Hamsters? Advice & recommendations please. UPDATE with pics

calicocat

I loved my hammys as a kid, and they are fine as long as you give them plenty to do in the cage and handle them often so they know you.

As previously mentioned mine used to come out early as they got to know what time I was around.

Actually my last one lived in a 4ft 6 fish tank, loved digging around in a huge amount of sawdust and the whole thing in the end looked like some assault course as the Hagen stuff happened to fit over the top so I could have 'roof terraces on it with ladders that went down into the tank. You do have to be carefull where you keep them when it's a tank though due to heat.

Good luck with it, and lots of fun.

alanalea

Hello everyone
First off, a massive thank you to everyone who has contributed & offered advice so far.

We've got a lovely cage (bit bigger than we were expecting, but hopefully the hammy will be happy in it). We've found a semi-local pet shop who sources locally bred stock & he's willing to let us go & sit with the hamsters before choosing one.

Next question- food.
With my girlie rats, I fed them pellet form food. Mainly because Bindi was a fussy eater & wouldn't eat everything with the mixed foods. I topped up with fruit/veg/chicken etc.
What (bought) food would you lovely peeps recommend (such as harry hamster) ? Do you find hamsters as fussy, so need pellet form?

aileth

alanalea wrote: »

Hello everyone
First off, a massive thank you to everyone who has contributed & offered advice so far.

We've got a lovely cage (bit bigger than we were expecting, but hopefully the hammy will be happy in it). We've found a semi-local pet shop who sources locally bred stock & he's willing to let us go & sit with the hamsters before choosing one.

Next question- food.
With my girlie rats, I fed them pellet form food. Mainly because Bindi was a fussy eater & wouldn't eat everything with the mixed foods. I topped up with fruit/veg/chicken etc.
What (bought) food would you lovely peeps recommend (such as harry hamster) ? Do you find hamsters as fussy, so need pellet form?

I always used to just get pets @ home deluxe hamster food with some fresh veg. Broccoli was a particular favourite. Also handy is one of those long stick 'treats' you can attach to the bars, as this helps a lot with their teeth and also is yummy (in moderation of course!). If we did a roast, my sister would often give them a tiny piece of chicken skin each as a treat

Try and get one with dried banana in as I haven't found a hamster yet who won't go mad for it!

As for fussiness, you'll always have certain 'bits' of the hamster mix left in the bowl which they don't like (changes per hamster!), but peanuts and dried banana etc always seems to go well. I've found hamsters a bit hit and miss with the corn flakes.

calicocat

All of mine just had pet shop hamster food, topped up with fresh veg, I also used to give them a tiny sunday lunch as they loved it, obviously a very tiny one though. When I was a kid I can remember my brother saying they love burgers, but I would imagine that's not recommended...but they do like meat too.

I noticed non of mine were keen on the corn flakes either, peanuts and sun flower seeds were popular.

I'm sure if you googled hamster society or similar you will get advice from the hammy experts as to diet.

lucyAM

Try not to give too much fresh fruit/veg as it can upset their tummies and cause runny poops. _pale_

Sunflower seeds need moderation too as they are very fatty.

A good hamster mixed food from any pet shop is fine for every day - no need to top up food every day either, as even though the food bowl will be empty within one night practically all the food will be hidden in their bed or around the cage.

alanalea

Firstly, I'd like to say thank you to everyone for your comments & advice. It gave us a lot to think about.

I'd like to introduce Noodle He is the most amazing colour- dark grey on his head, medium grey on his body & light silver grey on his arris & a tiny patch of ginger on each hip.











In the end we went for a Criceti 16 cage & upgraded the wheel to a 28cm.
Whilst I love the size of the cage, we struggled to get Noodle out of it when we first got him. The doors are just too small to be able to 'scoop' a hamster out. Now that Noodle is tame, he just walks out of the side door onto our hands.
We are saving up for a Hamster Heaven though...

redfragglebiker

Awww- Noodle looks lovely!

pawsies

Forget about pet shop cages. You want a bin cage/tub when you upgrade.

The most welfare friendly of the lot and you can expand as much as you want.

http://hammyhappenings.wordpress.com/diy-hamster-cage-bin-cage/