Well, ok, twice bitten. And I’m not proud of it either.
We took the kindergarten hamsters in for the weekend again. The black and white one, a furry little critter that seems to be begging for you to pick her up, had already bitten my Dan’s finger in the morning and he was proudly sporting a large white bandage.
After lecturing him about how you need to be careful with hamsters, and not alarm the little things, I reached in to pick her up. I was gentle, and let her sniff my fingers first (making sure they didn’t smell of any food). Well, this little lady likes to rely on her sense of taste, I guess, and soon enough I was swearing (nicely!) and spurting blood all over the room 
Amazing, really, how deep these tiny little teeth can go into one’s finger. Lots of blood, frantic search for bandages and a throbbing finger. Can you blame me for not wanting to pick her up the next day? However, the animal lover in me couldn’t just give up. I summoned up my courage, petted her and finally managed to pick her up. She spent half an hour in my lap the next day, and we made up.
Which didn’t stop her from biting me again the very next day… This time another finger, on the other hand. Well, the other finger was bleeding just as bad, let me tell you. Fortunately, both hamsters were going back to school that day, but I did tell the teacher under no account to let the children interact directly with that hamster. I don’t know what her problem is but she certainly is a biter.
Funny thing, it all happened on the weekend when I launched a new website: Teddy-Bear-Hamsters.com. Fortunately, I had just finished all the typing before the first bite, because typing isn’t easy once your finger is all wrapped up.
on Jan 27th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
We have had hamsters nip at us, but never so bad. Hope the bites heal up quickly!