Rabies in my hamster!??!

[Bigboy]

rabies is rare in rodents. opossums rarely contract it. Sick canids, cats. skunks, coons are animals to be leary of.

Like he said, extremely rare in rodents.

 

[skinheaddave]

Doesnt hamster mean "Spawn of Satan"? or is that Gerbil...

I think "Guinea Pig" is what you're thinking of... when I think of Satan, I picture a giant, talking Guinea Pig. With horns.

Really? I've never had a guinea pig try to bite me ... and I've been in contact with a lot. Same goes for gerbils. The former are squirmy and the latter are like ADD kids on meth ... but I would (and do) recommend either as pets over hamsters.

Hamsters can be decent if you get them young and work with them ... but I fail to see why you would put in that effort when you can basically take any adult gerbil in any pet store, reach in and pick them up without any harm. Rats are way smarter and trainable but do require a larger environment and produce more waste.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Tleilaxu]

I had a Siberian dwarf hamster that was relatively tame (meaning it rarely bit) I could also hand feed it and pet it occasionally. It did NOT apprciate being handled though and would try to squirm away. I also agree with what everyone else has said, your hamster is just being a hamster.

 

[Only Exotics]

I can use some snake food if you want to donate it to good home

 

[Choobaine]

I handled some hamsters at a friends house, one nipped occasionally the other fell asleep on me. That's remarkably rare going by what you folks are saying.

I haven't held hamsters much though, they all belong to someone else and they look too tasty and honestly I keep resisting the urge to go and cook them. I wouldn't keep mice, hamsters, small birds and guinea pigs for that reason. I can't keep what looks like tasty food!