Biting Dwarf

Question
Hi-
I have a Russian dwarf hamster that we got a couple months ago from a person who was giving her away, she is nearly a year old, and I have much more experience with Syrian hamsters and really don't know much about this kind, but since we got her she won't stop biting. I have no idea if she did this before or if she was never held, but anytime a hand or finger is anywhere near her she bites, even if I'm reaching in to give food, she will make an effort to run over and bite, and she's bitten 2 of my little kids when their fingers were near the cage but not even touching her.
My question is, is there anything I can do at this point to train her not to bite? Obviously her wounds aren't deadly, and she's really cute, but I want to know if I can help her at all or if we just need to leave her alone most of the time. Thanks so much!

Answer
Hi Emily, thanks for the question!

It sounds like you've got a hamster that was either never properly socialized, somehow lost trust in humans, or was inadvertantly trained to bite.  (Or, perhaps, a combination of all three, oh my!)

She's not afraid of you, else she wouldn't run out to bite you, she'd run away.  Which is what makes me think she's just learned through trial and error that biting makes the hand go away.  (Exactly WHY she wants the hand to go away may remain forever a mystery, unless you can get a pretty detailed history of her first year from the person who had her.)

She may have been inadvertently trained to bite after a mishap with a handler (being dropped or severely startled) and she bit, and got put down.  The next time the hand came in, she bit, and the hand went away.  You see the pattern.  She bites, and she gets successful results.  I know of no way to really solve this problem except to reverse the conditioning and NOT give her successful results when she bites, but this is hard to achieve as not many people are willing to leave their hand to the fate of the teeth of an angry hamster.

If you haven't tried this already, I'd like you to try something that I have a lot of success with.  Shoo her into a cardboard tube or box, and while holding her over her cage (in case she jumps or does bite and you have to put her down), gently tilt the tube or box until she slides out into your hand.  And see if she bites you then.  Sometimes hamsters bite because they don't like to be grabbed around the middle, it's a very threatening feeling to them and we've actually achieved wonders by breeding prey species that don't mind this.  I have one female hamster at work who hates to be picked up in this manner, but if I pick her up with something else first, and then slide her into my hand, she's fine.  She will also run out to bite hands in the cage, although she usually only does this when she's nursing a litter.  I wouldn't breed her at all due to her cantankerous nature, but she's the carrier of a somewhat rare mottled gene, so I try to make up for it by breeding her to only the most gentle and laid back males.

If she does bite you when she's sitting in your hand, she's pretty determined to be left alone, and there's not much for it besides reconditioning as per letting her bite you and not removing your hand until she stops, and even that isn't a sure thing.  (I have down this successfully before with rats and have tiny thin white scars all over my index fingers from it.)  I wouldn't blame you at all if you wouldn't want to go this route.  :)  

Perhaps you may just want to purchase another dwarf hamster that has a more gentle nature for your kids to play with, and just let the first live out the rest of her days in comfort and peace (and not shredded hands).

If I knew what part of the country you are in, and what kind of russian dwarf hamster it is (Campbell's, or Winter White) I might be able to point you in the direction of some private breeders whose stock you would probably be much more happy with than that of pet stores.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help!