For those of you who have hamsters

[Snuggys Mom]

Ally wants a teddy bear hamster. I've never had one, so I know nothing about them.

What do they eat?

What kind of bedding is best?

How long do they live?

Any special needs?

Any info is appreciated.

Thanks,

Laura

 

[stanleysmommy]

I've never had a teddy bear hamster but I've had a dwarf hamster before. If they need the same care, I could help out.

They eat regular hamster food (like fiesta, and other brands) but can'thave raisins. They can have limited amounts of apples, shredded cheese,nuts, and things.

Best bedding would be Aspen, or carefresh. Pine and such causes respiratory problems, and isn't good. I lost one to that.

I think teddy's maybe live around 2 to 2 and a half years or so.

I hope this helps. Hamsters are a lot of fun!

 

[Snuggys Mom]

Thank you for responding. I appreciate your help.

Laura

 

[naturestee]

If you can, find a plain pellet to feed him, andget him a seed mix for a treat. I always had problems with myhammies eating the seeds but not the pellets in the mix. Thenthey're not getting a balanced diet.

I liked using Carefresh- it was soft, diggable, and they could makenice nests out of it. Wood shavings work but are messy anddon't deodorize as well.

What are you doing for a cage? Most hamster cages, like mostpet store rabbit cages, are way too small. You can get meshcovers for aquariums or you can search on the internet for instructionson making a cage out of a clear Rubbermaid tub.

Teddies have long hair and may need some grooming. I've neverhad one- I generally prefer the normal wild colored hamsters.All Syrian (big, not the dwarfs) hamsters are solitary, so only get one.

Oh, and check the humane society. Mine often has hamsters andgerbils and such. It drives me nuts. They have suchshort life spans- how hard can it be?

 

[Snuggys Mom]

naturestee wrote:

Teddies have long hair and may need some grooming.

Gosh, what would I use, a toothbrush? JK

Thanks for the help. I'll check out links for the homemade cages. That's a great idea.

Laura

 

[cheryl]

ohh i have never ever seen a hamster in real life,they are forbidden here in australia,

we are just not allowed them over here.

Laura when you get Alley a teddy bear hamster you must post a pictureof it so i can see.ohhhhhh a teddy bear hamster sounds so cuteicannot wait until you get it..........you are going to get one......arent you?

 

[m.e.]

Laura wrote:

naturestee wrote:

Teddieshave long hair and may need some grooming.

Gosh, what would I use, a toothbrush? JK

Thanks for the help. I'll check out links for the homemade cages. That's a great idea.

Laura

Actually, yeah I used a toothbrush to groom my long-haired Syrian hammie (Teddy Bear, Golden, etc. are all names for Syrians)

And I second the recommendation for a "bin cage". I have a large binthat I converted for my hamster, and liked it so much I made twosmaller ones for each of the mice. They're cheaper than aquariums andcages, very easy to make, and you can give them a more room to run thanmost conventional cages offer.

~Emily and the Fuzzbutts~

 

[Malo]

There is no such thing as a teddy bear hamster.They are just long haired sable banded SYRIAN hamsters. The petstoresjust give them that name to make them sell more. I bought a "dalmation"hamster from a petstore but he is just a dominant black spot syrian.

What do they eat? - Commercial hamster food, fresh veggies (NO rawpotato, citrus, kidney beans, onion, garlic, sweets) they also likelive mealworms and crickets.

What kind of bedding is best? NO CEDAR OR PINE. Aspen shavings is thebest. Good absorbancy, soft. Carefresh is good also but it is expensive.

How long do they live? They can live up to about 3 years if well cared for. Usually less than that though

Any special needs? Nope, just weekly cleaning, time outside of the cagein a ball, they need a wheel but make sure there are no bars in it.

 

[Linz_1987]

I use to have several hamsters when I was younger. I had a long haired one that, I too brushed with a toothbrush .

I wouldnt recomend a cage made out of bars, as many hamsters climb upthe bars, and just deside to jump, and fall. Also recently myboyfriends hamster died because he had a bar ladder in his cage, and hegot caught on it

I would recomend a tank sort of cage, plastic is easier to clean out than glass as of weight.

But you can buy hamster pellets in any pet store. And they can eat many fruit and vegs.

It is important to clean out regulary as they store their food in theirpouches, and then take it into their house. They dont always eat it.

But aprart from that Hamsters are alot of fun! I hope you have as much fun as I did keeping hamsters.


Dont forget hamsters are active during thenight!

 

[Maureen Las]

I used to have hamsters..they need to be keptseparately as they will fight with each other. Mine absolutely spentall their nights on the exercise wheels. I decided to give up hamstersas pets because as soon as you get really attached to them their lifeis over. too much grieving!

 

[nose_twitch]

I know what you mean angieluv. Theyare amazing little things with very small lifespans. I had ahamster who would come to me and do little tricks that I had trained itto do. It was devastating when it died. However, Ithink they are great creatures.

I would caution anyone against getting a dwarf hamster.Unfortunately, they are usually mean, and I do not believe they shouldbe pets.

 

[Maureen Las]

I didn't know dwarf hamsters were mean. Iseriously meant what I said about their short life span...I never saveda pet hamster although I did take them to vets etc.....it became too sad

 

[stanleysmommy]

One of my very first hamsters I ever got,Hamlet, was pretty mean. He'd bite and go crazy if you touched orpicked him up. But then we tamed him and he was the sweetest littlething.

I really miss him a lot. He was funny to watch though because hereminded you of an old man. Sort of hobbling around and everything. Heeven got cataracts and that was really sad.

But other than him all my hamsters I had were so nice. Some were babies bred from a couple, one with a great temperment.

Anyways, are you for sure getting one? Can't wait to know.

 

[Snuggys Mom]

Thanks, everyone. We got our hamster yesterday. Her name is Amber and she's five months old.

I couldn't get a good picture, but this will give you an idea of what she looks like:

It took forever to find the right cage. I wanted somethingwell ventilated and easy to clean and Ally wanted tubes forclimbing. We settled on this one:

We are going out today to get an exercise pen and exerciseball. There was a plastic wheel included with the cage, butit has rungs and we were afraid she might hurt herself, so we took itout. She loves the little "fort". She's beensleeping up there.
Laura

 

[Pipp]

Wow, Laura, what a lucky little critter little Amber is!

I hadhamsters when I was a kid. I loved themdearly. Penny, was my first one. Iused towake up in the middle of the night and finda hamster runningacross my face -- or if it was Penny, asleepin the crook ofmy arm.

:sleep:

I couldn'tfigure out how they could getout of theircages, come all the way up the stairs and jump on mybed!

Turns out I was sleepwalking. :disgust: I'd goretrieve the poor little guys and bring them to bed withme.

I just remembered that! (Thought I'd share). :embarrassed:



GiveAmber a kiss for me. Hope the family ishealthy and happy.



SAS (and PIPP)

 

[naturestee]

Amber's a cutie! What breed is that- black bear? That's a pretty cool cage, too. Looks like she's already doing the same thing my hamsters always did- practically living in the turret/fort. I called it the turdet because our first hamsters decided to do everything up there.:rollseyes: I tossed it soon after, so I don't know if all hamsters do that. I hope Amber has more sense!

Does Ally like her?

 

[Snuggys Mom]

naturestee wrote:

I called it the turdet because our first hamsters decided to do everything up there.:rollseyes:

Hee hee - turdet. Amber has pooped a little up there, but she mostly poops in the corners of the cage.

Ally loves her, but Amber always seems to be asleep when we go to see her. I warned Ally that they are nocturnal, but she still wanted her.

Amber was so cute yesterday when I tried to take some pictures. She made the sleepy face and put her little hands up as if to say, "Leave me alone. That light hurts my eyes."
She has a really expressive face. I'm in love. :inlove:


I'm not sure of the breed. The pet store said they were all Teddy Bear (Syrian) hamsters, but who knows.

Laura

 

[stanleysmommy]

Oh she's so sweet. I miss having hamsters I can hold, but I never had enough time to hold them and they were always sleeping. At least that's how I felt.

 

[FlopsnWills]

she is adorable.. although she isn't a "teddy bear" hamster.. from that pic she does look like a black bear. i had four different hamsters (one teddy bear)as a kid and i loved them all so much, i never got a mean one, and hopefully never will.i'll attach a pic of a teddy bear. looks like amber will have a wonderful life

 

[Snuggys Mom]

Here's a better pic of Amber:

Are Black Bear hamsters also known as Syrian hamsters? I didn't know there were so many different types of hamsters. This is confusing!

Thanks,

Laura

**edited to say I've done a little reading and found out black bear hamsters are Syrian hamsters (also known as teddy bear hamsters). "Black Bear" is a nickname for the ones with the darker color mutation.