A quick call to the health department is not an overreaction. Taking the kid to the ER would be.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for your input. Before I posted, I called and asked the pediatrician. She told me to call the health department! So I called the health department. The lady had to call me back after looking up the rules on animal bites. Hamsters are considered low risk for rabies.

The reason I posted was to gut check myself. The child was bitten while with my ex husband. Who did nothing and didn't tell me. Just wondered if I'm nuts. Well, nuttier than I know I am already.

How the heck would your hamster have rabies?! How would she acquire it? Did you just get her? Has she been acting funny in any way?

Wow! The health department was overkill, big time! Did you only react this way because it was with your ex? (Yes, you reacted a little nutty, I say kindly)

I would tell the kid to get the hell away from my hamster.

Anonymous wrote:Hamsters do carry diseases harmful to humans. Check with vet and pediatrician as well.

There is always one poster.

OP, wash it, put some antibiotic cream on it, and watch for infection just like you would any break in the skin. It will be fine.

Your sure it was a hamster? Just checking I. Case it could have been a mouse and in that case I would exercise a bit more caution and check the site bc it’s hard to know if it is a pet mouse vs wild.

Jesus Christ you’re nuts.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for your input. Before I posted, I called and asked the pediatrician. She told me to call the health department! So I called the health department. The lady had to call me back after looking up the rules on animal bites. Hamsters are considered low risk for rabies.

The reason I posted was to gut check myself. The child was bitten while with my ex husband. Who did nothing and didn't tell me. Just wondered if I'm nuts. Well, nuttier than I know I am already.

How the heck would your hamster have rabies?! How would she acquire it? Did you just get her? Has she been acting funny in any way?

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for your input. Before I posted, I called and asked the pediatrician. She told me to call the health department! So I called the health department. The lady had to call me back after looking up the rules on animal bites. Hamsters are considered low risk for rabies.

The reason I posted was to gut check myself. The child was bitten while with my ex husband. Who did nothing and didn't tell me. Just wondered if I'm nuts. Well, nuttier than I know I am already.

The health department?? Did they know it was a pet? Man, I got bitten so often by my pet gerbil as a kid. They don't make great pets... But I wouldn't worry about the bite.

Thanks for your input. Before I posted, I called and asked the pediatrician. She told me to call the health department! So I called the health department. The lady had to call me back after looking up the rules on animal bites. Hamsters are considered low risk for rabies.

The reason I posted was to gut check myself. The child was bitten while with my ex husband. Who did nothing and didn't tell me. Just wondered if I'm nuts. Well, nuttier than I know I am already.

Anonymous wrote:Hamsters do carry diseases harmful to humans. Check with vet and pediatrician as well.

Please don't call the ped. We are going to tell you to keep it clean and watch for infection. If you really think your hamster is carrying some crazy disease, call a vet.

Hamsters do carry diseases harmful to humans. Check with vet and pediatrician as well.

Anonymous wrote:I’d mark the day on the calendar, just in case. Clean well with soap and water, maybe polysporin, and use watchful waiting. Any swelling, redness, oozing get looked at immediately, as well as any unusual fever, etc.

Pet store hamsters *can* carry some nasty stuff, but a healthy kid and a normal immune system, I wouldn’t freak out unless something indicating infection happens.

This isn’t directed at you specifically, but I wish petstores would stop pushing hamsters as good pets for kids. They do t usually like to be handledand kids want something they can play with.

I agree that they should not be marketed towards kids BUT hamsters so like to be handled daily, and many times it depends on it's individual temperament. Generally speaking the larger hamsters are more gentle and easier to train. The smaller, Siberian hamsters tend to be more skittish and require more handling/training in order to get to the no-biting stage. I prefer Syrian hamsters, but I have both. My kids are older and handle them with much care but the siberian has bitten my youngest (DD8) because she didn't wait to pick him up until he was ready.

Wash with soap and put a band aid on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would probably do nothing except say, see, I told you to handle the hamster gently!

Washing is probably a good idea.

+1 From experience. Also, a band aid if it's bleeding.

That's about it. No need to bother a vet.