bites

Question
We have two female dwarfs (separate cages) from the same litter. they are about three months old, we have had them about two weeks. they both bite. we have tried, rubbing our hands in bedding, washing, and gloves. they still latch on and bite, they are NOT nibbling. they will grab the glove and hold on so hard that we can lift them off the floor and they still won't let go. we have tried offering them food through the bars of the cage and they grab it with a vengeance, even though they have plenty of food. Help please. we won't even let our kids clean or feed them, because any hand in the cage gets bitten.

Answer
Dear Robyn,
thank you for your question.
Have you tried to let them come out of the cage by themselves? Many dwarf hamsters are little monsters inside their cage, but perfectly friendly outside because there they don't feel they have to defend their territory. Maybe offer them food outside the cage, something they really like to eat to let them know that it's a good thing to let your hands near them.

Many dwarf hamsters are aggressive because their cage is too small, I always recommend 30x20x20" long, wide and high for a dwarf. It might well be that they are more friendly in a
bigger cage.

Campbell dwarf females are known to be aggressive and apparently there's not much you can do about this, but I never kept that species, only Winter White and Chinese dwarfs. My first Winter White dwarf bit me because I kept him in a too small cage and because I reached into the cage from above.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer