Hamsters!!

[Anonymity82]

I'm going to try this again. I spent like 30 minutes writing out this whole thing about my hamsters and experience with them when I clicked submit it had logged me out and everything was lost.....

I'll try to make this short. I adopted a boy Fancy Russian, Phodopus cambelli (most likely, apparently it's common knowledge that pet store breeders often mix up species between P. cambelli and P. sungorus). He was born about 6 weeks ago and all his siblings were adopted out to other employees except for the runt who didn't survive. We do adopt out recovered sick animals occasionally too so even if you don't want to buy one from a pet store because they'll just replace it's a good idea to ask if they have any (we adopt out reptiles to birds to guinea pigs so it's worth a shot) for adoption as they take up room in the back and would be much more happy in a good home, not that we don't take of them but I think y'all get my point.

I'm going to get him a better cage eventually as his cage and supplies were given to me for free by a nice customer and the hamster himself was free too! He's never had a wheel and seems very content in the small cage as he doesn't chew the wires or climb. He does have a wheel now though. Still, I understand he would be happier in a larger home.

He has bitten me a couple of times but over all he's very sweet and acclimated to being handled as he has been so since birth. Not jumpy and doesn't act nervous at all. His mother was pure evil as most of the "Fancy Russian" albinos tend to be at our store. At least the females, I have not had much contact with the males.

Anyhow, here's Tyrion the dwarf fancy Russian: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...6967970.-2207520000.1357842668&type=3&theater

Another: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...6967970.-2207520000.1357842668&type=3&theater

For my other hamster, Butters (Phodupus roborovski), well, he's a bit jumpy and very nervous. Doesn't like the flashlight when I try to see him at night and is inclined to scream, not bite though, if I have to pick him up to check on his underside or the new bold spot he has (I don't think there are any mites or fungus, he's just old. I dabbed him with hydrogen peroxide and no fizzing so it's just a bold spot. No blood, dry scaly skin, nothing). He wont take treats out of my hand and when I lift the top to change the water he darts around or hides in his burrow. Completely adorable though. Wish I could handle him but he's to old (1.5 years) to be acclimated and it would just cause him unneeded stress. I tried when I first got him and he would take treats and even let me pet him sometimes but I got lazy about and now I can't even get close enough to try and pet him.

Well, some pics! Here is sleeping: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...6967970.-2207520000.1357842668&type=3&theater

Another sleeping pic: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...6967970.-2207520000.1357842668&type=3&theater

Eating a cracker: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...6967970.-2207520000.1357842668&type=3&theater

And letting me pet him awhile ago: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...6967970.-2207520000.1357842668&type=3&theater


Feel free to gush over your little cute hamsters too! In fact, please share you pictures!

I understand that hamster keeping and guinea pig keeping is a hobby predominately run by preteen girls... I am not in fact a preteen girl.

 

[madamoisele]

Your post reminded me instantly of this song. (Sorry - I have no help for you as I know nothing about hamsters)

[YOUTUBE]DX_rgHHWwv8[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Anonymity82]

Here's a video of my new little monster tearing up a mealworm:


[YOUTUBE]QRVToUBFNAY&feature[/YOUTUBE]

 

[nepenthes]

I never thought to feed bugs to my rodents... I bet my old rats would have loved a B. dubia.

 

[Louise E. Rothstein]

Back when I bred silkworms all of my hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) really enjoyed my "spare" silkworm pupae.

My frogs would eat silkworm moths.

And my PARAKEETS enjoyed silkworm EGGS.

 

[catfishrod69]

I just buried our hamster on sunday. Was a awesome little guy. Ive never been a fan of hamsters. Ive owned alot of them, but every single one of them were balls of fur with fangs. Luckily the one i buried was the awesomest one we ever had. He never ever bit anyone. Was suposed to be a dwarf, but would always bury his wheel, and wouldnt workout alot, so he got pretty plump. We will miss you Ham.

 

[Anonymity82]

Sorry dude! It sucks they live such a short time.

This one in the video is definitely balls of steel with fangs. Cute though. Once he's out he's completely fine. My other one is a nut! Can't even look at it wrong it will run off and hide. I really love winter whites. They can be vocal and squeal but when you scoop them up they're all fluffy balls of love haha. Not really big biters.

As for the syrians, I've had mixed reviews. I have had about 5 of them and most only lived no longer than a year to year and a half. I was using cedar and I think this may have contributed . Now I know better. Syrians can be awesome but there are a couple of reasons I wont personally own them again. Their piss stinks and the piss a lot! Most are biters (although I know plenty of people who have had non biters and even one of mine didn't bite, the trick is to get them as small as possible and socialize them as much as possible while they're still really young, such a brief window). If you happen to have a biter they can do some real damage. Sever nerves etc... Most dwarfs barely break the skin, although some do worse. They're usually really stressed out through the process of being shipped to a pet store and then being bother by little kids smacking the glass all day while they're trying to sleep under the bright lights.

I love the dwarfs though! I really want a winter white! Hopefully I'll be able to figure out a way to adopt this little 3 footed blue fancy russian. No where near as mean is his albino brethren.

---------- Post added 01-16-2013 at 05:01 PM ----------

Back when I bred silkworms all of my hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) really enjoyed my "spare" silkworm pupae.

My frogs would eat silkworm moths.

And my PARAKEETS enjoyed silkworm EGGS.

Sweet!

A lot of people don't realize that these animals come into contact with bugs in the wild and eat them. They have pretty high nutritional values too!

My robo is too scared of crickets to eat them but I'm sure if I left a tiny roach in the glass dish he would tear it up!

 

[catfishrod69]

I totally understand that man. Ours might of been a winter white. Not sure though. He was white, with a slight tint of grey. When he didnt want to be picked up, he would squeek and slap you with his hands lol.

 

[Anonymity82]

From my experience at work the ones who make the noise the most are winter whites. But they can all make these noises. The problem with the coloration is that most pet store breeders apparently mix them up so there's a lot of hybrids. At work we have one "fancy russian albino" and 4 "winter white albinos" and they looked exactly alike. The only reason I'm pretty sure the Fancy russian was not a winter white was its disposition. I could just scoop the others up and they would squeak at first or just chill out. They might try to run away or something too. The fancy russian albinos like to turn towards you. They don't run as much. They're ready for a fight. Sometimes they come running at you read for a brawl when all I'm doing is changing their food or wiping the inside of their tank lol. Quick to bite and scratch too.

I've talked to other stores who get the same hamsters in and both sexes seem to have the same mean attitude. But to be fair, most of the local stores are probably getting them from the same breeder. Maybe the breeder just keeps breeding the meanest with the meanest!

 

[bugmankeith]

I forgot what show it was, but the person had natural setups for rats and hamsters. It was peat moss I think mixed with straw bedding and the hamsters actually dug a burrow and it had multiples entrances it was really cool because were all used to the wire cage with wood shavings bedding they cant really be true hamsters that way.

 

[RockinOutAmber]

I have a fancy hamster named Dagit. He was really skittish, but now he's getting better.

 

[Anonymity82]

They do love to burrow!

That would be cool! Maybe that's something I can do in the future. I try to tell people to give them a lot of bedding and pack it down tight. Even though it's not the same they'll enjoy it. My Robo has a thousand burrow in his 20g long lol.



So, I got the other one today! I'll post some links to picture of her. She's so sweet! I was going to name her Tripod but Jess wanted to name her Peggy for obvious reasons. I did tell her she could name her...

---------- Post added 01-16-2013 at 11:55 PM ----------

I have a fancy hamster named Dagit. He was really skittish, but now he's getting better.

My albino isn't skittish, just very cage aggressive! He's fine once he's out.

 

[Formerphobe]

I understand that hamster keeping and guinea pig keeping is a hobby predominately run by preteen girls... I am not in fact a preteen girl.

Hmmm, well, I am female, but definitely not pre-teen. My family has kept guinea pigs for years. Most were a succession of black male Abyssinians, all named 'George' (I thru VII). Then there were a couple of smooth tri-colored males: 'Harold', and 'Munchkin', followed by white and silver Aby 'Max'. Max passed away a couple of weeks ago after a long illness. Enter 'Laverne' (smooth chocolate), my very first female pig. Had Laverne less than a week when she surprised us by giving birth to white with lemon, kinky haired 'Curly'.

My experience with hamsters is that most of them are:

balls of fur with fangs

 

[Anonymity82]

Hmmm, well, I am female, but definitely not pre-teen. My family has kept guinea pigs for years. Most were a succession of black male Abyssinians, all named 'George' (I thru VII). Then there were a couple of smooth tri-colored males: 'Harold', and 'Munchkin', followed by white and silver Aby 'Max'. Max passed away a couple of weeks ago after a long illness. Enter 'Laverne' (smooth chocolate), my very first female pig. Had Laverne less than a week when she surprised us by giving birth to white with lemon, kinky haired 'Curly'.

My experience with hamsters is that most of them are:

I love Abyssinians! We rarely get a true (8 cowlicks right?) but we often have some that have a few cowlicks. My favorite are those that only have the flattened cowlick on top of their heads!

kinky haired? Is that the same as teddy pigs? We had one of those at work. I love pigs! I'm not sure I could deal with the clean up though :/. When I get a new job I'm going to miss them the most. Definitely very rewarding animals. I love the squeal of delights when they hear the hay container opening. Or when they chew because they're pissed off or their little "get off me" head butts hehe. They're so sweet most of the time. I've handled dozens and dozens at work and being that I have to shove medicine into their mouths and they don't bite really makes me want a couple.

It's amazing how fast they can breed! 3 weeks and they're good to go as I'm sure you know.

Love the Georges btw! Cute names.

---------- Post added 01-17-2013 at 12:29 AM ----------

The hamster I picked up today is super, super sweet. No biting or anything. It has a missing foot and is a bit timid. Sometimes she scrambles to get away. She calms down though and seems to enjoy being pet.

I was medicating her while she was in our sick room. She was messed up! Her sibling cut her up bad and her foot got infected. Apparently, she decided to chew her foot off!

Here's a couple of pics of the new, and the last until there's a death, hamster!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...69311194.31418.131619876967970&type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...69311194.31418.131619876967970&type=3&theater

 

[Tarac]

When the siblings in my family were all kids, my sister (a preteen at the time) had a dwarf hamster- Campbell's. It was a vicious monster about it's cage too. If you even got close to the lid to do maintenance or what have you it would run over to the closest spot to your hands and proceed to try jumping up the glass to reach you so it could attack without restraint. Wretched little beast IMO but she loved it despite the numerous bites she received from it.

I feel like I recall reading somewhere that males get that bald spot fairly regularly. Maybe I'm confusing that with sugar gliders that definitely do, do you know? I'm not much of a rodent person other than an occasional rat. Besides my dog, I'm more of a "looking at" kind of pet person than one who likes pets which are demanding of attention and copious amounts of upkeep. Impossible not to admit that they are darn cute in spite of my general dislike of non-dog mammals. Don't get me wrong- I like them in the wild and still find them fascinating, I just don't find them to be suitable as pets for me.

Glad you are taking such great care of those little guys/gals, that's a very nice thing you and your pet store do!

 

[Anonymity82]

When the siblings in my family were all kids, my sister (a preteen at the time) had a dwarf hamster- Campbell's. It was a vicious monster about it's cage too. If you even got close to the lid to do maintenance or what have you it would run over to the closest spot to your hands and proceed to try jumping up the glass to reach you so it could attack without restraint. Wretched little beast IMO but she loved it despite the numerous bites she received from it.

I feel like I recall reading somewhere that males get that bald spot fairly regularly. Maybe I'm confusing that with sugar gliders that definitely do, do you know? I'm not much of a rodent person other than an occasional rat. Besides my dog, I'm more of a "looking at" kind of pet person than one who likes pets which are demanding of attention and copious amounts of upkeep. Impossible not to admit that they are darn cute in spite of my general dislike of non-dog mammals. Don't get me wrong- I like them in the wild and still find them fascinating, I just don't find them to be suitable as pets for me.

Glad you are taking such great care of those little guys/gals, that's a very nice thing you and your pet store do!

Syrians get the bold spots on their hips or lower part of the back because that's where their scent glands are. Male dwarfs are on their bellies and usually have a little yellow patch on the fur.

---------- Post added 01-17-2013 at 12:10 PM ----------

When the siblings in my family were all kids, my sister (a preteen at the time) had a dwarf hamster- Campbell's. It was a vicious monster about it's cage too. If you even got close to the lid to do maintenance or what have you it would run over to the closest spot to your hands and proceed to try jumping up the glass to reach you so it could attack without restraint. Wretched little beast IMO but she loved it despite the numerous bites she received from it.

I feel like I recall reading somewhere that males get that bald spot fairly regularly. Maybe I'm confusing that with sugar gliders that definitely do, do you know? I'm not much of a rodent person other than an occasional rat. Besides my dog, I'm more of a "looking at" kind of pet person than one who likes pets which are demanding of attention and copious amounts of upkeep. Impossible not to admit that they are darn cute in spite of my general dislike of non-dog mammals. Don't get me wrong- I like them in the wild and still find them fascinating, I just don't find them to be suitable as pets for me.

Glad you are taking such great care of those little guys/gals, that's a very nice thing you and your pet store do!

Thanks! I love hamsters! I have always loved them but I didn't get back into keeping them until my early 20's. I had one when I was 12... I stepped on it and killed it. It died violently in my hands... It took awhile to get over.

Trying to get the species right between the P. sungorus and P. campbellis is turning out to be pretty hard! Also, I think the supposed hybridization going on at the breeders is causing a problem too. I'm trying to figure it out!

Any hamster can become vicious or may just be vicious. The best bet is either handle them at the pet store to try and read their disposition (this is subject to change once they get comfortable and feel a little more confident in a home setting) or better yet, get a smaller baby and get them used to being handled often. Out of my 5 Syrians the only one who never bit me was bought when it was really tiny and I handled him all the time. Sadly, he only lasted a year. I was using cedar and I think this shortened all their life spans greatly. I didn't know how bad it was for them.

Thanks for the compliment! They're super easy pets. Change water every other day, or every day if you want. Food just gets refilled once a week and changed completely every few weeks. I also add a dust bath which helps their coats and help prevent infections on their scent glands or any wounds they may acquire by keeping it clean. They're not for everyone though!

 

[Gilberator]

I understand that hamster keeping and guinea pig keeping is a hobby predominately run by preteen girls... I am not in fact a preteen girl.

This had me DYING! I'm okay now though hahaha

 

[Anonymity82]

This had me DYING! I'm okay now though hahaha

Truth can be funny. I belong or at least visit a few hamster forums. I realize now that I'm probably on some "predator" watch list. They're just waiting for me to say "So, where do you live?" LOL

It's not easy being a 30 year old male small furry animal lover. People give me weird looks!

 

[Alltheworld601]

every single one of them were balls of fur with fangs.

I'm sorry for your loss, but I found the above statement hilarious on a primarily tarantula themed forum. Oh no! Not furry things with fangs!! (Just poking fun though don't take offense. I love hamsters, all rodents really!)

 

[catfishrod69]

Thanks. Haha no offense taken here. Another critter i cant stand is, sugar gliders. They are all like "look at us we are so adorable". Then your hand goes in for the petting, the little winged spawn of satan inches closer. Your hand is inches from touching it, and BAM, your being carved open by thier minature sporks!

I'm sorry for your loss, but I found the above statement hilarious on a primarily tarantula themed forum. Oh no! Not furry things with fangs!! (Just poking fun though don't take offense. I love hamsters, all rodents really!)