Hamsters? Advice & recommendations please. UPDATE with pics

alanalea

Morning all!
My oh & I are considering getting our daughter (8 years old) a hamster in the near future. I've only ever had rats, so we're taking our time to get information & advice- hopefully we are going to end up with a very happy hammy

We've been advised that a syrian would probably be best as a 'starter' hamster, owing to being a bit slower & larger than the dwarf species?
Are there any other breeds people would recommend or avoid?

Has anyone got any personal recommendations for hamster breaders in the Berkshire/Hampshire/Surrey areas?

Hamster homes- We've been looking at the Imac Fantasy habitat. Would this be suitable for a fully grown syrian? They also do the delux version but I honestly cant see the difference- has anyone here got the delux & could tell me?

I'm sure I'll be back with more questions, but any help would be appreciated please

gingin_2

My 9 year old daughter has had a hamster for about 6 weeks. We got a syrian too, he's great.

We have this cage

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/hamster_cages/hamster_cages/201817?gclid=CJuC-tuKrLcCFS7KtAod9zUA7Q

I did put a bigger wheel in

I initially bought one from Ebay and it was cheap, plastic, too small and got thrown away. The Savic one we have now is really good quality and very sturdy for moving around, the hamster seems to have plenty of room and likes to make his little private den under the yellow platform. He uses all the levels and the wheel.

To begin with ours nipped, which we were prepared for. My daughter was BRILLIANT with him and handled him a few times a day and after a few weeks he no longer bit but it does take perseverance and a little bit of nerve ( she used gloves at first).

We got ours a hamster playpen, that again has been a great buy. It means he can have freedom to roam without having to pick him up to move him away from things we don't want him to be near to.

I am so impressed with my daughter. It's her pet and she is able to clean and look after him herself, it's been great for her. We got ours from a local pet shop that was recommended by friends because they source theirs from local hobby breeders that they use regularly and each hamster has a record of it's history and breeder. The lady sat on the floor with us and let us look at a number of them and gave a dd a little talk on how to look after and handle them as well as telling us what to look out for with signs of wet tail and to bring him back if he shows any signs of it. I'm in Cambridge, although I'll happily give you the name.

You don't get a huge amount of interaction from them which suits us perfectly as we have other pets too. He's awake most of the night and lively from about 8pm, though dd does wake him up after school. I always go down and have a sneaky look at him on my own in the evening before bed which I find very amusing as he's very alert and inquisitive.

I was recommended rats on here and whilst I am extremely grateful for the advice the hamster has definitely worked for us.

alanalea

gingin wrote: »

I was recommended rats on here and whilst I am extremely grateful for the advice the hamster has definitely worked for us.

Thank you for taking the time to post, I really appreciate your help.
I've always had rats, but after my last girlies died we moved & no longer have the room for a decent sized cage The cage that you've posted looks good, I'll have a proper gander when I'm on my main computer.

Re the shop in Cambridge. That is exactly what I'm looking for but I think my husband will draw the line at driving so far for a hamster:rotfl:

aileth

Syrians are lovely starter hamsters - just remember to keep them alone otherwise they are very, very likely to kill each other.

Avoid the dwarf varieties, especially the Chinese dwarf hamsters, as those little gits are incredibly nimble and agile!

Females tend to 'smell' a bit (or so experience with my sister's female has been), but I don't know whether that was because the cage was in the same room a male's cage and she was wafting her odours at him.

Make sure there's plenty of bedding (try not to get the cotton-wool type substance as this can get stuck in their pouches and cause all manner of complications). Hamsters love their privacy during sleep time, and all the hamsters i've known are mad for tubes.

Make sure the wheel is big enough, as if you get a fairly young hammy it'll grow quite quick (You can get bigger wheels from pet shops, pets@home etcetera), just make sure the cage can accomodate that.

Edit: I've actually just relooked at the cage and the hamsters in the picture are dwarf hamsters, so that cage may be a bit small for a syrian as some of them can be monsters.One of the reviews says this, "Must be used with an extension kit for syrian hamster as it is big but NOT big enough for an animal to be kept in"

alanalea

aileth wrote: »

Females tend to 'smell' a bit (or so experience with my sister's female has been), but I don't know whether that was because the cage was in the same room a male's cage and she was wafting her odours at him.

This bit is interesting. With my rats I always found that the males had a stronger musky smell than the females. I'd just assumed this is a multi-species man thing
Has anyone else found either males/females hasters have a stronger smell?

aileth

alanalea wrote: »

This bit is interesting. With my rats I always found that the males had a stronger musky smell than the females. I'd just assumed this is a multi-species man thing
Has anyone else found either males/females hasters have a stronger smell?

I know nothing about rats unfortunately! She tended to 'pong' a bit and then if you walked with her past a male cage she used to, ahem, 'increase' the odour.

She did also have babies, so I don't know whether this was a baby 'aftermath' sort of thing!

gingin_2

We were also recommended a male, I don't remember her mentioning smell but she said they had a better temperament.

Person_one

How much benefit will your daughter actually get from having the hamster around? It will most likely be asleep all the time she is awake!

Have you considered any other options even if rats aren't a possibility?

alanalea

Person_one wrote: »

How much benefit will your daughter actually get from having the hamster around? It will most likely be asleep all the time she is awake!

Have you considered any other options even if rats aren't a possibility?

We've ruled rabbits & guinea pigs because we live next to a forest & have so many foxes. Our garden would not be secure enough for them & I do not have suitable space indoors for, what I would consider, a big enough cage for them.
Degus & chinchillas, again need a lot of room.

No to mice, too small & quick. Gerbils I've not really considered, again very quick.

I'd love a kune kune pig, but my OH wont let me :mad:

Are there any other samll pets that would be suitable?

Person_one

Slightly off the brief, but what about a kitten or two?

I'll admit I'm a bit biased against hamsters, but it really does seem as though when you buy them for children what you actually get is a pet cage! They never really see the hamster and on the odd times they do they aren't really interested in interaction. I don't think either hamster or child get a great deal out of the relationship.

There are also birds you could consider. Space might be an issue there again but some of the smaller ones are highly interactive and entertaining and if they get a lot of time out of the cage you can afford to get a slightly smaller one.

aileth

gingin wrote: »

We were also recommended a male, I don't remember her mentioning smell but she said they had a better temperament.

That is definitely true. Her two females are tapped and one is very difficult to handle.

And re hammies not being out much, when they're young they should normally come out in 'full-on' awoken mode perhaps 6-7pm from my experience. As they get older than sleep a lot more, and when elderly sometimes you might not even see them and have to keep checking their food/water levels to make sure they're still eating/drinking as you won't see them do it.

Young ones will probably pop out at the odd time during the day but will have absolutely no interest in adventurer time, just a midnight snack