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tonyshuman

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[align=left]Hi all,[/align]
[align=left]You probably can guess I have a soft spot for the small furry creatures. So... :sofa:eek:n a totally unrelated note, does anyone know what the best kind of hamster food is? I know it's supposed to have nuts and goodies in it unlike bunny food, but other than that I'm kinda lost. Some sites say get the kind that is for gerbils and hamsters, some say to get the kind that is just for hamsters. I'm not getting hamsters or anything...;) But I got the "Harry Hamster" food because it's made by the same people that make carefresh, it's for hammies, and it doesn't have any molasses (which I have also heard is bad for hamsters, especially dwarf Campbell's Russian hamsters, which is the kind I'm not getting).:whistling[/align]
[align=left]Oh and is there a good hamster forum out there? Should I just chill out because hamsters are incredibly easy to take care of anyway?[/align]
[align=left]I swear, one day my house is going to be overrun by little furry monsters.[/align]
 
I adore hamsters. I lost my last one a couple of months ago. It was very difficult. They sure are small, but they definitely can easily wiggle themselves into your heart.

As far as hamster food goes, I had purchased a hamster/gerbil mix from Sweet Meadow. I really liked the quality and my hamster liked it as well. I'm pretty sure that Oxbow sells a hamster food, but I'm honestly not 100%. I'd assume that it is a good quality feed. I'd stay far away from some of the cheaper pet store brands because they're incredibly dusty and even smell to be of poor quality. I'd just do research just like you did with rabbits. There are quality foods out there, you just have to search for them. (ETA: I just checked the Oxbow site and they do have hamster food - "Healthy Handfuls.")

I'm not sure of what sites there are out there, but if you find any can you let me know as well? I'd love to get back into hamsters.

Good luck and feel free to ask any other questions you may have. Hamsters are fairly easy to care for, but they still require some basic knowledge and it's never a problem to want to learn more, you know? PM me if you need anything and if I can help, I will.

And definitely show pics when you get your hammy (hammies). (ETA: Dwarf hamsters are the only kind that can be safely housed together. The larger hamsters (Syrians)are solitary.)
 
Hamsters are omnivores and enjoy variety in their diet. They love insects such as crickets. (I think Matthew has given our hamster worms, but that's gross). They also love to eat butterflies :(

It's fun to watch them hunt like little tiny bears ;)

Pam
 
I used to run a hamster forum and information site. I've been out of the loop for a long time now, but general mix, as long as it is not too sugary is OK. You can feed a much bigger variety of stuff than rabbits. Scrambled eggs are good on 'down' days or if they need a little boost. Tiny bits of stale bread are nice too. You can feed lots of vegetables too, although remember that it will be tiny portions for a tiny animal! Monkey nuts are a hamster favourite because they love to crack them open, sometimes you need to help them along a bit thought if they can't get them open!

For a first-time hamster i would definatley say go for a Syrian. They are alot easier to handle. Russians can be in pairs but are alot more fidgety (think of a big lop compared to a busy nethie). Robrovski and chinese hamsters are pretty much just 'watching' hamsters and won't enjoy a 'cuddle'.

I don't know if you have a cage sorted but there is one called the Imac fantasy which is one of the best. It can be aded onto with the second layers. If not you can make a really cheap tub cage by getting a storage tub and cutting a hole in the lid and covering it with wire. You can attach loads of these tubs together and make really good cheap cages.

Hamster forums:

www.hamsterhouse.com is what got me into forums and small furries in the first place, although it is a very 'young' forum. It is fairly dead along as current things go and is only really run by the members. The mod logs on like once a week and the owner was seen once online in the 3 years i was an active member there.

www.hamsterheaven.co.uk is another brill place. The board is great, its a much more organised forum, there are alot of members with great advice and also alot of moderators, kinda like this forum.

I haven't been on either of these forums for YEARS! Its so weird to look back at my daily 'haunts'.

Good luck! PM me if you need anything and i will try to search my brain for you. All that hamster information has to be hiding back there somewhere!

Fran :) :hearts :brownbunny
 
Harry hamster is a good food, but I think they still use the preservative ethoxyquin which isn't so good for the hamster. They have a sister food called Hazel hamster, which doesn't have it for sure. Anyway, basically as long as your food doesn't have many additives, no onions or almonds, and no added sugars (molasses included) it's a good staple mix, try to find one with not too much corn and sunflower seeds. They can be fed fruits and veggies, as well as plain cooked meat like beef or chicken.

I administrate a forum at www.hamsterific.com which is a website that's full of information... The site is slightly dated, though so if you're unsure about the information, hamsters are one of my stronger animals when it comes to knowledge on them. There's a great forum there.
 
One thing i should also add is that hamsters are really quite hardy creatures. Of course they still have their illnesses and such but, unlike a rabbit which can go downhill in an evening, a hamster will often stay alive for a very long time. One of mine had cancer, a huge tumour pushing on her stomach. Vet said there was nothing we could do but she still seemed OK, she lived for another 6 months, thats a quarter of a hamsters life expectancy.

I miss you, Crumpet, Tolouse, Henry, Marmite, Diego, Dorothy and Carmen!

Fran :) :hearts :brownbunny
 
Thanks guys!

While reading the back of the package (no ethoxyquin btw) I realized I do have the Hazel Hamster food instead. So yay for that! I got one of those big cages with all the plastic tunnels on it because it looks fun, and my bf had hamsters as a kid and he had that kind of cage, loved it, etc.

I'm looking at getting hammies through a Craigslist posting of an accidental litter. There really aren't many around here in rescues, and I figure it's better to help someone find a home for these hammies. The hamsters are "russian dwarfs," and they're several different colors, so I assume they're Campbell's and not Robos. I'm hoping for a pair and I've found a good pic for helping me determine gender (I think from one of those sites listed) so there are no more accidents! I'm really excited! Fingers crossed that all goes well!

I'll definitely come back here and to those places if I have more questions, and with pictures!
 
I hope everything works out for you and your new hammies! It looks like there are tons of people on the site that have plenty of info if you run into trouble. Good luck and I can't wait to hear you have them.

And, like you said, we'll need pics :D.
 
pinksalamander wrote:
One thing i should also add is that hamsters are really quite hardy creatures. Of course they still have their illnesses and such but, unlike a rabbit which can go downhill in an evening, a hamster will often stay alive for a very long time. One of mine had cancer, a huge tumour pushing on her stomach. Vet said there was nothing we could do but she still seemed OK, she lived for another 6 months, thats a quarter of a hamsters life expectancy.

I miss you, Crumpet, Tolouse, Henry, Marmite, Diego, Dorothy and Carmen!

Fran :) :hearts :brownbunny

I agree with tumors, but if they get upper respiratory infections it can turn to pneumonia and be fatal pretty quickly... So you might want to just watch for that.

Yep, Robos are completely different species from Campbell's Russian dwarves... Some people call the Russians either campbell's, Russian's , or campbell's russian, but they're still the same species. You'll want to read up on diabetes in hamsters since that's the type you're getting. Ok.. I thought so, I was pretty sure you could only get harry in the UK now, but I thought possibly they sell in the US as well- Hazel is great food.
 
Its good to have lots of tubes but make sure its not round in any way (like most of the Rotostak ones) because hamsters need lots of corners to hide in and round enclosures make them disorientated. You can get normal cages with tubes, or you can get Rotastak one which is a long triangular prism. I had that one and it is good because it has corners, but its difficult to clean!

Fran :) :hearts :brownbunny
 
pamnock wrote:
Hamsters are omnivores and enjoy variety in their diet. They love insects such as crickets. (I think Matthew has given our hamster worms, but that's gross). They also love to eat butterflies :(

It's fun to watch them hunt like little tiny bears ;)

Pam
I never knew this, see you learn soemthing new everyday
 
My Harley loves bread, plain dog biscuts, and unsalted peanuts. Oh he loves dandilions too. I have not really had the chance to buy more treats for him like fruits or veggies, but he does like fresh green beans from the produce, I think he was not too keen on strawberries.

Here is the list I did on Wheekers the guinea pig site I am a member off. all of the foods that hammies can eat or not eat.

http://wheekers.proboards32.com/index.cgi?board=pets&action=display&thread=6664
 
Wonderful, guys! Thanks for all the info. I got my two lovely ladies a week ago last Wednesday. They are Petunia, an agouti, and Ms. Piggy (bf named her), a lilac mottled (or something... she's white with agouti-ish spots on her back). They are Campbell's Russian Dwarf hamsters. They like to eat, sleep, dig in the carefresh, and bite me (not sure why on that one... but it doesn't bother me much). They get to run around most days on the couch or floor (with me watching of course), and I'm finding it hard not to give them many fresh veggies! They are so small that I have to give them such tiny portions when I do give them fresh greens. They love their food (well, the seeds in it, they don't go much for the biscuits) and the treats that I give them (things like cheerios that i want to give to the bunnies but can't). I'm so happy with them!!! It was definitely a good decision, no matter if my mom thinks i'm crazy for having so many animals!

:baghead

Pics are coming, but SOMEONE ate through my camera cable (Tony, I think)! I cleaned the cage today for the first time too. They can be smelly buggers! I will upload pics as soon as i find a replacement cable...
:crash
 
As promised, Hammie pics!!

Picture08118.jpg


Picture08114.jpg

petunia is on the left, ms. piggy is on the right!

Picture08111.jpg

This is ms. piggy drinking out of the crappy waterbottle that came with the cage. Very funny, but didn't look very easy to do, so i changed it out for a more traditional style water bottle.

And this weekend, I had to turn to those websites! Ms. Piggy was keeping her right eye closed, so i looked it up and found out it could be a cheek pouch problem or a scratch on the eye. since I coudln't do anything for the cheek pouch problem, i did the stuff for an eye injury--warm compress and saline solution, and she seems better. it might not be because of that, but i'm not sure. i'm going to keep an eye on it, of course.

Thanks all!
 
Such cuties! Yeah, Dwarves are a little cage territorial so it's not uncommon for them to bite inside the cage... And with taming, they won't bite outside the cage. You're taking good care of them :)

The eye thing, if it was gooped shut, you'll want to keep an eye on her behaviour as well, things like breathing heavily or lethargy, balance issues, sneezing or "hiccupping" noises as well as eyes being gooped shut can also be a sign of an upper respiratory infection. Or it could be a cheek problem, a scratch in the eye, or something as simple as the eye getting dust in it and being a little irritated.

Anyway, have fun with your new little girls, they're gorgeous!
 
A good web site is hamster house becuase its not totally croweded and theres this guy who comes on every day and will give you TONS of information. She has her own homemade mixture that she gives her *thinks* 50 hamsters each day. All I know is to AVOID any kaytee brands and Nutriphrase, except Nutriphrase gold. I forget what its has in it but it is very bad. Serouisly go onto Hamster house

http://www.hamsterhouse.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.pl
 
Thanks guys! They're so fun to watch. Ms. Piggy was sleeping on her back with her feet up in the air yesterday! And Petunia has learned how to climb the wire cage walls like a little monkey. So cute!

The eye wasn't crusty, but I thought I heard her sneeze. I only treated with the compress and saline because that was the only at-home remedy for any type of eye ailment, and I figured it couldn't hurt (well it could hurt me since she didn't really like it and bit me a bit!). I'm going to keep watching her for illness, more keeping it closed, and such. It does look better, but I want to give it a few more days' observation.

The kaytee and nutriphase non-gold varieties all have the preservative ethoxyquin in them, which is bad. I''m feeding nutriphase gold now, because they weren't eating the pellet-like things in the Hazel Hamster, they seemed to prefer the seeds. Nutriphase gold has more seeds than pellets, so they eat more of it.
 

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