Hamster advice, please?

Parent Cafe
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<p>We have two dwarf hamsters. One is a male Siberian and the other is a female Roberovski. Long story short - thought the male disappeared (cat knocked the tube over and out he went). Went out next day and purchased the female - then, found the male under the stove. Now we have two. </p>

<p>The male is a doll - very sweet - wouldn’t harm a fly. Was like that since we got him very young. The female is very skiddish - likes to socialize, but would LOVE to bite your finger off for dinner. We don’t pick her up at all - use her wheel when cleaning her cage, etc. She is cute though and the cat loves her pets, LOL.</p>

<p>Some hamsters need socializing to humans. You do this gradually. There is some information about it on the internet. I have also heard that Black Bears are very tame as well.</p>

22

<p>We had two hamsters. They are indeed nocturnal, kept us awake all night running in their wheel. They never tamed. One got sick and the other killed it and then was eating it. It was very traumatic.<br>
Next got a guinea pig and he was very cuddly.</p>

23

<p>All good advice above. Hamsters are difficult pets – as a generalization. There are some breeds that are more social than others. Hamsters seem to be chosen because they are perceived as ‘less work’ that some of the other small mammals. Also, people think little child=little pet. They also live shorter lives and for many families that is an advantage.</p>

<p>Gerbils are a good choice. We seem to be having a gerbil shortage at the moment, although I apparently have one supplier with a few gerbils. I have not received a full order of gerbils (I order 6 at once) in quite some time. They tend to be a little more placid than the hamsters, and happier with communal living than hamsters. They also have tails, and don’t have the variety of coat patterns which makes them less attractive than hamsters to the general public.</p>

<p>Pet rats are really a great pet. We don’t get a lot of requests for rats – but they do come in interesting coat patterns and don’t have to look like lab animals or vermin.</p>

<p>Guinea pigs and rabbits tend to be more cuddly. They also live longer, eat more food, take up more space, and require more effort. </p>

<p>Any pet can bite. And hard. Take the time to learn the specifics of how to handle each type of animal. My basic rules are – do not wake up the hamster, wash your hands before handling so you don’t smell like food, and don’t grab. Let the pet come to you.</p>

<p>For any child under six, I really do recommend the stuffed variety of pet.</p>

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<p>cnp55;
Order of gerbils?..Please say more</p>

25

<p>Oh – I own a pet shop. Intimately familiar with all sorts of pets, although I don’t sell puppies and kittens. </p>

<p>There’s been a gerbil shortage (egads!) for the last six months or so. I’ve just developed a new supplier – but can’t get large quantities. I order six and get three or four. </p>

<p>I usually ask a family with small kids if they want a “pet to watch” or a “pet to hold”. If they want holding pets … think in terms of piggies and bunnies. Older kids can usually have their own hamster or gerbil and do well, with patience.</p>

26

<p>Echoing above, my D’s guinea pig was very cuddly and fun to be with (except that its long, long, long hair took more care than she could handle, and we ended up with a lot of mess and an expensive trip to vet to shave it.) In the summer, D would make a straw bed for it in her wagon and take it for walks–really cute.</p>

<p>S’s hamster was no fun–didn’t bite but almost impossible to hold, too loud at night to keep in his room, kept breaking out of cage.</p>

<p>I’d vote for a gp, as long as it’s not long-haired.</p>

27

<p>“Oh – I own a pet shop”</p>

<p>oh good… I wondered if you were feeding them to snakes! I know they have to eat, but still…</p>

28

<p>At the moment gerbils are much too precious to feed to snakes! </p>

<p>Even in a normal market, mice are way cheaper than gerbils. It’s all the circle of life thing, but I don’t even like feeding live food to the snakes. So – since it’s my store and I make the rules – right now, no snakes!</p>

29

<p>I used to have a hamster, and I could never get my hands anywhere within a foot of it. It smelled terrible and was more unfriendly than any person I have met. Very cute, but acted like it was halfway rabid.</p>

<p>Rats seem a lot more interactable, but the white ones with red eyes still seem a little too lab ratty to me. And the long hairless tails reduce the cuteness factor by a lot.</p>

30

<p>“We’ve never had a friendly bunny, but both of ours have been cast-offs. They can be litter trained however you can’t train them not to chew, so you can’t really let them out much.”</p>

<p>I love my 2 bunnies. As is the case with most rabbits, especially the small ones like mine (about 3 lbs. each), they don’t like being picked up. They are prey animals and presumably think that when you pick them up, they’re becoming dinner.</p>

<p>However, they are gentle, playful, and are fun to watch. They also are litter trained. I followed the advice of getting spayed young adults – meaning they’re past adolescent naughtiness, and someone else had already litter trained them.</p>

<p>Mine do not like to walk on hard floors perhaps because that’s like ice skating for them. So, I keep them – and their open cage, litter box, food – on a 10 x 4 rug in my family room. They refuse to step off it even when I chase after them to comb them. I keep all wooden furniture and electrical cords away from them, so no gnawing probs.</p>

31

<p>Our bunny thinks he’s a dog. He and the West Highland White Terrier chase each other around the house when the bunny is out, first one is the chaser, then the chasee. The dog (male), however, doesn’t like it when the bunny tries to hump him.</p>

32

<p>Mini, ever thought of videotaping that for America’s Funniest Home videos?</p>

33

<p>Friend of mine had a bunny who was in love with her and would sometimes attach himself to her ankle. Other than that, he was very sweet, and often had run of the house.</p>

<p>As for hamsters-- our 9 year-old has been asking for one for the past year or so. It’s a shame they’re so cute, because it sounds they rarely have the temperament to match. The people in the pet store push the chinese dwarf hamsters, who they say are much much less grumpy, but I’m not so sure.</p>

<p>S1’s parakeet was incredibly sociable and affectionate. Not exactly cuddly, but a really engaging little pet. Loved people. He recently passed away, and we’re now stuck with his noisy, lonely and completely un-tame cagemate. Wish we could find him a home with other birds for company.</p>

34

<p>Hamsters are not social animals; if you want hamsters, one is the right number to have in a cage or habitat.</p>

<p>I’ll cast another vote for gerbils, which are social animals; no fewer than two to a cage, and four is even more fun. Odd numbers can work, but sometimes, one gerbil will end up the “odd man out,” so I like even numbers better.</p>

<p>Gerbils produce very little urine; their cages stay cleaner longer than a hamster’s will. If you have multiple cages connected with tubes, you don’t have to clean everything as often as you would if you had only one cage. Gerbils often will prefer one spot for toileting (though will use others), and a different spot for a food cache. </p>

<p>Gerbils are diurnal, so are excellent for kids, who are, after all, usually at school during the day. When S got his first two gerbils, we used to sit on his bed watching “The Sam and Leon Show,” as we called it. They are very interesting little beasties!</p>

<p>We eventually got up to… eight cages, I think it was. We never had all eight connected at one time, wanting to keep at least one cage for other use (isolating a gerbil if needed, having a holding pen for cage-cleaning time, etc.). When we cleaned cages, we’d re-engineer the habitat to change the configuration; we had multiple levels, lofts, lookout towers, toys… all kinds of things to add, move around, change, and lots and lots and lots of tubes to connect the cages with. Lots of tubes.</p>

<p>Gerbils are intensely curious and often, fearless. It mattered not to the gerbs if the (three-legged) cat was draped over a cage; they’d go about their cleaning, eating, drinking, shredding anyway. When the cat stuck his nose to the cage bars to sniff, a gerbil would sniff him right back. (I kept telling the gerbils to bite the cat in the nose, but would they listen to me? Noooo!)</p>

<p>Having gerbils means never having to ask what to do with cardboard toilet paper tubes.</p>

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<p>mini–that bunny/terrier race around your house is hysterical to picture! Go bunny!!!</p>

36

<p>Guess we lucked out in The Great Hamster Derby - we have a Dwarf Winter White Russian Hamster who’s awesome (that name is longer than he is.) He’s sociable, cute, and clean. Our only complaint is that he doesn’t change color like he’s “supposed” to!</p>