The Biggest Fan Of Fuzzy Posted August 29, 2004 Report Share Posted August 29, 2004 Before I go on my leave, I have a question, Im getting a hammie tommorrow, I need all the info i can get, I will try to get to look tomorrow if things are ok r maybe later tonight if i get a quick answere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horatio Posted August 29, 2004 Report Share Posted August 29, 2004 Before I go on my leave, I have a question, Im getting a hammie tommorrow, I need all the info i can get, I will try to get to look tomorrow if things are ok r maybe later tonight if i get a quick answere Here are some tips for your new hammie... When you pick out your hammie, ask the pet store to have some of the bedding from his cage. Place this in his new cage. The smell of his old bedding will make him feel better. You want to put the cage in a place where he will have some peace and quiet during the day, such as your bedroom. After a day, preferably two days, then you can start to get to know each other. When you first get him, give him a couple of days to adjust to his new home. That means if you can avoid taking him out of the cage but once per day, that is the best thing, and definitely do not interrupt his sleep. This is all new to him. Let him hear your voice. Talk to him while he is in his cage. What you are trying to do is make him feel secure and that his new house will have no threats. If you have dogs or cats, please keep them away from your hammie while he is trying to adjust. These are predators to him. After a couple of days, now you can hold him quite a bit more and put him in a ball. As the days progress you will find a schedule that works for both of you. As for cage bedding. Absolutely NO cedar or pine scented shavings. These could give your hammie a respiratory problem. Aspen is the best or the gray Carefresh. It is really important to buy some wood, bark things for your hammie to chew on. This is how they keep their teeth from getting too big. If the teeth grow too much, your hammie can suffer and possibly starve to death. So give him lava bites, tree bark and other wood items from the pet store. You can train your hammie to go in his potty. All my hammies are potty trained. This makes life so much easier and keeps the smell at a minimum. Cleanliness is the most important thing with hamsters. If you allow the cage to get dirty, and you do not clean it weekly, your hammie can get wet tail. This could very well kill your hammie. You can give your hammie seeds, sunflower, pumpkin, etc. and nuts, but UNSALTED!!! Vitakraft makes some wonderful products (green boxes) such as Small Animal Cake, which has nuts and seeds, Nut, Honey and Fruit Sticks that you can hang from the top of your cage. If you use an aquarium, please remove the plastic piece that would make it hang from the cage before you place it in his cage. You can give you hammie, very tiny pieces of meat, cheese, raw vegetables. Remember that your hammie is tiny and the piece should be tiny. If you feed him vegetables or a tiny piece of lettuce, please watch to see that he does not have a change in his stool. Loose stool is the result of too much lettuce or vegetables or fruit. You will need to stop whatever you are giving him to stop the loose stool. ABSOLUTELY NEVER put any tissue, kleenex, toilet paper or paper towel in their cages. These paper products can get stuck in the hammie's pouches and cause an infection. If you are sensible about your hammie, he will hopefully live a very long life. Three years or so is the average, but they have been known to live as long as 5 years. I will be here if you need anything. Good luck with you new hammie. Horatio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Biggest Fan Of Fuzzy Posted August 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2004 Wow, Thank you very much, But I still Have 2 more questions, Whats Loose stool and what kind of a cage would you suggest? Oh Yeah, About the seeds? Is that with or without the shells? Do I have to get a ball or can he just use his wheel? And what gender would you suggest? Is there one that is supposed to be better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horatio Posted August 29, 2004 Report Share Posted August 29, 2004 Wow, Thank you very much, But I still Have 2 more questions, Whats Loose stool and what kind of a cage would you suggest? Oh Yeah, About the seeds? Is that with or without the shells? Do I have to get a ball or can he just use his wheel? And what gender would you suggest? Is there one that is supposed to be better? Loose stool is diarrhea. As for what kind of cage. The one I personally use for all my hammies is the Habitrail Space Station. This is made by Hagen. You have to let the pet store or an adult help you put it together because if you are in a hurry or make a mistake, you will need the directions to undo what you did. (I did this.) Once you have it together it is the best cage ever made. It is NOT a Critter Trail. This is a lot more expensive than the other brands, but it is by far the easiest to clean and if you have a part that breaks, all you do is email the company and they will send you the piece that is broken for free. Even better are the add-ons that you can get to go with it. There is also the Habitrail Safari. As for the seeds, the pet store should let you buy sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds or other seeds. NEVER salted. As much as possible with the shells. This helps keep their teeth short. All my hammies get in the ball every day and have a wheel in their cage. No wire wheels. Get a wheel that is solid. Currently I have 11 hammies and they all love getting the ball and meeting each other. Never keep them in the ball too long as they need water. I will put them in the ball, if they are having a great time, back in the cage for water and then back in the ball. A great suggestion if you are using the ball... let your hammie wake-up and use the potty before getting in the ball. If you take him directly from the cage and place him in the ball, he might have to go to the bathroom (probably) and it might end up on the floor. So let him wake-up, stretch and go to the bathroom first. As for male or female, it is your choice. Males usually tend to not have the same smell that females have when they are in heat. But that does not last too long. I have two males and one neutered male and eight females. Not all of them smell, but occasionally only two smell. I do not think one is better than the other. A couple of my females are complete sweeties and love to be stroked on their backs and their stomachs and will sit in my lap for an hour. So I would just say find one you like the looks of, pet it in the store and whatever sex it happens to be, don't worry. Hope this helps. Too bad you so far away, I would give you a hammie, cage and all. I have some wonderful ones. A couple of days ago, someone left three hammies on my doorstep. I heard something around midnight and was going to ignore it, got up and walked to the front door and there were three cages on the front stoop. I brought them in and put them in the hammie room. Sadly, one has a broken leg, one is missing an eye and one is missing the lower lip. The all have a vet's appointment on Monday. Take care... Horatio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Biggest Fan Of Fuzzy Posted August 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2004 Ok thats about it, But if I get 2, can they both live in the same cage? (If they are the same gender) And does it make them happier to have a friend? And what about a guinea pig? I have a play area for it, Can the hammies go in too? or will the guinea pig harm them? Thank you! Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horatio Posted August 29, 2004 Report Share Posted August 29, 2004 Ok thats about it, But if I get 2, can they both live in the same cage? (If they are the same gender) And does it make them happier to have a friend? And what about a guinea pig? I have a play area for it, Can the hammies go in too? or will the guinea pig harm them?Thank you! Nick NO, NO, NO. If you get the bigger hammies, they love living by themselves. If you have two of the same gender together they will fight. The only way you can have two living together is to have a couple and have the male neutered. If you do not have him neutered, then you will have babies, babies and more babies. You could also kill the female. Once a hammie has had babies, you need to wait a minimum of 4 months before introducing her to the male again. Even if the male is neutered, the pair will occasionally fight. If you buy the tiny dwarf hammies, they can live together, but they will also have an occasional squabble. A guinea pig and a hammie, NEVER! If you want a hammie, then please buy just one hammie and give him a great home. If you need something bigger to play with then get the guinea pig. But, please know that guinea pigs have been known to live as long as twelve years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkcher Posted August 29, 2004 Report Share Posted August 29, 2004 NO, NO, NO. If you get the bigger hammies, they love living by themselves. If you have two of the same gender together they will fight. The only way you can have two living together is to have a couple and have the male neutered. If you do not have him neutered, then you will have babies, babies and more babies. You could also kill the female. Once a hammie has had babies, you need to wait a minimum of 4 months before introducing her to the male again. Even if the male is neutered, the pair will occasionally fight. If you buy the tiny dwarf hammies, they can live together, but they will also have an occasional squabble. A guinea pig and a hammie, NEVER! If you want a hammie, then please buy just one hammie and give him a great home. If you need something bigger to play with then get the guinea pig. But, please know that guinea pigs have been known to live as long as twelve years! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I got a guinea pig. Wally's my immortal ninja guinea pig (a bit overweight too) He can fly. n_n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Biggest Fan Of Fuzzy Posted August 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2004 I got a guinea pig. Wally's my immortal ninja guinea pig (a bit overweight too) He can fly. n_n <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Mines over weight too, It looks like shes having 5 babies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Wolf Posted August 29, 2004 Report Share Posted August 29, 2004 Hope this helps. Too bad you so far away, I would give you a hammie, cage and all. I have some wonderful ones. A couple of days ago, someone left three hammies on my doorstep. I heard something around midnight and was going to ignore it, got up and walked to the front door and there were three cages on the front stoop. I brought them in and put them in the hammie room. Sadly, one has a broken leg, one is missing an eye and one is missing the lower lip. The all have a vet's appointment on Monday. Take care... Horatio <{POST_SNAPBACK}> thats weird... someone left three hamsters on your doorstep? maybe they got them didn't know how to take care of it, and hence the hamster ended up like that, and they knew that you already had a bunch of hamsters so they thought just dropping them off at your doorstep was a good plan. poor hammies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horatio Posted August 30, 2004 Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 thats weird... someone left three hamsters on your doorstep? maybe they got them didn't know how to take care of it, and hence the hamster ended up like that, and they knew that you already had a bunch of hamsters so they thought just dropping them off at your doorstep was a good plan. poor hammies. I have tracked the situation down to an answer. There is a pet store that I have rescued 7 hammies from. Someone there told a person who wanted to leave these hammies with the pet store my address. So they put them on the doorstep. I have a major veterinarian appointment for all of them. My vet has said that he will do house calls. I hope this is true. Otherwise they will all pile in the VW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Biggest Fan Of Fuzzy Posted August 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 Have one more question! What kind should I get...Dwarf, Teddy Bear....( I dont really know any ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horatio Posted August 30, 2004 Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 Have one more question! What kind should I get...Dwarf, Teddy Bear....( I dont really know any ) The Dwarf has a shorter life span than the fancy (regular) ones. I just think that you should go to a few pet stores and find the one that "speaks" to you. There will be one that you just must have. That hammie, is the one you should get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Biggest Fan Of Fuzzy Posted August 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 The Dwarf has a shorter life span than the fancy (regular) ones. I just think that you should go to a few pet stores and find the one that "speaks" to you. There will be one that you just must have. That hammie, is the one you should get. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Ok! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honey Posted September 6, 2004 Report Share Posted September 6, 2004 Tell us all about ur hammie when u come back!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honey Posted September 18, 2004 Report Share Posted September 18, 2004 So please tell us about ur hammie!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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