remember that they can’t see well. If you had the smell of broccoli on your fingertips from when you picked it up it could have confused your fingers for food.
Polar Bear

Do the both of you spend equal amounts of time with the hamster? Whose room is the hamster kept in? Your sister obviously wouldn’t smell exactly like you, and sometimes if they are handled by someone who isn’t you they get scared and nip. Also, does your sister wear perfume/cologne/body mist? They might not be enjoying the strong smell and bite to make it go away. Remember, hamsters can’t see very well but have a very keen sense of smell.
Bella

Also is it true that if your hamster bites you and you say ouch really loud will they stop
Bella

My sisters hamster is biting her for no reason… is it because the hamster is a baby or what?! Are we doing anything wrong… my sisters hamster is really hyper does it have to do with that and what do we need to do to make it stop biting

Why do dwarf hamsters bite?

How to stop a dwarf hamster from biting

Training your dwarf hamster not to bite

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