Hamster!

[Richard234]

Hi,

I am getting a new hamster on monday!!!!

I thought about a ginuea pig but since i dont really have the space for a large enough cage i think a hamster is more for me

Not too sure if wanting a hamster at 18 and a bloke is normal but i dont care!

Cant wait, im gonna go buy all the stuff on monday!!

I just needed to tell someone

if anyone has any guidence to offer please feel free!

many Thanks
Richard

 

[Loboto-Me]

Very kewl!

When my daughter got hers I wasn't at all sure if I'd like a rodent in my house... well I adore the little lady!
She's doesn't bite and she's always very busy.
Just make sure that the pet people give you a friendly hampster is all I can say. My Pet person woudn't sell me my hampsters cage mate because it seemed to want to run away and be a tad aggressive. It didn't like to be handled and it's very important that these little guys be handled (gently) so that they become used to people.
Hampsters can get wet tail disease, make sure you get a healthy guy or gal and check it's tail area for stickiness or just general ickiness.

Oh and don't get the dwarf hampsters.. they tend to not like to be handled.

Sorry for rambling... that's about all I can think of right now

 

[Feline]

Hey Rich~

What hamster you getting? Syrian, Russian dwarf, Roborovski or chinese ham?

Syrian is the biggest and solitary and need a temp range 18-25C, quite tolerant clumsy handling.

Russian dwarf can withstand colder climates, social hence have to live in groups (ie. at least keeping 2), and smaller in size.

Roborovski are even smaller, extremely fast and difficult to handle yet good to observe, and live in groups.

Chinese are more like gerbil IMO, live in groups and got a tiny weeny lil' tail, harder to find in pet shops.

Cage & Exercise Wheel:
try NOT to get wire wheels as their lil legs could slip through the bars when running and broke their legs. Or being cautious of stepping on the wire would slow down their running speed (sometimes they like to run real fast)

Don't get cages with a wire bottom. In serious case, they can get bubble feet (or something like that, can't remember the name).

Bedding:
NO sawdust (will irritate their eyes) / cedar & pine woodshaving (irritation to their lung)
Carefresh is the best. Next is woodshavings, NON scented.

Nesting material:
U can give them teared up white toilet tissue paper to save cost! They it!

Please keep us updated on how it goes!

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Richard234

Hampsters are cute little pets.

It looks like you have some friends here who know about hampsters and will help you if you need it.

I'd love to see some pictures of it when you bring it home.

 

[rsz]

I've had a female and a male hamster at different times, and I can say that my male always seemed so much more laid back and happy - the female used to bite like crazy (and she didn't let go ), even though I tried really hard to train her and I handled her all the time, and she used to escape all the time. So I prefer the males, but I probably just had a grouchy female!!

Mine were both syrian hamsters, the female was ginger and the male was a grey/black colour

As for looking after them, feline did a pretty good list of things to think about I just thought I'd add that they love those little tunnels and seesaws that you can get, and IMO every hamster needs a wheel (mine used to go really fast for hours and hours!!).

They really are good pets, I loved mine (even the evil one!!)

Also, search on google for lots of info.