Trying to Decide

[Tags]

Well, I'm trying to decide what kind of hamster I should get.

Could someone give me the pro's and con's of each kind.


Tags.

[ilovepink]

Its so up to you babes,noone should make your choose apart from you.
If you wont a more friendly hamster to play with and cuddle/handel then get a syrian theres so many different colour out there.
If you wont a hamster were you dont wont to handel much and just sit and wacth her/him get dwarfs,as they dont like being handeled and so fast its hard to catch them
Have you had a hamster before

[Punkygirl0101]

Dwarves are very social! So you need to get two if you go with them. They tend to bite I notice, and are not easily hand tamed.

Syrians are solitary and need to live alone. They tend to be more hand tame!

[animalmagic]

There aren't really pros and cons so much as personal preference.

Like others have said, Syrians are more easily tamed. None of my Syrians have ever bitten me, but I've been nipped many a time by my dwarves. I've found that dwarves tend to bite much more.

Syrian is the proper name for 'teddy bear', 'panda bear' etc etc hamsters. There is only one type of Syrian, but they come in many coat colours, can be longhaired or short haired.

There are different types of dwarf hamster- Campbells, Winter Whites, Roborovskis and Chinese hamsters. Dwarves, especially the Robos (and Chinese I've found) are really fast, much more difficult to handle than Syrian hamsters.

Due to their small size and speed combined, they're not so much a pet that is easily handled.

As others have said, Syrian hamsters MUST live alone, no matter what pet stores tell you. They are solitary creatures. Dwarves like to live in pairs, groups or colonies, so try to get more than one.

Not much of a difference between males and females, really.

Oh, one other thing- if you decide to get any type of dwarf, you need to be 110% sure that the hamsters are the same sex, or you'll end up with loads of baby hamsters.

[Tags]

Yes, I've had a hamster, but I was so young I barely remember it.

But I've chosen a Syrian hamster..:)

[animalmagic]

Excellent! You'll really enjoy him/her. If you haven't had one for a long long time, just do some research on caring for them to refresh your memory!

Good luck with your new little buddy :biggrin:

[Chaos]

Dwarves do have a stereotype of being bitey and not handable much, but the boy I have now (I had two, one died and I'm afraid he won't accept a new cagemate) is the sweetest. He's never tried to bite, runs gleefully on my hand and up my arm, and basically treats me like a playground.

My syrians are great too, very sweet and tame, but they're getting older and spend most of the time sleeping. Dwarves tend to stay hyper most of their lives.

[Tags]

Thank you all.

[Moosley]

Is a hamster the right pet for you?

Many people think that hamsters are just a low maintenance pet that will just need cleaning out every now and then, food every now and then and being cuddled once in a while.

Hamsters, like all pets, are a big responsibility, they are dependant on humans to care for them and to love them.

-Do you have the time to spend at least an hour or two with your pet every day?
-Are you going to get bored of them after a few weeks?
-Are you going to ignore them and lose interest if they bite you?

Hamsters are NOT toys!!

Research

Before you go out and buy your hamster, there are many aspects that need to be researched, these are:

-What species of hamster do you want?
-What sort of cage do you want/can you afford?
-What sort of bedding are you going to use?
-What food are you going to use?
-Where are you going to get these from?
-Do you have a local vet that will treat your hamster and can you affod vet bills?


Species

The most common species of hamster in the shops are the large Syrian hamsters and the dwarf Winter Whites, Campells, Roborovski and occasionally Chinese too.

All of these are different species and have different specific needs, they should not be kept with a hamster of a different species.

Syrians-

Syrians are the largest species of hamsters in the market today and they come in a huge variety of colours, you name it and it is probably there (without the obvious colours like green )

Syrians are a solitary species and HAVE to be kept on their own. One hamster per cage. Often in petshops you may see groups of them, this is because they are very young and often from the same litter, give it a week or two and they will usually try and kill each other.

Because they are such a large species, they need a large cage, like all hamsters, they would rather have more floor space than levels upwards. Also, because of their size, cages with tubes aren't that suitable, they can often get stuck in the tubes or start peeing in them and making your house smell bad..

Syrians are generally the best species for people with slow reactions or for children, they are bigger and easier to handle than the smaller dwarf species, they are also slightly slower.

Winter White-

Winter Whites (wws) are the most docile species of dwarf available, they like to live in pairs of the same sex, like two males together or two females.

Many people prefer dwarf hamsters because the idea of them having someone to snuggle up to is just very cute, and admittedly... it really is cute!

There aren't so many colours available with the winter white but there has been a huge problem with the fact that the winter white and the campbells can breed and produce sterile young, these young are classed as hybrids as they are neither species but a mix of both..

Campbells-

Campbells are usually slightly smaller than the winter whites and are a lot faster.

They have a bad reputation for being nippy and personally, i have found that they do tend to be more likely to nip than the winter whites but like all hamsters they can be tamed.

The campbells are pretty speedy and small making them slightly harder to handle, perhaps not so good for a first hamster or for kids.

Unlike the winter white however, campbells are happy to live in pairs of in groups of the same sex.

Roborovski-

By far the smallest and fastest hamster species, these hamsters do not make great 'pets' as such as they can't be cuddled and they are pretty difficult to handle, but they are absolutely great fun to watch as they zoom about their lives. They are very small but their personalities are huge!

They like to live in at least pairs if not groups of the same sex and they will nest together and play in the wheel together and run around together, they are great fun to watch but not to handle.

Although this is the only species of hamster that can be said to very rarely bite.

Chinese-

A lot of sites will tell you that this species like to live in groups or pairs, this generally isn't true, like Syrians they prefer to be solitary animals and have their own cage to themselves.

This species of hamster actually has a long tail compared to the other species, isn't very long, is half way between a mouse tail and a normal stubby hamster tail. They are also quite a flat sort of hamster and are best kept in cages without bars as they have an uncanny ability to be able to slide out between any bars with no difficulty.

Like mice though, these hamsters are far more agile than the other species, they cling on to you and objects as oposed to leaping wildly or walknig straight off you.

They can be very cuddly and affectionate species and are great fun to watch, this is the only species id recomend having tubes in the cage and rope for them to climb on.

Despite all this, they are very shy creatures and do tend to spend most of their life hiding away, so not that much fun to watch in their cage.

Cages

What sort of cage you want to get depends on the species really, definately, the biggest cage you can get it going to be better...

Syrian hamsters prefer wire cages but do have a habit of chewing the bars an awful lot, not so suitable if kept in a bedroom (not a great idea). It is also possible (and a lot cheaper) to make your on cage suitable for all species using a plastic storage box and some wire...

Another lot of cages are the modular cages, these are always popular for first time cage buyers and in my opinion and experiance, are a very bad idea. They are awkward to clean and access or tame your hamster., the ventilation isnt very good and causes condensation in the cage and the fact that the cage is circular is unnatural, hamsters having bad eyesight use corners to guide them.

Crittertrail and Habitrail cages are also far too small and the plastic is brittle and easily broken, the crittertrail revolution is just plain dangerous and cruel.

The best cage brands are FOP, Marchioro and Ferplast.

Bedding

All hamsters need a substrate to line the cage and some material to make a nest in.

Scented (pine, lemond, lavendar & eucalyptus etc) and pine shavings are dangerous for hamsters and can damage their delicate respiratory systems. As with any dusty types of beddings.

The best beddings to look for are Kiln Dried Pine Shavings, Aspen Shavings, Carefresh or Megazorb.

For the nest, a lot of petshops sell 'snuggle bedding' etc which is known in the hamster world as 'fluffy bedding'. This stuff is dangerous for hamsters and really should NEVER be used, if the hamsters eat it then they can die and also just pouching it or getting limbs tangled in it can cause death..

The best nesting material is plain white unscented toilet paper. Just give the hamsters as many squares of it as you want and they love taking their time to make it into a pile and tear it up to make their own nest just how they like it.

Food

Their are many different types of food that can be bought, the two main types are hamster mixes or lab blocks.

Lab blocks provide all the nutrition needed but in plain blocks so that hamsters cant be picky and just eat their favourite bits like sunflower seeds. Their aren't that many types of lab blocks, the two main companies that sell them are Kaytee and Mazuri.

Hamster mixes are far more popular and so there is a far wider range. Brands such as Burgess and Pets @ Home own brand (made by Burgess) contain very high amounts of sugar and so aren't so suitable for any hamster but especially dwarves who are more prone to diabetes.

By far, the most popular and the best hamster food is Harry Hamster (In the USA this is known as Hazel Hamster). It contains everything a hamster needs in its diet except fresh food, it also contains pre-biotics which are very good too.

Where are you going to buy your hamster?

Well the obvious answer is always going to be "from the petshop" but there are so many more options than just from a pet shop. Pet shops are well known for buying hamsters from breeders who dont care about inbreeding their hamsters, who juts breed to mass produce rather than for quality. The pet shop hamsters are rarely tame and are often a lot harder to tame as they are not handled at all from birth.

A better option is to look for someone who breeds hamsters in your local area. Proper hamsteries produce larger, healthier and far tamer hamsters that are more likely to live long lives.

Everyone wants their pet to live as long as possible and badly bred pet shop hamsters often dont make it past 1 year old which is quite shocking when Syrians can live to be 3-4 years old and dwarves not much less!

Another option is also Rescue Shelters. There are ALWAYS hamsters in shelters needing homes and hundreds of thousands of hamsters all over the world are put to sleep simply because no one wants them. Rescue shelters often have young litters of hamsters too so it is still possible to get young and baby hamsters plus you have the knowledge that you have saved a life.

Vets

Perfore you buy your hamster, you have to think about vets. What will you do if your hamster falls sick? They will need treatment from a vet who treats rodents and a lot of vets do not, it is always a good idea to give your local vets a quick ring to see if they treat hamsters first.

Also, before buying a hamster, it is ALWAYS a good idea to keep as much money set aside for vet bills as possible. Vets can be expensive when treating hamsters but it is a neccessary evil when your little hamster needs help. If you are hurt or sick, you go to the doctors, therefore the same applies to your hamster, if it is hurt or sick it will need to see a vet

[hitbystars]

Peanut had to live alone (the original owner brought in another girl and she nearly killed her).

Peanut also bit the blood out of my finger & wouldn't let go... to be fair, though, I was changing her water bowl and acidentally touched her while she was sleeping.. AND this was when I first got her.

[ilovepink]

Awww
My robo's were seperated tonight its been a nightmare:(
Ill make a thread about it soon

[Punkygirl0101]

Peanut had to live alone
Peanut is a SYRIAN hamster, so of course he had to live alone!

[hitbystars]

*I* didn't do it....... I just repeated what the original owner had told me about how she acted when she had a new roommate.

[TiaMaria]

Syrians are solitary they must live alone, some can live together yes if litter born but I wouldnt risk any animals after what ive seen what syrians can do in pairs..it's devestating.

[pixibubbles]

Just a comemnt as to syrians since you've chosen to get one.... females tend to be a lot more active and run around more... male syrians tend to be calmer and slower... males are often quite happy to spend and evening with you and doze off on your lap whereas a female is more likely to use you as a climbing frame.

i'm not saying males will never run riot and females wil never sit quietly with you... just that's how they tend to be. not sure why... just do.

[pixibubbles]

when you do get a hammie try to find a good breeder in your area... a responsible breeder will try to breed out any genetic difficulties and illnesses where as petshops... espcially the big chain ones are not so good. although i've had great experiences with small local petshops.

Look out for good signs of health...
unless the hamster has been hand reared oir tamed expect them to wriggle and kick like hell when you pick them up
check for bright clear eyes, alert ears and clean nose and bum. fur should be good clean condition and stomach should be firm but not swollen.

if you can ask to see the parents / grandparents and ask for family history to ensure health.

if the hamster is listeless, dirty, has foggy eyes or dirty bum DONT BUY.

Good luck and post pictures when you get them!

[Tags]

Thank you all for the help!

[ilovepink]

no probs,everyones here to help each other(i call us the hamster gang;) ;) :p
hehehe joking:D
Let us know how it goes and when you get him/her:D

[Stevie]

Roborovski-

By far the smallest and fastest hamster species, these hamsters do not make great 'pets' as such as they can't be cuddled and they are pretty difficult to handle, but they are absolutely great fun to watch as they zoom about their lives. They are very small but their personalities are huge!

They like to live in at least pairs if not groups of the same sex and they will nest together and play in the wheel together and run around together, they are great fun to watch but not to handle.

Although this is the only species of hamster that can be said to very rarely bite.



My hamster, Stevie is different. He is living by himself in his 10 gallon tank. He is a robo-dwarf. He is totally happy, fairly easy to handle. Stevie only bit once and it was cuz i smelled like his hamster food.

[Stevie]

petshops... espcially the big chain ones are not so good. although i've had great experiences with small local petshops.



Is animal kingdom a chain? or are they just 2 pet shops in towns nearby me that you guys have probably never heard of?

[hitbystars]

If they only have two, then its probably a local/family business who has made it big by making two stores.

Ask them if they are located in any other states.. and if they say yes, then they might be a small store chain.. but I doubt they are.

[pixibubbles]

i wish i could tell you... but i'm UK based so havent a clue... ask them lol. Also ask them if they breed their hamsters themselves... that's the best. the small local shops i was referring to do that... you can see the babies curled up in the nest all pink and tiny lol

i'm not saying all petshops are bad... just that not all are great. you could try the ads section on here or ask for local knowledge.... sorry i dont have any for you... but i still want pictures lol