Considering getting a Hamster, any advice

xMonsoonx

nonnatus wrote: »

Hamsters are horrible, NOISY nocturnal blighters - very unsociable at times that your daughter will want to play.

Agree with this and wanted to add that they are not hugable and even with the best care may only last a year or two.

Growing up with has Guinea Pigs what where kept in doors, they sit on laps, lay in your arms, churdle (talk) when happy and can last 5-8 years.

krlyr

lisajane8482 wrote: »

Oh how cute, we are getting a hamster, I've spoke to a local petshop who orders in her "animals" from breeders if she can order one.


I've found a new mamble cage on eBay for £42.99 which should arrive shortly and will order everything else when I place my zooplus order at the end of the month, we've found a suitable table for the cage to stand on and have rearranged the room ready.


Next will be naming the little fella when he arrives, the possible names are Pumpkin, Dave or Toffee depending on his colour. I really cannot wait for his arrival, secretly I'm more excited than DD.


I've joined hamster central and cannot wait to show off some photo's of the little guy

I was sure I posted a reply to this earlier, but my phone mustn't have done it.

Please do think twice about buying from a petshop. Try to find a breeder directly, you could try finding hamster or small animal shows around the country, or via a hamster forum.

I spent most of my late teens working in various petshops, and we would tell our customers all about the lovely breeders we sourced our animals from. The truth was, most bought from large small animal "factories", that churned out small furries for a lot of the UK petshops, shipped them out in corrogated plastic boxes in mixed genders, and then us as the petshops (or the customer, depending how quickly we sold them) had to deal with the worm infestations, pregnant females, etc. Most of them had only ever been handled to plonk them in, and then out, of these travel containers, so were very scared of being handled.
The one petshop I did work in that sourced from actual breeders had a policy of visiting new breeders before we bought from them. I remember seeing photos of one of the breeders we bought from, plastic tubs stacked floor to ceiling, no better than these mass breeding places.

This article is about pet rats, but the same breeding practices happen with many of the small furries sold in the pet trade
http://www.brecklagh.com/petshops.html

A good breeder will be open about their breeding practices, should have a good idea of the health and temperament of their breeding lines, breed in smaller numbers to give each litter a good amount of care and handling, and be happy to answer all your questions.

krlyr

http://www.britishhamsterassociation.org.uk/locate_breeder.php

GwylimT

We used to have hamsters, we always kept them in tanks with a lid they couldn't reach so they didn't keep us awake by chewing the bars. Ours had silent wheels and lots of hamster toys that they would enjoy but wouldn't keep us awake. We also had a ball as well to zoom around in the evening, but a lot of the time they were given free run of the kitchen as there weren't any gaps for them to squeeze into.

They really are lovely pets.