Hi everybody!!!!

[ACP163]

Hello! My name is Alex (I'm a girl, thank you very much) and I live in the northeastern US. I don't have any hamsters YET, but tommorrow we're going to my cousin's house two hours away to visit and pick up our hamsters! I'm SOOOOO excited! See, my mom's allergic and although we have fish and hermit crabs, she wouldn't let us get a furry pet- but she gave in! Yay!!!We're getting 2 6-week-old (or maybe 4-weeks, I can't remember) male Syrian hamsters. (Don't worry, I know they'll fight- they're getting separate cages.) I want to know what the most important hamster tip or fact that you know which has most helped you. (Please, either a Syrian fact or general hamster fact- I can't use info about dwarf hamsters.) This would really help- thanks a lot!!!!! http://petshub.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Hope your hammies are well.

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"When riding horses, we borrow freedom."

[pEbBLePoO]

Dear Alex,

One tip? Make it an entertaining home! Open spaces, cosy places to hide away, some toys and things he can play or chew on, variety of foods, fruits and treats.

Hamsters are an inquisitive lot of people, and since they are still young, tehy should do quite well getting used to you. Give it time, you can't expect them to fall in love with you overnite, but they will eventually. http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif

Good luck!

Originally posted by ACP163:
Hello! My name is Alex (I'm a girl, thank you very much) and I live in the northeastern US. I don't have any hamsters YET, but tommorrow we're going to my cousin's house two hours away to visit and pick up our hamsters! I'm SOOOOO excited! See, my mom's allergic and although we have fish and hermit crabs, she wouldn't let us get a furry pet- but she gave in! Yay!!!We're getting 2 6-week-old (or maybe 4-weeks, I can't remember) male Syrian hamsters. (Don't worry, I know they'll fight- they're getting separate cages.) I want to know what the most important hamster tip or fact that you know which has most helped you. (Please, either a Syrian fact or general hamster fact- I can't use info about dwarf hamsters.) This would really help- thanks a lot!!!!! http://petshub.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Hope your hammies are well.

[ACP163]

Thanks a lot for responding, pEbBLePoO. I am now the proud owner of Chuckie, and my brother has Houdini. Chuckie is a Teddy Bear Hamster and Houdini is a regular Syrian. They are tannish and white, and are 4 weeks old. The cage is white wire with a blue plastic bottom, a plastic excersise wheel and house. It is two stories, with a little blue ladder they like to climb. Houdini falls sometimes when he climbs the sides but never gets hurt. They each have an exercise ball- Chuckie's is purple and Houdini's clear. I gave them a 3D Wooden Gnaw that looks like an orange and supposedly tastes like one too. They eat a hamster mix and apple slices and brazil nuts. I bought Strawberry Yougurt Drops but they don't like them yet, their father and mother do so maybe they'll like it when they're older. Their bedding is Carefresh Pet Bedding, and I was wondering if that's OK. I know not to give them cedar or pine shavings so this is another type of wood. Has anyone ever used this before? Is it safe? For now they share a cage and get along well (they share the group scent from the same litter) but soon Houdini is getting another cage. Well, thanks again for replying! I'd love to talk to the rest of you too!

[pEbBLePoO]

Hello again,

Yes, you are right to say that cedar and pine wood is harmful to your hamsters. They produce aromas that do not agree with the respiratory system of animals (and humans).

If you can afford it, carefresh bedding is perfect. It absorbs odors and wetness well. Another bedding i use is called All Pet Pine. Yes, it IS pine, but it is not dangerous as it has been processed to remove the toxins. The thing about All Pet Pine is that when it gets when, it crumbles and expands. Some people may not like it but it does indeed make the bedding softer.

But, if you like the look of wood in your bedding, you could choose the safe alternative of Aspen wood shaving. http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif

[ACP163]

pEbBLePoO:
Thanks a lot for responding again, I'm really glad Carefresh is a good bedding, and thanks for reccomending some others. I'm very happy to have someone to help me take care of my little pets since I am new at this, and although I've been online researching hamsters and read 2 books about them, all the places I go say something different! http://petshub.com/ubb/confused.gif But they seem to be doing all right so far. Hope to talk to you again soon! -Alex

[ACP163]

Here is a pic of my cage- it is a blue Prevue. Mine looks like this except the sleeping house is all blue. http://www.petsmart.com/images/product/large/inP019593.jpg

[ZeKe]

Hey Alex you're story is realy neet. It's good to know there are intellegent people with the mind to search for the information that they need and do a thorough job of it. I can't say I do enough research myself. I also live in the *north-east(Upper MI) I have a male and a female Syrian Hamster. And the female is raising her 5 day old kids as we speak.

I'd be interested in hearing about your other pets too. What type of fish do you have?

[ACP163]

Dear ZeKe,
Thanks for the compliments! http://petshub.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Since these hamsters are our first mammals, I was very interested to know more about them and make sure they live awhile. We have 4 goldfish- Treasure, who is 6 years old, orange, and around 8 inches long http://petshub.com/ubb/eek.gif; Galaxy, who is 1 year old, orange, fat and about 2 and 1/2 inches long; Galileo, who is 6 months old, orange with black fins, and around 1 and 1/2 inches long; and my Jupiter, who is also 6 months old, orange with a white spot on his side and a little smaller than Galileo. We also have 2 neon tetras in another tank, Alfred and Alvin, along with a glassfish named Crayola, who is really flat. Crayola is naturally clear (you can see some of his insides), but was injected with a blue dye in the Orient!!! The pet store guy who told us said the fake color will wash off in a few months.
So ZeKe, do you have any other pets besides your hamsters? What are your hammys' names? How are your baby hammys doing? I hope to talk to you soon!
-Alex