Hamsters!!

[Anonymity82]

They are cute but like monkeys can become super attached and defensive if not given the proper socialization at an early age. Or sometimes they're just jerks like some animals and people just are.


Here's another video of my vicious little fancy russian swallowing a cricket whole. I dropped at least one in there before. He attacks so quickly they fall out of the grip of the tongs.


[YOUTUBE]2UXFmuBR-BE [/YOUTUBE]


Also, you see what he does to the tongs? Yeah, he does that to fingers too. He's a total sweet heart outside of his cage though!

 

[lizardminion]

Yeah, you all know that whole biting thing? That's why I gave up on keeping hamsters after 8 years. Aggressive monsters, these things. Why would PETA ever recommend these for children over anything else, like an alligator? I'm telling you, the 'gator would bite less! :?

 

[Anonymity82]

I think their feistiness is adorable! I rarely recommend the larger, more dangerous Syrians but sometimes I have to. I often talk to customers who have had really sweet none biters and I even had one that never bit me. Most of my other Syrians bit once in a while though.

The trick is to get the smallest one you can find and gently handle it often. There's a brief, very brief, time period in which they need to be socialized. My most recently late Syrian was purchased when he was very tiny. Never bit me once! Syrians do make me super nervous though. Their bite is terrible! These little guys aren't as bad and don't even break the skin half the time. Or only slightly break the skin. Syrians go through like a hot knife through butter. I swear, they reach the bone!

 

[Galapoheros]

I'm going to try this again. I spent like 30 minutes writing out this whole thing about my hamsters and experience with them when I clicked submit it had logged me out and everything was lost.....

I never was interested in these. About once a year my mother would buy us a baby chicken though, Easter... something like that. My sister kept hamsters, she has a bizarre false memory of me and a brother making her watch a snake eat one of her hamsters when we were kids, completely fabricated, frustrating. I'm convinced it was a dream she made real in her mind over the years. Anyway, I've lost a lot of typing also by getting logged out. If you don't scroll or click somewhere on the site over a period of time, it logs you out. If I have something kind of long to type out, I do it in Notepad, email, ..something like that, then copy and paste it to the comment box.

 

[RockinOutAmber]

I have never had a hamster bite me. The one I have now has been really skittish, but I have gain his trust by giving him treats. He's a lot easier to handle now. Here's Dagit

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/395525_4925148042011_180602124_n.jpg

 

[Formerphobe]

It's not easy being a 30 year old male small furry animal lover. People give me weird looks!

LOL As long as you don't dress them up in funny clothes, you'll be fine. Kudos to you for not being afraid to say you like small furry animals.

 

[Anonymity82]

I never was interested in these. About once a year my mother would buy us a baby chicken though, Easter... something like that. My sister kept hamsters, she has a bizarre false memory of me and a brother making her watch a snake eat one of her hamsters when we were kids, completely fabricated, frustrating. I'm convinced it was a dream she made real in her mind over the years. Anyway, I've lost a lot of typing also by getting logged out. If you don't scroll or click somewhere on the site over a period of time, it logs you out. If I have something kind of long to type out, I do it in Notepad, email, ..something like that, then copy and paste it to the comment box.

Sure, false memory you hamster hater!

Thanks, I usually remember to copy and paste before I try to submit... not this time :/.

---------- Post added 01-21-2013 at 01:10 PM ----------

I have never had a hamster bite me. The one I have now has been really skittish, but I have gain his trust by giving him treats. He's a lot easier to handle now. Here's Dagit

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/395525_4925148042011_180602124_n.jpg

Cute!!!!

I've had to deal with hundreds and hundreds of them at this point at work. I've been bitten severely once by a Syrian and had to go get a tetnus shot. And maybe bitten 5 more times in the beginning. Now I know what to look for. Winter whites love to scream and show their teeth but they rarely actually bite. I just scoop them up! The albino fancy russians like to turn if you touch them and they don't often back down. They may run away if you reach for them but when you stop paying attention they will bum rush you haha. It's hard to even clean the glass in their cage. They don't just curiously sniff at what you're doing, they come out claws thrashing! If you don't move quick enough out come the teeth! It's real fun trying to administer medication to these guys. All the other non albino fancy russians are pretty sweet. Don't get it lol.

---------- Post added 01-21-2013 at 01:25 PM ----------

LOL As long as you don't dress them up in funny clothes, you'll be fine. Kudos to you for not being afraid to say you like small furry animals.

Thanks!!

Yeah... I definitely don't dress them up... like with cute little booties and little hello kitty bowtie clips? Lol. Maybe a tiny barbie tutu? LOL. Hehe JK. I definitely don't! I just love hamsters and pigs and most cute little animals. Thanks for the props! I work at a pet store and spend much of time telling people how much I love hamsters. People actually seem happy to be talking to someone who knows about them more than weirded out. Maybe they're happy to see that people actually care too because you often hear about how pet stores mistreat their animals.

 

[Cydaea]

I never thought to feed bugs to my rodents... I bet my old rats would have loved a B. dubia.

I once gave my rats a couple of crickets (the rats were kept in a large aquarium so the crickets couldn't get away). My rats were the fattest, laziest rats ever. But they got off their butts to hunt the crickets!

I want to have rats again in the near future, I miss having them.

 

[Anonymity82]

I once gave my rats a couple of crickets (the rats were kept in a large aquarium so the crickets couldn't get away). My rats were the fattest, laziest rats ever. But they got off their butts to hunt the crickets!

I want to have rats again in the near future, I miss having them.

I had a rat for about an hour once. It was a dumbo rat. It was pretty big too. I thought it would fit in my 20 gallon tank but I soon learned it couldn't even stand up completely. Then it bit me. Back it went!

Whenever I talk to actual rat keepers they sound just like myself when I talk about my ferrets. Great pets! Different personalities and pretty smart too! Well, ferrets weren't too smart but they figured their way out of a jam. At the same time my one ferret never learned that it wouldn't be able to drag the loaf of bread or papertowels in the tiny opening under the dresser. Something like 6 years. It would do this nearly everyday.

 

[Anonymity82]

I thought I would just add that my hamster in the video is actually the sweetest thing outside of the cage. IN the cage it will not hesitate to bite you if you put your fingers in or near the bars. If you reach in it may attack you viciously. It lets me pet him on his head and he'll even start falling asleep but if I try to pick him up he almost always attacks. I've noticed that if i lure him out of his door he wont bite. I can then just cup him in my hand and pet his head until he falls asleep! He's so much calmer outside the cage than my much sweeter Peggy. God, they're weird!