What breed of hamster should I buy? Syrian Hamsters - Syrian hamsters are solitary and although they live together as babies and are often seen caged together in pet shops or at the breeders, as the hamsters mature their solitary instinct develops.
- Syrian hamsters will not, therefore, usually tolerate the company of another hamster once they reach approximately 6-10 weeks of age when fighting starts to occur.
- These fights may not be serious at first but as the hamster matures the frequency and severity of the fights increase.
- The fights most often take place during the night when the hamsters are most active and so often goes unobserved by the owner until serious injury or even death of one or both hamsters occurs.
- Therefore syrian hamsters should be housed separately once purchased in order to prevent injury or death - the golden rule is one hamster, one cage.
Dwarf Hamsters - Dwarf hamsters are sociable and will usually live happily in pairs or groups of mixed or single sexes of their own kind.
- Different species of dwarf hamsters should not be housed together as they have very different temperament and characters and do not inhabit the same areas or meet in the wild.
- Housing different species of dwarf hamsters together is unnatural and results in an environment that is stressful to the hamsters and likely to have a detrimental effect on their temparament and health.
- Dwarf hamsters are best introduced at a young age as an older hamster often will not readily accept a new companion, particularly if it has become used to living alone.
- When buying two or more dwarf hamsters to live together it is not necessary to get hamsters from the same litter but they should be roughly the same age and size (and sex if it not intended to breed them) and should have been living in a group community when bought.
- Even when young hamsters are introduced or hamsters that have been living together moved to a new environment they may squabble and/or chase each other at first but the squabbling often sounds worse than it actually is and is just their way of establishing who is the boss in their new environment.
- During this process there may be much squealing and chasing but there is usually very little actual physical contact.
- It is best to observe but not intervene during these squabbles to enable them to establish the hierarchy between them unless there is prolonged physical fighting or injury in which case they may need to be housed separately.
- Occasionally a very dominant hamster may not accept living with another but this is rare.
Cages & Equipment - There are various items of equipment that will be needed for a hamster.
- It is best to buy the essential items of equipment such as cage, floor covering, nesting material, water bottle and food before getting a hamster, so that these are ready for the hamster's arrival.
- There are also other optional items that can be provided that will help to entertain the hamster and keep it happy.
- Check out our range of Hamster Cages on our web site
Food and Water - The hamster should be fed a basic hamster mix each evening as it wakes and can also be fed additional supplements.
- If the hamster wakes very late it can be encouraged to wake earlier by feeding earlier in the evening and tapping on the side of the cage to wake the hamster.
- After a few days the hamster will learn when it is feeding time.
- Fresh water should always be available from a position the hamster can reach comfortably.
- Pet Shops also sell vitamin drops which can be added to water and are beneficial to the hamster. The hamster should never be without access to water.
Grooming - Hamsters do not need grooming, with the exception of Long Haired male Syrian Hamsters that may need the occasional brush to remove shavings from their coat and this is best done using a soft toothbrush.
- Hamsters do not require bathing as they clean themselves and to bath a hamster removes the natural oils from the coat and there is a risk the hamster will catch a chill.
- Hamsters do appreciate having a dish of sand to roll in though and this helps to remove the greasiness from the coat - in the wild they live in deserts so this is natural for them.
Cage Cleaning - The hamster cage should be cleaned weekly by removing the hamster from the cage and throwing away all old woodshavings and food.
- Any fresh food that may have been stored by the hamster should be removed after a couple of days to avoid it rotting.
- The hamster will appreciate it if some of its old bedding is placed in the clean cage along with some fresh bedding.
Health Checks - When cleaning the cage it is recommended that the hamster be checked over for any signs of illness.
- This is an ideal time to check that the droppings in the cage look normal: soft droppings could indicate diarrhoea, lack of droppings could indicate constipation.
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