Hamster, newbie questions, please help

pyrorus

dustinjames wrote: »

now ive got a dwarf specific cage with narrow wiring, i will take it to pet shop to confirm if its suitable also, before buying
the dwarf hamster.

yes i think ill leave the adoption, i havnt seen it at my local pets at home anyway.

would wearing leather gloves or rubber washing up gloves be ok when holding/handling the hamster?

THere only seems to be winter whites in pet shops ive been too.
One pet shop said this is better for me anyway as cambells are more
agressive.

shall i get the youngest possible hamster? how old? 12 weeks or younger?

pets at home told me one dwarf hamster is best option, rather than two.
ok?

i have softwood shavings & Wood shavings.... i will try them both, one after the other...for the bedding.

i also have intershred comfibed natural fibres "bedding and nesting", it says place a handful in cage.....
so i would place woodshavings and then a handful of this nesting stuff in corner? or in the little hut/house?

and i have linkpet original hamster food.... and wagg hamster munch....food.
both packs say "complimentary food".....so this means what exactly? that it shouldnt be fed to hamster daily? only sometimes????
Would this food be suitable for a dwarf hamster?

or do i need to buy specialist dwarf hamster food???

Am i ready to buy hamster?

please tell me if im missing anything.

i have cage, wheel, food bowl, bedding, toy, water bottle.

thankyou

Taking the cage along is a great Idea, The pet shop will be able to advise accordingly.

Leather gloves is a big no no. they would protect you from nips, but your hamster will never learn to accept your skin and picking him(her) up, as a result you will always have to use gloves. If you just accept the odd nip, calmly put the hamster down, if its bleeding keep the blood away from it, plaster it it, over time it will get used to being handled and the amount of nips will reduce of even stop.

The other big issue is Hamsters are quite delicate (you don't thing it when they drop from the ceiling of the cage) and if you have thick leather gloves on you may not realise you have grabbed the hamster and may squeeze a little too hard, its not hard to break a bone in a hamster.

One trick is when you first start picking them up feed them a bit of food, they will soon associate being picked up with food, just hold it between thumb and finger of other hand then keep the thumb and finger away from the hamster after hes took the food otherwise he may smell the food on your fingers and think its more food to eat.

Another trick is to pick up some of the sawdust from his cage and rub it in your hands, this will mask some of the smell of your hands with his own smell and make it less strange to him, also less likely to nip.

Age shouldnt be too much of an issue, just take it home leave it alone in the cage for a few days to get used to its surounding then slowly start introducing your hands.

Dwarf hamster usually like to live in pairs or groups, where as the bigger syrian ones have to live alone as they will fight.

As for bedding, line the bottom of the cage with sawdust about and inch thick, this will catch the urine from the hamster, then buy a hamster house and put the fluff/wool in the for it to sleep, Its better to buy a house as they sleep during teh day and it gives them somewhere small and dark to sleep in, it also lets them feel safer and can reduce stress on them.

No the food will usually come with all the vitamins the hamster needs, so you shouldn't have to add anything to it, and yes it will be suitable for all hamsters.

"i have cage, wheel, food bowl, bedding, toy, water bottle."

A small bag of treats, that you can give him when you handle you can get yoghurt drops and things like that.

Also invest in a ball for him to run around the room in (will also help as somewhere to put him while you clean the cage.

"Am i ready to buy hamster?"

No but your doing the right things and asking, They are not hard to look after and your getting to the point where you need to just get one.

If your still unsure invest in a look after you hamster book they will give advice or get one of the leaflets pets at home do.

pyrorus

Person_one wrote: »

The fault is usually with the human to be honest, we're lazy and we don't keep the commitments we make to our animals.

I agree and theres also the fact that they are just like humans and some are milder and more timid than other, you bullied ones and bullies. The more timid ones just take a bit of care and attention and they can be just as much fun as any other.

The hamster i have now was up for adoption as she was too timid. Ive had her a year and shes a completely different animal to when we first got her, open the cage now and she will run and climb on my hand, when we first got her she never left the house apart from getting food and if anything in the room moved she ran in.