Hamsters (merged)

seven-day-weekend

Hi there, don't often come on this board.

My son's girlfriend is going to move in officially with him (he lives in our UK house, we live in Spain). Another young man also lives there.

She has asked me if she can have a hamster. I have provisionally said that she can, providing it is kept clean and in one of the downstairs rooms, which all have hard floors (no carpet).

My son has two cats, but I have said that if the cats eat the hamster, that is their responsibility, they know the risk.

I'm thinking this is OK, but what I want to know is, is there anything else I should know about hamsters that I am not aware of? As far as I can see, it will just be in its cage and sleep all day - is this the case? I don't think they smell, do they, if the cage is cleaned out properly?

Advice from hamster lovers sought, please!

Buttonmoons

They get whiffier as they get older. I used to clean out my hamsters cage once maybe twice a week, but I always found the smell DOES linger a bit, or maybe it's just the sawdust type smell.

After our last hamster, the room it was in smelled of hamster for weeks.

Maybe he was an extra smelly one.

kindofagilr

Yeah my Hamster doesnt smell at all but he is only 30 weeks old.

I dont think you have to worry, its not going to wreck your house or anything

roxalana

Other things to be aware of if the hamster will be exercised outside the ball is that they chew things. You say you have no carpets so you don't need to worry about that but beware any nice curtains you have especially if they are near the cage as they can create a moth eaten effect through the bars.

Hamsters do smell a little but if they are kept clean it isn't a problem and certainly not something that would really linger in the house.

It is their wee that smells mostly and sawdust. I'm not sure you can dictate this to your son but I have successfully potty trained our hamster! I bought a plastic triangle hamster loo and I buy 'potty litter' (cheapest place I've found is equine canine feline which you can google). Hamsters like going in the same spot so if you can erm put a bit of wee in the loo they think that is their place to 'go'. This way we scoop out the wet bits of litter and replace with fresh every few days and the smell now is non existent as there isn't any wee festering for a week! We now can clean the cage properly only once a week and we don't have to use sawdust (which is a bonus as it goes everywhere!).

Definitely be careful about hamster and cats though. Even if it is in the cage the cats may stress the hamster out!

mrcol1000

I use to have a hamster and then two gerbils. They are very easy animals to have. Although remember they sleep all day and come awake at night so try not to have them in a bedroom or upstairs. Especially if they have a wheel as my hamster I am sure was training for the omplyics as use to spend all night running on the wheel. Also don't put anything near their cage. My parents put a coat over the hamster one night (I have no idea why) and the coat was shredded by morning. Honestly though as long as you have the time to clean them out and feed them once a day and change their water they are lovely little pets.

seven-day-weekend

Thank you all for your comments, no great surprises there!

Roxalana, the room it will be going in has no soft furnishings at all, just a wooden table , chairs, dresser and cupboard and no carpet and has a Roman blind up the window , so all should be well.

Thanks once again all.

System

after years of saying "no" to my daughter i finally relented and can say its the best pet we have ever had ! it took a while to gain his trust [ helped with hamster choccy !] but he is so friendly , the only suggestion would be to get a wire cage rather than a plastic one as they love to climb.

jessicamb

they are lovely pets - I adore mine. They are very easy to look after and unless they are allowed to roam totally free you wouldnt know that they had been there.

Things to be aware of - they are escape artists so keep an eye on them. If they do get out they can be lost for a couple of weeks and still come back. Try and keep the cats away from them as I think it would be stressful. If they get cold they hibernate so dont assume they are dead.

seven-day-weekend

Thankyou again and a particularly good tip about the hibernation!!

amy104

They are very easy pets and not likely to cause much harm to your furnishings unless less to roam free unattended which isn't generally a good idea anyway. The best place to let them run around is the bath, they can't escape and you can just rinse it out after.

They don't smell if cleaned out regularly. If you have storage Megazorb is a great alternative to wood shavings. Much better for the hamsters health (shavings can cause respitory probs), really absorbs so keeps odors to a min, its sold in huge bags which will last months so saves you money too. You can get it at horse shops as its a horse bedding or online.