Chin and Dwarf Hamster?

[sheena lee]

I've been considering getting a dwarf hamster for a while, and I found a cage for free at a school "Swap Shop", so the expense has become considerably less...

I was wondering if there's any danger/concerns in having a chin and dwarf hamster in the same room, and if there should be any quarantining or whatever else.

I just want to be 100% sure it's a good idea before I go ahead with it!

 

[bchins]

I can tell you that you will probably want to for sure do a quarantine period before bringing the hamster in living quarters by your chin.

 

[sheena lee]

Hm, yeah that's what I figured. It's not really a problem since I have space to keep a small cage in my "home office."

My thought was to keep the hamster cage on top of the chin cage, but that might pose some issues, and I wonder if Chester will even like smelling another pet all day. I'm still deciding..

 

[dragsil]

I moved my five hamsters out of the spare room when the chins came to live with us, they used to bark at the hamster´s wheel noises. I´m not too sure about health risks but since I had my hams on the floor and that´s where the chins run, I didnt want to risk it.

What kind of dwarf are you getting? I love Winter Whites, they are so incredibly tame and friendly.

 

[sheena lee]

I'm still not sure what type! I did a brief search for breeders in Montreal and found nothing, so I'd probably have to go with anything that the pet shop carries... I find the ones that have chipmunk colors are super cute.

Do you find that hamsters have a strong smell?

 

[LoveBug]

i have robo hamsters, but they are upstairs in our spare room while the chinchilla is in our living room.
not sure if they could be housed in the same room or not..
i know with robo's they don't smell as long as you keep their cage/tank clean. we change ours once a week and we've never noticed a smell really.

 

[dragsil]

Same here, no smell at all, my pet mice used to smell way more and I cleaned their cage all the time.

My robos are so incredibly quick and fun to watch but I find they are harder to handle, the WWs I have came tame straight from the shop, which was great! Lots of pet shop hams are either hybrids or Russian Campbels, have not owned RCs yet since I am so winter white biased

 

[sheena lee]

I actually started thinking of getting a syrian hamster instead, just because they're easier to handle/hold. I'm still not decided, but I'm going to get the cage anyway and see if the bars are even small enough to keep a tiny hammy in.

My sister once got a hamster, and it bit us and then died the next day... I hope the same won't happen if I get one lol

 

[FutureDVM]

I've always preferred the Syrian hamsters over the dwarfs. In my personal experience, the Syrians we've had were generally a lot more tame and friendly than the dwarfs. I also like their larger size because it makes them easier to handle. I have a "Teddy Bear" Syrian hamster right now and she is great! Of course, you should go with the type of hamster you like best, but that's just my two cents

 

[sheena lee]

I read the same thing about Syrians, that they're much more tame and friendly.

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

While I think it is okay to have them in the same room, you may need to rethink setting the cage on top of your chin cage. I say this, primarily to avoid cross contamination of feces an urine, of both the chin and the hammy. No matter what kind of cage the hammy may be inside, some cross contamination will occur and this can lead to disaster, if you are not careful.
You would be better off keeping them across the room from each other, if at all possible.

 

[ResilientRosie]

Everyone pretty much answered your question, but if I could just give my input on dwarfs...

I had two winter whites back in college. Both female. Both from the same litter. I was told that they would be fine together since they were the same sex and age. NOT TRUE! After a couple of weeks, they started attacking each other and drawing blood. I then had to get separate cages and everything for them. I know that this is something we are aware of with chins, but these were hamsters so I believed what I was told. I shouldn't have. I just wanted to share my experience with you.

On a positive note, winter whites do change color in the winter. Mine did anyway. They were grey and brown in the warmer months and then turned a beautiful white when the weather changed. Strange really since the temperature in my apartment was always about the same. But really cool!