Dwarf Hamsters

Staciep88

Hello everyone,

Today we had to have our little Dwarf Hamster put to sleep - His name is Charlie and we are very upset about it as he only young .

The main reason for this post is to just warn anybody else with Dwarf Hamsters to please be careful which pipes you put in your tank as little Charlie got his leg caught and therefore his leg broke - with him being so small they could not operate and therefore had to send him to sleep.

We still have one Dwarf Hamster left - Freddie - so we have now removed the pipes, so he now has an extremely big house to himself and is probs wondering where his brother is

Stephb1986_2

im so sorry to hear about Charlie

I had russian red dwarf hamsters i cleaned pipes that your on about and broke one and he caught his eye and went blind in in the vet couldnt do anything either but he had a happy life till he died

Steph xx

Shineyhappy

I am really sorry about your losses. I lost my wonderful Syrian called Pug a few months ago after he had a stroke and it broke my heart. I was lucky that I had had him for over 2 years and he was adopted as an adult.

I have recently adopted a female white Russian dwarf hamster and she is gorgeous. If you have any other tips you would care to share that would be fantastic!

Staciep88

Shineyhappy wrote: »

I am really sorry about your losses. I lost my wonderful Syrian called Pug a few months ago after he had a stroke and it broke my heart. I was lucky that I had had him for over 2 years and he was adopted as an adult.

I have recently adopted a female white Russian dwarf hamster and she is gorgeous. If you have any other tips you would care to share that would be fantastic!

Im sorry to hear that, yes it is hearbreaking. Oh how lovely, Charlie & Freddie are more of a light brown with white going through aswell - so gorgeous! Yeah just be careful with the tubes, if you do have them make sure they are ridged and oh yeh - they are really quick little blimmers so make sure you hold them tight!

Shineyhappy

She is apparently quite big for her breed, but she is still quite a bit smaller than Pug was.

My Syrian used to love his food and would get so excited by having his favourite foods and hide them quickly. She doesn't seem to get that excited by any foods, is that ok? She is eating but doesn't seem that fussed. I used to hide bits and pieces all over Pugs cage and he would race round and find the bits and move them elsewhere, where she just leaves them until she is hungry.

She is very speedy when she is out so I try and play with her on the bed or sofa just incase of her getting dropped! I also shut all the doors and supervise her running around in the hall way (nothing to hide under and no where to escape) with some toys scattered around but she seems to prefer hiding in my OHs smelly old trainers:eek:

Staciep88

Shineyhappy wrote: »

She is apparently quite big for her breed, but she is still quite a bit smaller than Pug was.

My Syrian used to love his food and would get so excited by having his favourite foods and hide them quickly. She doesn't seem to get that excited by any foods, is that ok? She is eating but doesn't seem that fussed. I used to hide bits and pieces all over Pugs cage and he would race round and find the bits and move them elsewhere, where she just leaves them until she is hungry.

She is very speedy when she is out so I try and play with her on the bed or sofa just incase of her getting dropped! I also shut all the doors and supervise her running around in the hall way (nothing to hide under and no where to escape) with some toys scattered around but she seems to prefer hiding in my OHs smelly old trainers:eek:

Awww bless her, yeah they arent big eaters, we would fill the bowl up and it takes about 2 weeks for them to clear that, they would sit in the bowl and then eat - they really are tiny. Yeah they do tend to hide alot also. What sort of cage are they in? The only reason I ask is becuz I came home on 2 occasions to be greeted by Charlie sat on the floor in the kitchen - he had escaped though the bars so we had to put them in this new plastic tank which makes me mad becuz if we hadnt had changed the tank, he wouldnt have caught his leg on the tube and he would still be here now he probs wouldnt be in his cage though - he'd be hiding in the kitchen bless him

Shineyhappy

She has a rather large Rotastack house, I have put ladders in the vertical tubes which she seems to be ok with and there is a windy bit of tubing which takes her upstairs. I removed several of the units from my previous hamster as I thought it was too big for her and too easy to escape from. I have been thinking about changing it though.

Pug used to escape quite a bit and he would sit on his toilet and push the lid up or somehow push open the door and sometimes I didnt figure it out. My mum would tape everything down when she hamster sat but I figured he liked it so much I would leave him to it. He always would come out when I got home and apart from the fact he shredded a patch in my OHs carpet he was well behaved.

I think Catkin is just too small to let out though and she doesnt seem to have as much street sense!

I am really sorry for your loss, it does seem such a shame that there is not the same vetinary care for hamsters as there is for larger animals.

Staciep88

Lol pug sounded lovely! Catkins - cute name! No they really do prefer to do there own thing which is nice in a way but you cannot play with them like you can other small animals. Yes i agree, i think that there should be a vets just for smaller animals, just becuz they are small that doesnt mean that they are not loved the same as a cat or dog but hey, there you go. we are going to find a nice quiet spot for him later. How did it take you to stop crying after your loss of Pug? Cuz right now it feels like i'll never stop

Shineyhappy

Poor you! :grouphug: I cried my eyes out for a few days and what was worse was my OH was out of the country. Luckily my lodger was in and he drove me to the vets as I wasnt in a fit state to drive. I was so upset as I had worked hard to pay off my debts and had a huge OD available and a 5k limit on my cc and still the vet wouldnt do anything.

I think it is harder to loose a pet when they have been put down as the guilt factor has not left me yet. I miss him so much, I still have little cries every know and then as he was such a good friend. He always used to bang on his cage to come out if I was crying and he loved company.

When I move from my flat into a house I am going to plant a walnut tree as that was his favourite food.

I know it is hard but just remember that even though we only get to be with them for a short time, the good times always outweigh the bad.

Big hugs :grouphug:

Staciep88

I know it really does wind you up to think that you would pay anything but they just wont do it. Thanks for that, its encouraging to hear. i like the idea of the walnut tree - a lovely idea - im off to buy a plant in a min. thanks for chat, ill let you know how it all goes xx

Shineyhappy

I am always happy to talk about hamsters!

OHs parents think I am a little mad but they are such wonderful and loving pets.

Make sure you take good care of yourself and let yourself grieve as much as you need to.