Advice

MuckyDuckBrendon · May 2008

Hey, so most of you know i have a rabbit?.. well i was just watching some hamster videos on YT and someone makes like birthday cakes and all for her hams, then during one of the birthday vids one of her hams are diagnosed with a lifethreatining disease and then two weeks later she dies from wet tail.. what i want to know is ... how much would a hamster ROUGHLY cost a week? one of our pet stores sell dwarfs and i want 2 hams but i dont want them to be lonely, so it has to be dwarfs (my sis has two syrians) Cage: £ 30 2 Hams: £ 12 Start up : £ 10 im going to be doing some saving .. my pocket money is £100 a money .. but out of that i also have to pay for trigger insuance: £ 7 Monthly bedding: £ 7.50 Treats: £ 2 so if i save for a few months (to start the money supply so they dont end up going without/ i can tell you 1million reasons why my sis should have never got her hams) do you think id have enough to support them all?

KiteKatsumi9 · May 2008

I don't think you're supposed to keep more than one dwarf together. I think they're solitary and they'll fight.

MuckyDuckBrendon · May 2008

Kite_Katsumi wrote:

I don't think you're supposed to keep more than one dwarf together. I think they're solitary and they'll fight.

No, that syrian.. lol.. thats why my sister shouldnt have gotten wo, the cageds alone cost about £90

KiteKatsumi9 · May 2008

Oh...cause the dwarfs at the petstore are -always- fighting

MuckyDuckBrendon · May 2008

No unless you had 2 dwarfs(only type that can be keept together)that were introduced at birth or very young the best way to go is not having 2 hamsters in the same cage. They are solitary animals.

nope. only the same kind can be kept together, and only if they're dwarfs, and all girls/guys, not both, unless you want babies

Hamsters do not get lonely, dwarf hamster can tolerate another dwarf, but you should never mix a syrian with a dwarf, the syrian is completely solitary and will kill your dwarf hamster.

Also.. my friend had 8 dwarfs and they were all gept in a guinea pig plastic hutch

KiteKatsumi9 · May 2008

That's odd then, cause I've never seen the dwarfs at either Petland or Petco not fighting with each other. 0o

KiteKatsumi9 · May 2008

Oh, and you said you didn't want it to get lonley..one of those quotes there says they won't get lonley? XD

MuckyDuckBrendon · May 2008

Kite_Katsumi wrote:

Oh, and you said you didn't want it to get lonley..one of those quotes there says they won't get lonley XD

Yeah, but i ish weird like that.. pingu, my sisters fist hamham, always looks so lonely, its upseting

KiteKatsumi9 · May 2008

None of my hamsters ever seemed lonley, especially not my dwarf. In fact, I honestly think that if we tried to put another hamster in with the dwarf I had, she'd kill it ._. She used to try to attack us -through the cage-. She'd hiss and stuff. We ended up bringing her back to the petstore and giving her back, even without a refund.

MuckyDuckBrendon · May 2008

lol.. bad luck, my friends 8 , all the sweetest little angels ^^

KiteKatsumi9 · May 2008

Interesting..I've never met a friendly one XP (No, the one I had isn't the only one I've met XD) Someone on here breeds them, I can't remember who, but I think they said they have to be handled every day to stay friendly..and the pet stores don't do that, which is why I only see mean ones.

MuckyDuckBrendon · May 2008

Kite_Katsumi wrote:

Interesting..I've never met a friendly one XP (No, the one I had isn't the only one I've met XD) Someone on here breeds them, I can't remember who, but I think they said they have to be handled every day to stay friendly..and the pet stores don't do that, which is why I only see mean ones.

Lol, yeah they do, but the pet shop that sells them here is so big and popular that everyone comes in and askes to hold them, and when/if its closed the staff hold them (when its closed someone goes into feed the animals)

Evil · May 2008

Two females are ok, two males aren't. Insurance on a small animal??? I have never heard of it on a hamster! It doesn't cost much, but I live farther from you. It costs me about $10 per month for my two gerbils.... I get 30lbs of bedding for $13.99, lasts 2 months, then the feed, that is like that super tooth cleaning stuff?

MuckyDuckBrendon · May 2008

forbiddenforests wrote:

Two females are ok, two males aren't. Insurance on a small animal??? I have never heard of it on a hamster! It doesn't cost much, but I live farther from you. It costs me about $10 per month for my two gerbils.... I get 30lbs of bedding for $13.99, lasts 2 months, then the feed, that is like that super tooth cleaning stuff?

lol the insurance is for trigger.. so if i save for a few moths.. ill have enough?

Cydeprince · May 2008

o_0 Insurance on a hamster? Is it not cheaper just to buy a new one?

MuckyDuckBrendon · May 2008

MuckyDuckBrendon wrote:

forbiddenforests wrote:

Two females are ok, two males aren't. Insurance on a small animal??? I have never heard of it on a hamster! It doesn't cost much, but I live farther from you. It costs me about $10 per month for my two gerbils.... I get 30lbs of bedding for $13.99, lasts 2 months, then the feed, that is like that super tooth cleaning stuff?

 lol the insurance is for trigger.. so if i save for a few moths.. ill have enough?

^Oriyana^ · May 2008

Dwarf hamsters can live together, they are social animals (I used to breed them :P) That said, each hamster has their own personality, and when putting two together it's best to get two from the same litter. Two males, or two females, as they are quite prolific breeders. They can start breeding at about 4-6 weeks of age, gestation is about 3 weeks, and they can get pregnant again immediately after delivering the pups. They can have 1-15 pups though the average is usually 3-7. Even three new babies every 3 weeks can add up quickly :P I recommend you research how to tell males and females apart so you can double check before you take them home. Also, if the store doesn't keep males and females in separate containers I would go with males as the females could already be pregnant :P Now, I'm not sure about the UK, but here in North America, Campbell's Dwarf Hamsters are prone to diabetes. Also, many of the Winter White Dwarfs for sale here ar actually WW/Campbell's Hybrids and thus can also have diabetes. I haven't heard about diabetes showing up in either Roborovski or Chinese Dwarfs, although those two species aren't as easy keepers as the first two. If you buy a "Russian" Dwarf Hamster it's likely either a Winter White, a Campbell's, or a hybrid of the two. You should refrain from feeding corn to a dwarf because of the risk of diabetes (corn is high in glucose). As for cost, I've never really sat down and figured it out, but I'll try to do a rough estimate. At the moment I have 11 hamsters, 8 cages. The cages are modified plastic bins that are longer and wider than a 10 gallon tank. <img src="http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e130/Oriyana/Hammies/Cages.jpg"; alt="http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e130/Oriyana/Hammies/Cages.jpg"; class="bb-image" /> - Aspen Bedding (avoid Pine and Cedar) $13 for a bag that lasts 2-3 cage cleanings (so 16-24 cages) - Carefresh Bedding (light layer on top of aspen) $30 for a bag that lasts 2-3 cage cleanings - Silent Spinner Wheel (make sure any wheel you get for them is solid, barred wheels can break their wee legs) $15 - Homemade Seed Mix $50 for a double load :P Okay I'm going to guess that the last time I refilled it lasted me 2-3 months for 12-16 Hammies - Purina Pro-Lab RMH3000 Lab Blocks (complete diet also is hard food and helps them keep their teeth worn down) $15 for a 25lb bag. I believe this lasted 3-4 months for 12-20 Hammies and I gave my sister some of the last bag for her hammies For treats I tend to avoid store brands as they are often high in glucose. My hammies get baby carrots, alfalfa/bermuda grass, soy biscuits. I've tried other fruits/veggies with them and they really couldn't care less :P Just make sure that the fruit/veggie is dwarf hamster safe before giving it to them.

MuckyDuckBrendon · May 2008

Thankies.. i never knew they were prone to diabetes... i was plaining on getting russian so hopefully they'll be easy lol

^Oriyana^ · May 2008

there's no breed just called a "Russian" Dwarf Hamster. Pet stores that sell them under that name could be selling Winter Whites, Campbell's or a hybrid of the two. Since you won't know what you have (and some hybrids can look like a pure version of either of the two species) it will be best to assume they could develope diabetes. So just avoid too much sugar/glucose and keep an eye on water consumption and how often they urinate. Diabetic hamsters also often get a bloated or chubby look.

Howdy, Stranger!

Advice

Comments