im getting a hamster today! help!?

Question

well im planning on getting a hamster today and ive done some research. what i am concerned about is that i do not have a cage and was planning to buy one at the same time that i buy my hamster. but on many sites it says that i should have the cage at home first. will this be a problem if i do not have the cage set up for my hamster when i get him/her? also if you have tips on what types of things to buy, such as bedding and woodchips and which kind of food to get my future hamster? which kind of toys can i get for him/her? ive seen that a spinning wheel for the cage is a must so i already have that written down but what else can i get? ive also seen that hamster yogurt drops are good for hamsters and was wondering what price range they are. if you have any tips like bright eyes, dry tail, and one that doesnt bite are there any other tips like this when buying a hamster?

thank you Jenn B for answering my other topic, a plastic ball seems like fun and ill ask them about one,

Answer 1

hello form a hamster owner, breeder, and previous petshop owner.
First you don't need to get teh cage in advance a lot of petshops will throughin a hamster with a purchase af a cage start up kit.
I myself prefer the Teddy bear hamster but have dealt with most.
I usually geta 10 gallon fish tank this way you can much easier handle the hamster than trying to get your hand in the little holes in teh hamster cages. I start letting the hamster get use to his new home for the first 24 hours. then I just lay my hand in the bottom of the cage with a little food in my hand. usually later in the evening as hamsters are nocturnal and come out at night.
after a day or two I try to pet the hamster then i try to get it in my hand ond only lift it up a inch or so and if it wants to gt ut tht's fine that way it doesn't become afraid of the hand. usually within the 2nd week i have them trianed and out a lot.
you will need a cage ( or fishtank with a lid)
a wheel but a solid one is best as the ones made from wire with the slits or the little squares can get the hamsters leg cught and doe damage.
you will need a water bottler, and food dish.
some chew sticks.
I have always used pine chips the cedar ships is what can cause the health problems.
Now a few other thisngs but not absolutley ness, a house of some kind, a ball or they even make a car witha track and other fun things.
you can get fishtank tops that the tubes will fit in if that's what you wnat.
I had a vet tellme that if you use vanilla yougurt with live bacteria you give about 1/4 teaspoon on there food everyother day and it is a good treat as wellas the live bacteria will help prevent the wet tail.
You can get teh yogurt treats as well as many other types of treats.
I have found that all my hamsters like the empty toilet paper rolls the can hide in them and they chew on them.
hamsters teeth are always growing so it is important for them to chew on things. I also use small dog biscuits for this they really like th eveg. flavored ones.
Good luck.

Answer 2

I am manager at a pet store in the small animal department, hopefully I can help you! It is not a big deal to get the animal on the same day as the cage. They are going to put him in a box, probably which will be dark which should keep him fairly unstressed while you are setting up the cage. If you are getting a dwarf type hamster almost any cage will be okay, but if you are looking for a longhair, shorthair, teddy, panda, or black bear or anything like that you will want a larger cage. Although they are usually small when you buy them those grow a little larger and I have heard of them getting stuck in the tubes as adults. Bright eyes and a dry tail are two of the most important things to look for. Also you should look for a hamster that is active and whose ears are open and up, a hamster with its ears down might be ill. A great kind of hamster is the chinese dwarf which we have at petsmart. I have NEVER seen one bite and they rarely if ever get wettail. If you rub your hands in the bedding a little it will help to make your scent a little more familiar which can make the animal more comfortable and less likely to bite. You should also allow the hamster to explore his new home for at least 24 hours before handling him. This way he is less stressed and again - less likely to bite. Hope I could help!

Answer 3

Get a medium-sized to large-sized cage for your dwarf hamster. The hamsters are very small, only about four inches, but are extremely active. Your cage will need bedding, a food dish, a water dispenser, a running wheel, a hamster house and a place where it can hide. About 3 cm of bedding should be enough, but hamsters like to burrow so you can make it deeper. Make sure they have room to run around. Make sure the cage is in a cool place away from direct sunlight. My dwarf hamsters love being pet all day long, so insure they get tons of attention! Also here are some toys you can make directly from your house: Toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls - tunnels, or something to chew on. My hamsters love this! Hamsteroids - These treats are very healthy for hamsters! Fruity flavor, very colorful, and gets your hammy goin' for the night. Glass tank cages - These are worst for hamsters. There isnt enough air circulation. Try a wire cage, not too thick of bars. This way, the hamster has a better chance of escaping. Thats all for now, hope i helped! XD

Answer 4

Well you should NOT get wood chips I think it was, because they give small animals breathing problems, and they could die from it! I would get what your local petstore is using for them right now. Just ask them whenn you buy your Hamster that your wondering what shavings you use for there bedding, and if you don't want to do that, then you can just put some ripped up newspaper in there, thats what we always do for our rats. Food they can have Cheerio's, Corn Flakes, Or the rat food your petstore has been using. If your going to get 2 hammy's, then don't get 2 males! They tend to fight, even if they are litter mates, of course females fight 2, but not as often/much as males. Or if your concerned about biting, get a rat! They don't bite unless there scared or thier just plain nasty! And there is nothing wrong with bright eyes exept thet its just plain bright! And yes a spinning wheel is a must! I would get the cage before the hammy tho, So then you can see what fits in there and what size you need the wheel to be etc, etc. And there are speacial rat/hamster water bottles that you can use, you can find them at your pet store. As for a toy just get a little ball that they can roll around. And also get him/her a house! they feel alot more protected in the house, like you would in your own house instaed of sleeping outside. Thats all I can think of to get a Hamster/ Rat, hope it helps!

Answer 5

yogurt drops r about $3, and it doesn't really matter if u have the cage at home or not, u should get a fish tank, DO NOT get a "critter trail" cage they r the easiest 2 get out of! buy a tank, a brownish cotton bedding, a wheel, water bottle( not bowl!!), food dish, seed mix, and a ball. it is actually called wet tail, it is a disease that a rodent can get when his/ her tank hasn't been cleaned in over a week, it can b deadly if not treated. when picking out ur hamster, make sure it is young, it is really hard to tame a old one. i would say get a boy, girls r territorial, and don't like to b picked up. good luck!!

Answer 6

In my opinion the bedding is VERY important..NEVER use any cedar or pine..when the urine mixes with these beddings it produces a low toxic gas..many small rodents have dies from this. Buy a product called "Carefresh" it's a safe paper product.
When you select your hamster have the salesman put some of the bedding from his cage and put it in his new home..he'll feel more comfortable with a familiar scent.
Use fresh veggies and fruits as treats..healthier and cheaper
and you probably have some in your kitchen.
When you give your friend time to get use to his new home and your ready to try and pick him up..DON"T..just rub some of the bedding on your hands and lay your hand in the cage palm up and let the hamster get use to you.

Answer 7

Yeah they love those plastic balls. They also love the little plastic igloos that they can hide in. My guinea pig loves those yogurt drops they cost 3-4 dollars depending on where you get them from. Don't get cedar or pine bedding because it can cause upper respitory problems. My cousins hampster lost all of its hair from being in pine bedding. So we had to change beddings and its hair grew back. Try cell sorb or check your pet store they'll have tons of suggestions. Your hampster will be fine if the cage isn't at your house first. I've never done that with any of my hampsters. They also like those little carrots and they love the wheels!!! Get a Teddy Bear hampster theyre nicer then the dwarf ones. Good Luck!!

Answer 8

Hey there well that is not true you dont have to have your cage set up before you get it...they just want to make sure you have everything you need before you get the hamster...meaning set it up when you get the hamster that way you wont disturb him for the the first 2 days....the hamster wheel is great....and so are corn stalks....that way they have something to grind there teeth down with....its up to you but I prefer the cloth bedding...it smells less than cedar and is cleaner....you need a water bottel...a food dish and some toobs for the hamster to burrow in.....they also will chew on dog bones to keep there teeth ground down..they like seasme seeds...carrots..lettuce and egg...pretty much any fruit or veggies....

Answer 9

Here's a list of the things you will need to start with, information and items. Also we've bought cages at the store and put a hamster in it right away with no problems. We've done rescues and found we needed an extra cage or two because we had more small animals turned over to us then we had planned for. This has happened only once and we were planning on picking up only 2 dwarfs, but when we got there the people handed us the gerbils they had and told us take them they couldn't deal with the smell. My gosh you could smell the cages from outside without the door open, it stunk so bad I'm glad I stayed outside. We drove right to the pet store and got 2 more cages for the gerbils, they were m/f siblings housed together. I had carried only one cage to the pick up.

Behavioral Needs
-Niches - provide hiding places and safety
-Fun Ball - allows exercise outside of the cage safely (tape closed when using so door doesn't pop open with hitting anything (experience with dwarf breaking 3))
-Exercise Wheel without slats- allows exercise inside the cage (get a 8"-10" plastic wheel for a Syrian (large breed) hamster, a 5"-8" is good for Russian, Winter White or Chinese dwarfs, and 5" is good for a Robo. dwarf)
-Chew Stick or Block - allows chewing and keeps teeth trimmed
-Treat Stick - alternate food location, must work to remove food (not for dwarfs, too much sugar)
-Collar and Lead - provides exercise and socialization (your choice to get)

Maintenance Needs
-Brush/comb - to reduce shedding, tangles and hairballs (cat/sm. dog ones work best)
-Bedding/litter - keeps cage and pet clean, reduces odors (Care Fresh) never use any wood shavings or saw dust - see below (don't use any type of "fluff" for bedding, it can tangle around feed and injure the animal)
-Litter Deodorizer - neutralizes urine smells (Arm&Hammer in the yellow box works great & doubles for cleaning cage with)
-Litter Pan or Hamster Potty - provides location to potty train
-Book - background information and instructions for ongoing care (this is a must)

Environmental Needs
-Cage - wire, glass, or plastic, provide a home big enough for the pet (personal recommendation is to use a plastic bottom/wire top cage, they have best air flow)
-Water Bottle & Holder - sanitary source of water
-Ceramic Dish/Bowl - provides clean place for food, consider most small animals chew

Nutritional Needs
-Staple Diet - provides basic nutrition (one from pet store or Wild Harvest sold at Wal Mart (what I use))
-Assorted Treats - nutritional variety, foraging (not for any dwarfs, too much sugar) I prefer veggies to those treats, natural dog buscuits are great for chewers (no onion or garlic added) Yes, yogurtdrops are fine for an occasional treat, but not everyday with all the sugar in them.
-Salt/Mineral Block - helps maintain hydration and provides minerals, keeps teeth trimmed
-Vitamins - ensure balanced nutrition
-Stress Aid - very important during environmental changes, will help prevent or treat diarrhea

Tips: by using only a paper product litter like Care Fresh or Critter Care, you reduce the risk of respiratory infections caused by allergies that wood shavings will cause. Pine and most other wood shavings cause allergies (sneezing, watery eyes, runny nose and in some cases hair loss). Also using pine or cedar mix with the animals urine and cause toxic gasses to build where the area of the bottom of the cage is and the small animal sleeps, walks, eats and breathes. The fumes in an enclosed tank or mostly plastic cage can be deadly for them. We have a small animal rescue and only use the 2 brands listed above with those animals and our personally owned ones.

I have lists of great alternative treats/snacks for both Syrians and dwarf hamsters, just email me at [e-mail] Subject: "(breed of hamster) food list". I can't email it back through Yahoo Ansewers due to length. These are 2 different lists not the same one.

When choosing a hamster, pick out one that is alert, courious, not fearful of you, and approaches your hand. If one bites (draws blood) don't get it, a small nip is natural for a nervous hamster, but use your judgement on even that. Small, young hamsters are usually not tamed and will need taming, that should take a few days to a few weeks. We just got our 19th Syrian (10 for rescues) turned over last night and she's very skittish, but hasn't nipped yet. From experience, I would recommend getting a male, they tend to be calmer then females, you're guranteed not to bring home a pregnant hamster, and they don't go into heat every 4-5 days and spray urine on you when they're held when in heat. A females cage smell more due to their being in heat and they can cop attitudes at this time. We have 12 males & 7 females just with our Syrians alone. We also have 11 dwarfs (3 females and 8 males), the females are just like the Syrian females in every way.

Signs of a healthy hamster is to have a shiny coat, clear eye/nose, no sneezing, dry clean bottom, and no injuries. Don't get the hamster if you see any of these problems. Even a healthy hamster may get wet tail from moving to your home from stress within about 1-3 days. Use the wet tail treatment and if the diarrhea doesn't clear by day 2 of having wet tail, take the hamster to the vet, it may have something more.

A hamster can run from $5 up to $20 depending on the color design and length of hair plus where bought.

Just remember all animals can bite, don't wake it up by trying to pick up first (we tap on the cage to wake him/her up first), change litter weekly, house only one per cage to avoid fighting (injuries or death), enjoy and give him/her lots of love.