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? asked in PetsRodents · 4 months ago

Friendly hamster suddenly attacked me?

I got a lovely hamster not too long ago and she's a few months old. She has a nice temperament and always begs me to hold her and let her out of the cage.

Today, she was awake so I opened the cage door and she climbed out and onto my hand as normal and took her to sit down and I'm stroking her until suddenly, she makes a weird noise and before I really know what's going on she has moved lighting fast and clamped her mouth down on my thumb really hard. In shock I shook my hand which I shouldn't have done because it threw her off over the edge of the bed into the wall (which I feel incredibly guilty about)

She's always been nice, I don't understand, she has had her quirks but I never expected this.

Is the cage too small? The cage I got for her is the pink rosewood cage that has multiple floors.

Other thoughts is I recently found out she's in something called 'heat', does that affect anything?

The only recent change I have given to her is because of the pandemic I havent been able to get her a ball they were out of stock everywhere, recently I got her one and put her in it for the first time last night but this is the longest I've had a hamster without putting them in the ball. She's handled regularly.

I just want to know why she's like this and if its something I did, it's really upsetting thanks.

Update:

Thanks for your answer I'm looking into getting her a new cage. Also I would like to stress I didn't purposely throw her into a wall, when she bit me my hand jerked and she kind of flew off and hit the wall my bed is pressed against, it wasn't hard and I made sure she was ok

2 Answers

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  • ?
    Lv 7
    4 months ago
    Favourite answer

    It could be a sign of pain. If you touching her was painful shes going to react negatively. A vet appointment would be a good idea. 

    She needs a bigger cage. The one you have is 1800 square cm or 279 square inches. She needs a minimum of 2903 square cm or 450 square inches. The multiple floors do not count towards square footage. Hamsters need a wide open space to run. 

    Instead of a ball she should be put in a playpen or even a clean bathtub will work (block the drain). Fill it with toys and have a small water dish/water bottle in there. She will have much more fun. 

  • Anonymous
    4 months ago

    Yes, the cage is FAR too small and she DOESN'T like the change.  Right, something called "heat."  I wonder what that could be.

    Now that you've slammed her into a wall, good luck in the future.

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