Under Warm Condition

[susany]

Hello to all,

I have a female drawf hamster. I keep her in a cage and every morning the sun will shine into her cage. She hides in her house. Will there be any harm to her? Thank you.

[Yinx]

Hi,

This is a pretty subjective topic. If the sunlight is not too intense & only lasts for a short period of time, it should be ok. However, u may take precaution by 1) placing the cage in a cooler corner (little or no sunlight), or 2) blocking off the sunlight from the cage by using a big piece of cardboard etc. Really up to u.

[Tammy]

Hi Susany,

I agree with Yinx that it depends on how long and how intense the sunlight shines on your hamster's cage. Does it get real hot like behind a window screen? If she hides in her house in the morning I see nothing wrong with that since they are night animals anyway. If you are home when the sun shines in why not cover the cage with a towel? Even if you are not home, why not cover the cage with something so three sides are covered. This also has the advantage of preventing any drafts.

What's your hamster's name and for how long have you had it?

Good luck to you with your pet and have fun with it!

[susany]

I had my hamster for several months and is named San aka Sue.

I keep my hamster indoor and has the sun shines through our window, which is opaque. After hearing both of you have commented, I think it is alright and safe for San since not much sunlight really enter our opaque window. Thank you so much.

I do have those small houses, which are double storey for her to live in. And she makes a mess of it. She loves to bring all her food into her house and even tried bringing her toilet roll in it! There are times when she sleeps in her wheel, with food on it. It can be really a hilarious sight when i sit there watching her.

Of course, at the end of the day, I will have to clear up her house. What about Yinx and Tammy? Do you have fun times with your hamsters too?

[This message has been edited by susany (edited 10-29-2000).]

[Tammy]

Hello Susany,

Was glad to hear more about your hamster. Where does her name come from. It sounds very foreign. Does it have a meaning?

I had to laugh when I read about the antics of your hamster lady. She is really something. It must be quite a sight when she sleeps on her wheel or she tries to drag the toilet roll into her house. Hamsters are just so sweet looking. I love their little pink hands, and the way they groom themselves. Where did you get her from? What did you make you decide to get a hamster?

I used to have hamsters but I am always so very sad when I have to say good-bye to them after 2 or 3 years. I then decided to take in pets that get older like rabbits, guinea pigs and cats. I help out at an animal shelter on weekends, and so there is always a big temptation to take somebody home. Is your hamster your first pet or did you have others before her? I think she is very lucky to be with you!

Would be nice to hear from you again!

[susany]

Hello Tammy,

Her name sounds foreign? That sounds nice. My name is Susan. So, i just took the back 3 letters and it formed "San". And sometimes, i call her Sue at the conveniences of my tongue. http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif

Very sad to say, i found this poor thing abandoned! And i took her in since no one wanted her. Never thought of keeping hamster, as i fear their bites. But since we are destined to meet at such circumstances, i took her in. And never had i once regretted. Since i adopted/found her, i never know how old she is.

San, isn't my first hamster. I had lots of them before. But all have passed away and i didn't breed nor let them mate. As you mentioned, they live for 2 to 3 years. I just kept them for several happy years and slowly all of them left me. But happy moments are always buried in my heart.

Alright, San is a naughty girl, who likes to eat and bring in lots of papers, food, toilet rolls into her "big" house. It is most amusing to see her struggling to bring her toilet roll into her house, when it is far too huge to enter the tiny door of her "big" house. Recently, i bought her a small wooden shoe house and she chewed it rather than sleeping in it. Well, anyway, it is for her, she can do whatever she wants with it. But she is burning a hole in my pocket.

Well, she sleeps too often that i have to bring her out to exercise. Well, she is actually fat. I have read in another topic "Fatty" about her fat hamster too. And Yinx suggested a ball-wheel. I think i will be purchasing that soon.

Tammy, you keep rabbits, guinea pigs and CATS!? Won't your cats bother your small animals? And you took all the animals in the shelter home? You must have an adventurous time with all of them. What about your family and kids? They must have love animals too. Do you have hamsters in the shelter too?

Alright, end here for the moment and hope i didn't bore you with such a long message. Write soon.

[Yinx]

Hi Susany,

Seems like u're spending quite a bit on ur hamster! Well, I've bought wooden houses, wooden chewy toys, honey sticks, treats etc for my hamsters b4. In the end, I've decided to stop buying all these unnecessary stuff for them & spend the money on buying better quality hamster food for them instead.

The wooden house was a hassle, as they peed in it & made it stink real bad. Furthermore, it was made of wood, & thus the urine was already soaked into it. I gave the wooden house to my frd in the end. Right now, I recycle tissue boxes by cutting them into half (right across the length), thereby transforming into paper houses for the hamsters. It's no different fr the wooden house, cept it's even better - after using for a wk, just throw it away! http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif

As for the wooden chewy toys, my hamsters simply sniffed at them & left them alone. These r not cheap too, & I think ice-cream sticks r a pretty good substitute too!

I used to buy treats eg. yoghurt drops, milk & honey drops, honey sticks etc for my hamsters once a mth. Now, I no longer buy them. This is cos I've come to realise such treats actually do more harm than good to the hamsters. They're way too sweet for the hamsters, & r not found in the hamsters' natural diet (think of hamsters living in the wild - do they get to eat such diabetes-inducing stuff?). Instead, I spend my money on buying more 'upmarket' hamster foodmix eg. Kaytee Fiesta hamster gourmet food ($10.40 for 907g), which is chockful of healthy goodies for hamsters - pumpkin seeds, split peas + abt 15 other stuff.

Other than hamster foodmix, I also purchase natural unsweetened fruit muesli ($11.90 for 1kg) fr Marks & Spencer for them. U may purchase other types of muesli for ur hamsters, but do remember, it has to be unsweetened with no added sugar nor honey.

I also buy wheatgerm ($2 for 250g) & oat bran (abt the same price, I think) fr NTUC to be sprinkled onto the hamsters' daily foodmix.

Last but not least, Carrefour has a section where they sell various varieties of nuts & other dried stuff. U can pick out the exact amt of nuts etc u may like to purchase, weigh them then pay. I buy their walnuts & hazelnuts, then blend them into finer bits. This special treat is then given in small amts to my hamsters once a wk (watch the fats!).

Ok, I may have veered fr the topic a little, but this is just to let u know of the various healthy foodstuff u can indulge ur hamster in, & not worry abt it getting obese.

[This message has been edited by Yinx (edited 10-30-2000).]

[Tammy]

Hello Susan,

Hi! Loved to read your long message. It was not boring at all! I think it is great that you took San in even though you weren't exaxlty keen on having another hamster. Does she bite occasionally? Where did you find her abandoned? I also think it is good thinking – and exactly my way of thinking too – not to let them mate and breed. There are enough hamsters around. Does San have short hair or more long fluffy hair? A couple of months ago we got hamsters in the shelter and the female surprised us with 8 little ones. I had never seen hamster babies in my life, and they were just so sweet. What was most amzazing was that they had different colors and types of fur. We also had the dad, who sadly had to be put to sleep because he had a hole in his cheek, and all the food rotted and had to be removed again and again.

I read Yinx message about food with interest and I agree that it is important to feed the animal decent food. Still I am not opposed to giving a treat to a pet occasionally. I mean of course wild hamsters never get yoghurt drops, but then again thousands of years ago we also didn't go to McDonald's. What I am trying to say it that they are no wild animals anymore, and in moderation treats can't hurt. I was more than glad at times that my pet was not skin and bones, so if there was a period of not eating it would burn up the fat, and when I was lucky it started to eat again in time.

Have you bought San a ball-wheel yet? A friend of mine had one for her hamster, and the hamster wasn't all too fond of it, and even struggled to get away when she tried to put him inside. Other hamsters seem to like it. I am sure it is a terrific means to exercise your hamster, but in a way I find it strange to lock the animal up in a plastic ball. It can't say stop I want out. Also it can't smell much, can't feel the floor under its feet... I am just not sure. Would be interesting to hear what other hamster owners experience with it.

As to my animals, no I don't have a zoo at home. My beloved rabbit died 5 years ago. I have had guinea pigs for the past 12 or so years, and I had still 5 when the year 2000 started. I lost three till September. Maxi was old and had a tumor. Her being old made her death not easier. Trixi had an enlarged heart and lung trouble. Went to my own vet, went to the heart specialist an hour's drive away, to no avail. Jimmy had muscular atrophy i.e. the muscles in his jaws dwindled till he could not eat anymore. I could not let him starve to death and had to have him put to sleep. I am still not quite over it all. Jimmy was otherwise perfectly healthy. So I had Flocke (the wobbly pig) and Pauline left. I was presented the choice of either adding another girl or neutered boy Pauline could roam around with or to leave her by herself. Flocke doesn't really count as company for another pig. I decided I could not put up with the dying anymore, and I gave Pauline and Flocke to my best friend who already had 5 guinea pigs. They are still mine. I get to see them, I pay for their food and vet bills, and I miss them terribly but I know it was the right decision for them. Now my two cats are left: Lupo 5 years and half blind, but copes well, and Peter 14 years with diabetes and a tumor in his spine. So, now you know my tale of woe about my guinea pigs Susan. Did your hamsters just kind of die of old age (lucky you!) or were the ill long before they died or you had them put to sleep.

Now it is my turn to apologize for the long message. Hope it didn't bore you to tear! You certainly don't bore me, so if you feel like it, do write!

[Yinx]

Hello Susany,

This is in reply to ur qn of 'what fun times I have w my hamsters'. Hmm, I sorta bond w my hamsters by talking to them & stroking them. I wonder if I'm the only person who talks to their hamsters?

I used to bring my hamsters down to the playground, where they'll get the chance to roam abt in their hamster balls. But w the recent HFMD, I've ceased this activity altogether. Instead, they get to roam abt in my bathroom freely. Once in a while, they also get the chance to explore my room. There was once I let my Syrian run abt in my room, & he ended up biting a big hole in my new bag :P Tt was also the last time I left things lying on the floor whenever my hamsters r let out for a run.

Well, I guess there is only so much fun one can have w hamsters. I've always wanted to get a dog, but my parents r against it & I guess dogs do require much more commitment than hamsters!

As for the cute antics of my hamsters, hehe, think I have too many hamsters & too many things to say abt them.

But yeah, hamsters r a great joy to have. Great pity they have such a short life span.

[Byron]

Yinx

So nice of you let them run in hamster ball at the playground. Reminds me of the human Zorb ball in New Zealand. http://zorb.com/images/photos/L8-1.jpg The children must have gathered around the little fellow.

wat's HFMD?

[This message has been edited by Byron (edited 11-01-2000).]

[Yinx]

Hi Byron,

HFMD refers to Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease. Cool sport/game shown in the pic http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif

[ssmissy]

It will do nothing.

[Kimahri1989]

Hey Yinx,

It is kind of weird how hamsters act my hamsters love to climb see i have had babies one mom hamster i had had babies she had 5 2 didn't make it well 3 cause for some reason a week ago i found her under the water thing dead which isn't right no blood or anything maybe a broken neck? then just 4 days ago or more the mama of them had broken legs or something she was dragging her butt then the next morning she was dead frozen as i saw it. then my other mother she had over 12 babies 4 died only because 1. the mom and 2 babies got out found mama and 1 baby other one is still gone other 2 kept jumping out the cage and hitting the ground, mama of them died yesterday of the same reason of other mama. See this stuff sucks cause i had a black girl hamster i liked alot but she died she was my favorite i had only had her like a month or 2 she was awesome she like to bite at my pants it was funny i have been through over 20 hamsters deaths in a year which most of them were babies who didn't make it.

My hamster now are funny i have 6 week old babis and 3 week old babies i am keep the 2 six weeks ones and sell the other 8. i need an aquarium cause the cages i get keep breaking right now i have this small cage with the 6 week old babies and my black boy hamster, and fat brown and white hamster well gotta go peace.

[ssmissy]

That's terrible!