S.A.M. down under kit questions

[maryjane]

Hi guys i just have a couple hundred questions about the kits that they sell. I bought a couple of sam kits for them and they are now separated because i saw them kind of fighting. Anyway, here goes..........kit came with a water bottle and i never see them drink from it. i'm scared they might become dehydrated. i will squeeze the bottle and water will come out and then one hammie (tootie) will drink from the puddle. my other hammie (dribbles) i haven't seen drink from it at all and not very much water has been drunk. tootie the bigger one will run on the wheel but only for about 3 seconds and then he gets off. dribbles will get on but will immediately get off. wont run at all. dribbles also made his bed next to the wheel. it came with a tube and they wont get in it either it is a tube that curves downward. did i just get a crappy home for the babies? i am so dissapointed with it. I will try and get a pic for you to see what the housing looks like. thanks mj

[prophetdemise]

Well you have to understand that, hamster don't read the box of the cage and say oh look at all these features, they just do what they feel secure with espically going into a new environment and new owner. I remember when i got my hamster, he was in a little cage with a wheel, and would sleep under the run and run on top of the wheel. So i actually got him a country club kit from s.a.m. and he used the wheel there made his nest in the corner of the cage instead of under the blue house thing cause it was too small. Now i had to add an attachment to that cause he grew to big for the wheel it came with. Hopefully you only have drawfs cause those cages are pretty tiny wouldn't put a syrian in there. The water bottles they have i'm guessing didn't have a ball in them just a hole, i don't like those either, not very good bottles i think. Sam makes a bottle with a ball in it, if you plan on keeping your down under cage. If you look at the post called storage bin cages, you can see mine and others people cages. Get an idea of what your options are.

[maryjane]

yeah i guess i am expecting too much from the babies. they have grown alot and i am worried that they may not be dwarfs because of how fat they have gotten. i think they were under nourished because when we got dribbles the smaller one you could see under her shoulders to the skin. maybe they were just too young to tell you the truth i am not sure how old they were. anyway they are much fatter so funny. tootie seems to want to play now and i am happy about that but i am still worried about them drinking. do you think they know the water is there? i will get them some new water bottles once i have a little spare change but probably not until payday. they seem healthy otherwise. the bottle does just have a hole and not the ball bearing thing. anyway thank you for your response and have a great weekend! MJ

[prophetdemise]

You can also try to give them some fresh fruit, very small pieces at a team, they can get some of there water from that. But they will know where the water is from. Every time i clean the change he will go around and sniff and mess with everything, its like he is making sure its up to his standards. Give them time they will the hang of things.

[jennawing]

You can't give fruit- or any other sweet food to dwarves. They are succeptible to diabetes. Cucumber and celery are good watery veggies, though.

[prophetdemise]

Is that different for syrians, jenna i thought you could give them a banana or apple. I'll check where i read that.

Thanks for correcting me...

[maryjane]

Good news tootie definitely knows about the water and the wheel i am also positive tootie is a she. dribbles who i think is a girl still just sleeps behind the wheel and is not very active. so thank you all for all of the info. now i have to find out about the scratching they are doing. looks like fleas because kind acts like that sometimes when he has picked up a few extra friends. see ya and have a great week! MJ