hamster care?

Question

just took on a hamster from someone.
any tips on care?
how long do they live?
can you toilet train them?
what treats can i give it?
etc?
i dont know anything about hamsters
long haired syrian

Answer 1

The basics are pretty simple and you can that in any hamster book, just go to the library and you'll find a ton. I love the book Hamsterlopaedia by Chris and Peter Logsdail and Kate Hovers. It is very informative though I am a show breeder and purchased it for chapters pertaining to show and found it lacking in that area.

The articles on the California Hamster Association website are also excellent. They are written by other expert breeders.
http://www.geocities.com/calhamassoc/Newsletter.html

Here's a great new idea for cages, many breeders, including myself, are now using these:
http://www.geocities.com/calhamassoc/FeatureBin.html

Many people also create playgrounds for their hamsters out of children's kiddie pools. There is an article about that on the first link above.

Avoid the Hamsteriffic website. There is much misinformation on it.

One more good website is The Pet Website ( http://www.petwebsite.com/hamsters.asp ). It has photos of all the different species of hamsters commonly kept as pets and the most of the different colors and patterns they come in. It also has a forum with other hamster enthusiasts.

If you want above and beyond tips that you won't find in any book, I'll be happy to share some of mine. First, during the winter months they should received additional heat unless your house is reasonably warm. Syrian hamsters can hibernate at only 60 degrees. A hibernating hamster looks like a dead hamster, they're fooled several expert breeders, including myself. I use a space heater to warm the room their in but you could put a heating pad under one half of their cage (never under the whole cage, they need to be able to move off of it if they get too hot). I heat my hamster rooms to 72-74 degress.

Give them some variety in their diets. Anything healthy for you is healthy for them. Make sure that a few hours after you give them some foods you take out the uneaten parts so they go bad. One thing I love to give my hamsters is a bit of peanut butter and honey smeared into the bottom of a baby food jar (though you could use a larger jar). They get so messy it's funny. You can use the jar to give them yogurt or cottage cheese. They love scrambled eggs and cucumbers. The list goes on and on. I've never tried a peanut butter smeared pine cone but I bet they'd have fun with that too.

Give them plenty of cardboard tubes and boxes to chew up and explore. I have access to the thick tubes used for 36" paper rolls. I then saw them down to six 6" tubes that I can give the hamsters. It takes them longer to get through those. Just contact an engineering, surveying or archtecture company near you and see if they will give you their tubes (they usually just throw them away).

Syrian hamsters live about 1.5-2.5 years with the average being 2 years. I have heard many people say that they've had hamsters live until 3 years of age. Some claim to have had a hamster live until 5 years but I'm pretty suspect of that. I think it more likely of a "bait and switch" to prevent tears when a beloved pet dies. With a hamster that is from lines that have been selectively bred and with a high quality diet, I would expect the hamster to easily live beyond the 2 year average.

Toilet training is a bit of a misconception. By nature, a hamster will urinate in one or more corners of the cage. The "toilets" that are sold for hamsters take advantage of this natural instinct. A hamster will only urinate in certain places but will defecate anywhere. If your hoping for perfect toilet training, you will never get it. All hamsters will defecate in their nests as will. While we may view this a being completely replusive, it's fine for the hamster. You may also have a problem with toilet training if your hamster is one that has a personal preferance to urinate in more than one corner. Some of mine use only one corner, while some of mine use all three with their nest being in the fourth corner.

As for treats, anything healthy for you is healthy for your hamster. Get in the habit of giving you hamster a bit of your healthy meals, just be sure to remove any uneaten food in a few hours as you don't want it to go bad. You will need to check the nest too to be sure that is didn't hide any in there. Some foods that hamsters just love are apples, cucumbers, spinach, carrots, scrambled eggs, tofu, etc... The sky's the limit, just make sure it's healthy.

One more tip: the best nesting material you can give your hamster is unscented tissues or toilet paper torn into strips. It's cheap, safe, warm and very disposable.

-Janice
http://www.holmdenhillhaven.com

Answer 2

You cannot toilet train them.

They live 2 - 3 years

I reccomend using care fresh bedding instead of wood shavings. It eliminates all odor and is the healthiest for the hamster.

You can give them fresh veggies as treats or the occasional little bit of fruit, or you can by hamster treats at the store.

Good luck!

A person below me posted that hamsters should have carrots once a day. That is wrong. Carrots are high in sugar and can lead to diabetes if fed to often. It's better to stick with leafy veggies.

Answer 3

I have dwarf hamsters- so it should be the same care.
Water ever day (I like to add vitamin drops to their water- could be found at PetsMart) Give food thats mixed- a lot of the time the pet store likes to tell you they like to eat solid tablets, but they need variety in their diet. I like to give them fruits every other day, not too much as it does cause wet tail (which is most often fatal). Hamsters can live anywhere from 3-5 years (so ive read) You cant exactly "toilet train them" but you could set up a "potty" area for them. Go to PetsMart (no I dont work there) and walk over to the 'Small Critter' section, you should find a little dome-like ceramic potty box, purchase this and a bag of litter (the one made for hamsters-they're little balls, just ask an employee if your not sure) Set this up in the corner they usually go to the bathroom in and they start getting used to going in there. Hamsters arent as gross as most people think they are, with proper care they should do great. Make sure to clean out their litter whenever you see it get too dirty, because thats when they just go somewhere else.
Dont buy treats made for hamsters, most of these are bad for them, the veggies and fruits given to them every other day is best as a treat. If your hamster is a bigger type, or normal sized, then I would also suggest to invest in a hamster ball, they could get better excersise this way. And dont get them a wire wheel, it could result in a broken foot and a costly vet bill! Solid wheels are best, they cant hurt themselves this way. (they can get their limbs stuck in the wire wheels)
As far as a cage goes- I like to use fish tanks, they are perfect, make sure to get one big enough for him. And get a wire top for the lid, sometimes they can escape, so make sure to put something heavy on the top so he wont get out.
The bedding you want to stay away from are the cedar wood shavings- they cause upper respritory infection and could be accidentaly ingested. If you need more information on care, just google your questions and a ton of info. will come up! Good luck.

Answer 4

o had a hamster b4. Normally the average hamster will live 2-4 years. sometimes if u buy like a little flat sort bowl they will only go in it. their favorite treats are salt wheels, and they are very cheap, just go to wal*mart or something and they should have them. Also they love to chew wood sticks!

Answer 5

Well here are things you will need to buy. If you do nt already have these things.

-Proper size cage (one with levels)

-Wheel (if your cage does not come with one)

-Food bowl and water bottle

-Bedding (NO wood shavings! As they give the small pets respitory problems. You will want to use either Carefresh or Total Comfort. Also your bedding should be changes once a week.)

-Food (Hamster food)

-Chew Sticks

-Hamter toy

-Hamster Ball

-Place to hide (many cages come with this)

-Treats (Hamster treats)

-Carrots (Hamsters should get carrots once a day and parsley once a week)

You want to leave your new pet in his or her cage for about 4 days before you try an hold him or her. Let you new pet get used to its new cage and surroundings.

Also offer your new hamster carrots daily and parsley once a week. Along with fresh food and water daily as well.

The bedding needs to be changed once a week. I would also recommend to wash the bowl, wheel and water bottle as well. While you are cleaning your hamsters cage you can put your hamster in the hamster ball. This way your hamster is content while you are cleaning.

Hamsters can live 2 to 3 years with proper care. You hamster may also need to see the vet as well.

**Any other questions please email me.**

Also all of this you can get at your local Pet Smart or Pet Co.

Answer 6

Why would you take an animal that you know nothing about?

Hamsters live for 5 - 7 years. No, you can't toilet train them. They live in cages with bedding and will probably choose one corner to do their business in.

They, too, will bury food and hide food in the pockets of their mouths as they are members of the rodent family...they think that you're either going to take it away or that they need to shack up food for the winter. Don't push on their cheeks to try to get the excess food out if they look like a chipmunk or you will be bitten!

As far as treats, you can occassionally give them a peice of fruit or hamster treats that you can find in the pet department at a pet store or at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has a great selection of food, toys, bedding, cages, etc. for hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, etc. Or...for a cheap toy save your used toilet paper rolls. They will chew them down to nothing or perhaps hide in them to play. Wooden chew sticks are great also as they will knaw on anything that they can, so don't buy a plastic exercise wheel as they will chew it down to nothing.

One last thing...they're nails grow at an alarming rate and will need to be trimmed every 8 weeks or so. Get a trimmer from a pet store and read up on how to properly trim them so you don't have blood everywhere or have it professionally done by a veteranarian or vet tech. Good Luck!

Answer 7

mine lived 4 years. take it out frequently and play with it a lot, but don't be too rough with it. it's pretty much impossible to toilet train a hamster...i gave my hamster diiferent types of veggies and fruits and bread and cereal, but not too much. you can also buy some treats at your local pet store.

Answer 8

they live 18 months to 3 years. the Syrian hamster usually lives on its own cause they will fight when they are older. don't use saw dust because it gets in their eyes and ears. don't use cotton wool bedding cause if they put it in there pouches it might get stuck eg around its teeth. hamsters like the exercise wheel and will play at night, sleep during the day. they will usually use the corners to go toilet. fruit@ veg, hamster food chew sticks, cheese.

Answer 9

You shouldn't have taken it without looking some stuff up. But I can't blame you. Google it. There are tons of pages on care.