About to Become a Hamster Mom

[AlbertaGirl]

I am about to rescue a hamster, possibly Syrian, age/gender unknown. I know absolutely nothing about hamsters. I have gathered that a wire cage or aquarium is preferable to the 'habitrail' style cages, and that they need a wheel and a hidey house. Beyond that, I'm stumped. I know Mazuri makes a hamster food... is it any good? Can anyone recommend a good hamster care sheet and/or forum? Thanks!

 

[Meowzer]

Can have a look at my site if you want http://www.albertarodents.com

Another good site with a forum is http://www.petwebsite.com they were a great source of information when I got my first hamster almost 6 years ago.

Cage wise, the habitrail is ok, but not really big enough. Aquariums are heavy and can hold in the ammonia smell from urine which can cause a URI, though with a mesh lid and frequent clean outs of the litter box or pee corner they are ok. I prefer to use bin cages.. they're light, easy to clean, lots of room and you can customize them... I've put bars from old habitrail cages in the sides of the bins to give more air flow. Just do a google search for bin cages and you'll find lots.

 

[Jenn]

I had a tri level cage for my hammy. I removed the ladder between the bottom level and 2nd level, and attached a spiral ramp, to make it more fun for him. Had his food and water on the bottom level, his wheel on 2nd level, and his house on top level. Had chew toys for him but he really didn't chew on them much. Paper towel and toilet paper rolls are fun for them to destroy. I did feed my hammy Mazuri pellets for hamsters that I found at my local pet store. My hammy has since passed on and I replaced him with two gerbils, who are more active than my hammy was. Now I have them in a 45 gallon tank with mesh top, but I don't think that this environment was as necessary for the hamster. The gerbils really love to dig and make tunnels in the bedding. My hammy was a lot less active and seemed to be fine in his smaller environment. I did have a ball for him to roll around in the house, but do so for only short periods of time, and watch the lids...they have a tendency to become loose and come off when they are rolling around. I lost my guy twice in the house and the cats found him, but they are so mellow they just watched him and left him alone. I learned to put rubber bands around the ball to make sure the lid stayed in place! They are so easy to care for, you won't have any problems.

 

[3CsMommy]

I have a "teddy bear" Syrian in a 20 gal long w/ mesh top and clean the pee corner nightly. Bedding gets changed weekly. No ammonia smell ever, even when I stick my head in the tank. I also got a cheap ($5.00) finch cage, took it apart, and used the sides inside the tank as the hanging frame for her wheel, with the 'roof' of the cage covered in fleece as a little hiding place/fort for her. I'd do a bin cage, but since we also have a dog in the house who pays far more attention to small skittery things like the hamster and the mouse than she does the big skittery things (our chinchillas), I feel safer knowing Princess Peach is in the aquarium that's harder for the dog to knock over or get into. It's also nice to be able to watch her through the glass and see her clearly. She does the *cutest* darn things!

Good luck with your new fur child!

 

[AlbertaGirl]

Thank you so much! I will have to choose a cage now I suppose. I don't really know how big this hamster is, so he'll have to live the hedgehog quarantine cage at first. Don't worry, it's solid plastic up the sides with half inch metal bars just on top. It's not ideal but it will do for a day or two until I get an idea of how large he is and how big of a cage he'll need. He's coming with some supplies too, including a cage, tunnels, etc., so I'll have to evaluate them and see if they're anything I want to keep using. I'll post some pictures of him when he arrives!