# Mean Hamster



## TheJesusAtLife (Feb 19, 2013)

My Robo Dwarf hamster is very mean. I'm not sure why. Whenever I try to pick him up he bites me, I try to gently scoop him up slowly. He also killed his brother. How can I change this? And I don't want to take him back, he's too cute. I also tried running my fingers through the bedding to get my smell.


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## elmthesofties (Aug 8, 2011)

You don't get mean hamsters. You get hamsters which bite because they're terrified and their instinct tells them that biting will protect them. In my opinion, a mean creature is something which takes pleasure out of harming other creatures. Not quite the same as a robo biting because it thinks you're a predator. 

Although people have different ideas, what I usually do is give the hamster a little box which is it's safe place. It has it in the cage 24/7 and it will be very familiar to them. Then, I plonk the bed on my lap with the hamster inside, and just wait while I watch a movie. Once hammie is exploring, I will gently start stroking towards the back of the hamster. When the hamster gets used to that, I will start stroking the shoulders and so on. That's usually spread out over a couple of days.
However, what a lot of people on the forum seem to like is using treats to let him associate you with good things. I prefer not to use this method, but lots of people do.

Anyway. General summary: you need to tame him gradually.


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

Am sorry peeps...but this person comes on about experiementing on animals and now "mean" animals. This is ringing bells right?? If my suspicions are not correct, I still believe this person is being provocative. 

Just my opinion.


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

maybe stop treating him as a science project and he may stop being "mean" or failing that, maybe find him a new home with some one who wont use him as a living experiment and get a stuffed toy instead :wink:


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## rabbitritz (Feb 20, 2013)

Some hamsters just don't like to be touched or picked up  but you could start by brushing it with a toothbrush and giving treats so it gets used to contact and talk softly to it and when you start to hold try wearing gloves this could help. But as I said some hammies just bite, it is only because they are scared don't blame the animal


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## CRL (Jan 3, 2012)

niki87 said:


> Am sorry peeps...but this person comes on about experiementing on animals and now "mean" animals. This is ringing bells right?? If my suspicions are not correct, I still believe this person is being provocative.
> 
> Just my opinion.


thats what i was thinking niki87. 
maybe if you stopped experimenting on him for some high school fun he might be a little bit nicer towards you.


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## GhostsInSnow (Jul 1, 2011)

I have a Robo who was hardly handled for the first 3-4 months of his life and was stuck in a tiny [email protected] adoption tank. He's terrified of human contact, having never been held, but even with picking him up and catching him he has NEVER bitten me. In fact, if I remember rightly, Robo's are the least likely to bite.
You need to spend time treating him as a pet and taming him rather than an object for use towards your school project


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## TheJesusAtLife (Feb 19, 2013)

So measuring their weight is going to ruin their lives now? It was a 7th grade project, just weighing them. Now I'm a hamster serial killer because I made a mistake? I was just asking what I could do. Not taking life improvments and ****. Some poeple are just too big of ass holes to realize I made a mistake by putting them in the same cage. Lay the hell off if your going to hate. 
And he is like extremly hard to just pick up, he tries to escape all the time.


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## TheJesusAtLife (Feb 19, 2013)

The project is over.


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## elmthesofties (Aug 8, 2011)

We've been pretty polite so far, I think. If you come on an animal forum and say that you're trying to make your hamsters gain weight rapidly for your own gain in a school project, then I don't know what you expect. As has already been said, without controls or other things taken into account, the results will be completely worthless anyway.


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## GhostsInSnow (Jul 1, 2011)

Firstly, I have to agree with what elmthesofties has said.

Secondly, I was quite polite, I could have been a lot ruder. You said you were seeing how dry/fresh foods would affect their weight or something like that but something involving dried and fresh foods. I asked you about it in your other thread and you didn't reply but I'd take the dry vs fresh to mean changing their diets which isn't healthy over such a short period and neither is trying to get them to gain/lose weight over such a short period either. I was saying that maybe the effects of that experiment has caused your robo to become aggressive. I was also shocked as out of all Hamster species, Robo's are the least likely to bite. They only do so when extremely angry or extremely scared.

I am glad to hear your project is over and would advise not using your animals for school projects as it isn't fair on them. I think you need to go back to basics with your robo as if he/she is a new hamster and start from scratch with the taming in order to rebuild the trust between you.

On a final note, it's not a "mistake" to keep two robos together. They can actually live quite happily in pairs but it's good to do research as steps can be taken to try and keep the peace between the two. For future reference if you want to robos together, you ideally need a big single level cage with 2 of everything meaning wheels, water sources houses etc and two food bowls or scatter the food on the cage floor and houses/hides should have more than one entrance/exit to prevent the one robo from being cornered by another. Obviously these are just steps to take and even then there is still a risk of fighting between the pair which is why, if you do the whole robo pair thing again, you should have a spare cage available and separate the moment you notice fighting going on.

I'm not offering "life improvements" just friendly advice that's worked well for many dwarf hamster owners


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## TheJesusAtLife (Feb 19, 2013)

I'm not trying to make them gain weight. I'm seeing weight gain off 2 different breeds.


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## TheJesusAtLife (Feb 19, 2013)

I was saying some people came in the forums and said, "Maybe your next project would be learning how to take care of animals." There were comments like that.


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## halfeatenapple (Jan 2, 2013)

Feeding only fresh food to an animal was your biggest mistake. It is unhealthy, unfair, and cruel really. If you accept that then fair enough.


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## Guest (Mar 5, 2013)

TheJesusAtLife said:


> I was saying some people came in the forums and said, "Maybe your next project would be learning how to take care of animals." There were comments like that.


Yes there were (in fact it was me that said that very statement ), and if you were adult enough you would have taken those comments on board rather than throwing your toys around.

I still stand by my comment if you are willing to stand by using your pets as classroom projects, I don't care if you now say that you only had to weigh them, because in reality we both know that isn't the case.

You decided to use your hamsters in a school project, you decided that you would see what foods put weight on quickly, you decided to post the project onto a forum with many, many rodent owners, so I'm afraid you are the only person responsible for the responses you are receiving. :yesnod:

The food you are giving (the one you linked to in another thread) is not the correct food for dwarf hamsters, as I have said before it is too high in fat and could most likely cause diabetes in later life.
How big is the cage for your hamsters? Depending on how big your cages are it might give a clue as to why your Robo's attacked each other (even if you did say that he died after you were just feeding fresh food, but we will gloss over that for now), many robo's can live together, you just need to know what you are doing if you stand a chance of keeping them together.

I suggest you take a step back and actually read the comments that are being posted rather than getting defensive for no reason :yesnod:


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## GhostsInSnow (Jul 1, 2011)

But you need to take the comments on board, whether you think they are "mean" or "hurtful or not.
People have offered you really sound advice and the way your replies come across it's as if your ignoring the helpful comments and fixating on the ones that you don't agree with. Yeah great the project is finished but it shouldn't have been carried out in the first place. The way you worded your other thread certainly gave me the impression that there was more than just weighing going on.

This is a forum of animal lovers who want the best for their pets and I don't know about anyone else but the thought of a pet being used in an experiment certainly upsets me.
I understand why B3rnie has made those comments and I agree with them. 
The reason I keep bringing up the project thing is because I think it has contributed greatly to your Robo's behaviour.


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## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

.............


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

thye difference is you are feeding your hamsters a good diet, you arent feeding them just one type of food to try and make them gain weight and see what makes them gain weight faster :wink:


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## Guest (Mar 5, 2013)

Wobbles said:


> I'm having a blonde moment here, but can someone explain to me what the problem is with weighing and keeping check of the weights is? Because I do this with all my hams and see no harm in it? I put them on a scale, take the reading, note it and repeat in a week. I'm not experimenting on them, just keeping check of their weight to ensure its kept steady. This is what I assumed the op wanted to do, which is why I gave them some advice, yet everyone else says not to have done anything? Sorry for being sooo dense, I'm just not getting this.


It's not the weighing that is the problem.

This is what people were first reacting to 


> Originally I had 2 robos, seeing whether fresh food or dry food would effect their weight more or less.


It is irresponsible (putting it politely) to use pets in a class science project. And that was the reason for my comment quoted by the op.


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## Lavenderb (Jan 27, 2009)

How long a period is this experiment to last?


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## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

..........


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## elmthesofties (Aug 8, 2011)

TheJesusAtLife said:


> I'm not trying to make them gain weight. I'm seeing weight gain off 2 different breeds.


I kind of don't understand you, but it's good to know you're not trying to make them gain weight quickly.

The fact is that this forum HAS been perceived as being unfriendly in the past, as have other animal forums. But what I will say is this: this is an animal forum full of people who REALLY care about their animals. I actually joined this forum specifically for the purpose of learning. Although it's nice to have that aspect there, I never joined for the sense of community which I have since found.
Anyway. Point is that I am sorry if I ever caused you any real distress, and I'm sure the other members are too. It's just that if we don't agree with what you're doing and are concerned about the welfare of your animals, we WILL say what we think. (and if they disagree with me making these comments I invite them to tell me wrong) A lot of members, and I'm not pointing this comment at you, HAVE done very silly things with their animals, and the only way that they listen to the comments of the members are if we're stern.


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## rabbitritz (Feb 20, 2013)

I think it was a mistake to try experiment the way you have ,if I understand, but I did a similar one where one of my hamsters had fresh as part of their diet and the other only muesli and I saw if it affected when they woke (it didn't ) I assumed you were doing this but with seeing if it affected weight?


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## TheJesusAtLife (Feb 19, 2013)

rabbitritz said:


> I think it was a mistake to try experiment the way you have ,if I understand, but I did a similar one where one of my hamsters had fresh as part of their diet and the other only muesli and I saw if it affected when they woke (it didn't ) I assumed you were doing this but with seeing if it affected weight?


Yep. I just did it really for the hamsters though. They really grade the project on procedure though.


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## TheJesusAtLife (Feb 19, 2013)

I care a lot about my pets. Like a lot. And I would never try to hurt them.


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