I'm planning on getting a hamster, any advice or tips?

On Sept.26th I'm going to get a hamster, probably male, maybe syrian or chinese dwarf. I might get two, but, I just need good advice on food and holding him and just general tips, but no links.I'm planning on getting a hamster, any advice or tips?
Okay, I'm not sure if you already know this because your post isn't very clear but only Russian or Chinese dwarfs can live in pairs, if you want to buy two Syrians they must have one cage each.





Now let's see, other than custom-made hamster food and treats you can give him small portions of fresh fruit and veg, but don't give him too much or he may get diarrhoea from it and he needs fresh water too, you'll need to change it every other day.





He'll need an exercise wheel, metal ones are best because hamsters can chew through plastic ones but you may need to oil it (with sunflower or olive oil so it won't hurt him if he swallows any) to prevent annoying squeaking.


You can buy other toys as well but I would recommend you don't waste the money, in my experience hamsters tend to ignore them.





Leave him to settle in for a couple of days before you try to handle him, then gently pick him up in both hands and try stroking him, you should do this sitting on the floor so if he leaps out of your hands he won't fall very far.


Don't worry if he bites; he's just nervous, put him back in the cage and try again the following day, he'll soon get used to you.





Once he's happy to be handled, try holding him on flat palms and putting one hand in front of the other over and over again so he can run from hand to hand, hamsters enjoy this.





You can also try teaching him to climb the stairs, if he doesn't want to, don't try and force him. But if he does enjoy climbing, you'll be surprised how quickly he can make it up the whole flight once he's had a bit of practice.





You'll need to change his sawdust and bedding and scrub out the corners of his cage once a week, make sure you buy a suitable cage-cleaning product from the pet shop, you don't want to poison him.


You could also buy a ball for him to run around the house in whilst you're cleaning his cage.





As for names, I would recommend you buy him first, it's easier to think of a suitable name when you've seen what he actually looks like.





Good luck.I'm planning on getting a hamster, any advice or tips?
Oooh! I love hamsters, me!





Anyway, if you want more than 1 hamster in the same cage, go with Russian Dwarfs, you put two syrians in together you are going to have a blood bath!





They eat obviously the food you buy from the pet shop- don't feed them too many sun flower seeds though, other wise they will get chubby! Make sure they get plenty of fruit and vegetables in their diet too to keep them healthy and happy! They need a wheel to run around in and plenty of enrichment (things to do) in their cage. Make sure you buy a cage that is big, but has a small gap between the bars if you are going with a small breed. I found out they can squeeze pretty well!





When you hold them- you can pick them up by the scruff of the neck, or gently around the middle. Remember that hammies organs will be delicate, so don't squeeze too hard. When you are holding him, make sure it is over a table in case you drop him or he makes a run for freedom.





For bedding use sawdust, with maybe shredded newspaper for them to sleep in if you want to be more environmentally friendly!





And as for names, here is a list of all the names we used for our male hamsters!





Honey


Gizmo


Rocky


Casper


Skeiter


Ruff


Scruff


Holly (The pet shop said it was a girl....)


Herbie


Tutter


Munch(I didn't use this name, but it is still cute!)



syrian hamsters are solitary animals most the time...don't get two of those...chinese dwarfs can live together though.


unless the pet shops been handling them you might get a few bites at first, I suggest you get gardening gloves of you plan to hold it. when you first get it, make sure you have the cage set up with the wood shaving, wood gnaws, food bowls, water bottle, somewhere to hide or sleep and some fluff for it to make a bed with. allow it to walk from the box to the cage without being touched and you should then leave it alone for 24 hours to get used to its new home.


when you start taming it give it little bits or food through the bars of the cage...watch you fingers. then move onto putting your hand in with food on it and allowing the hamster to walk onto your hand, don't pick it up to fast, and only hold it over your lap so you don't drop it and hurt it.
Apparently dwarfs can be hostile with both humans and each other. Syrians seem to be more domesticated. Get two males; less trouble. Feed with normal hamster mix that you can buy in any pet shops and feed with small bits of carrot every other day. Hamsters take food into their pouches and occasionally hide it in the sawdust but this doesn't mean they have enough food. I thought this when I was young and my hamster starved...ahem. Make sure you have plenty of water and a wheel for them and try to bring them out for a play every evening. Do not put them on high up surfaces though. My hamster once dropped off a high table. Create a little sectioned off area on the floor with video tapes or something and let them crawl through toilet paper tubes and little boxes. Secure the cage well; they're excellent escape artists. Do not wake them when they're asleep; they don't like it and it mucks up their sleeping patterns. Clean the cage out once a week.





Not sure about names but I myself fancy comical human names for pets like Claude or Bryan.
Female hamsters are easier to find...





Well make sure that he is in a cage that he cant get out and be you have a back-up plan for if he ever does get. If he does don't panic just look for him check everywhere you can possibly be.





when holding him make sure when you first get him that your fingers are away from his mouth until he gets a little more trained and such.





When I had a hamster I always gave her dandelions as a treat sometimes. My hamsters didn't really like pellets I don't know why they never ate them. OH! and even tho his bowl is empty doesn't mean you should refill it right away because Hamsters like to store away food.





You may not want to name him now, wait til you get him and study his personality and then think of a name. I remember I had 3 hamsters Honshu, Snarf and Spaz
At first he's not really going to want to be held because he's scared, but don't let this discourage you. You've gotta keep trying hold him at least once a day or he'll never get used to it. One very important thing with a hamster is to watch his bottom for wetness. If his butt is wet, he has a disease called wet tail that is very fatal to them. For food, really any store bought mix is fine, although for treats they like broccoli,carrots, lettuce, basically any green veggie. I dunno I think cute names for hamsters are like ';Hammy'; or ';Mr. Hamster.'; Maybe ';Hamlet';
Hamsters like to eat fruits! Carrots are one of their favourites as well. To hold your hamster, reach out your palm first. Let your hamster sniff it. Don't be scared and don't pull your hand away. Let your hamster climb onto your palm. Slowly, put your other hand like a wall around your hamster, or you can choose to put the other hand on top of it, something like a hamburger. It helps to make it feel secure. You should play with it everyday at least for an hour. You can make lots of handmade toys out of cardboard boxes, toilet rolls, etc. Hamsters love to go through tunnels. If you can't afford to buy tunnels from pet shops then just make your own out of toilet rolls!





One last thing: Make sure you can afford to bring it to the vet in case it gets sick. I have seen many cases which the owners can't afford to bring them to the vet and as a result, the pets die.








Good Luck!
your best bet is to get a golden and male. This type of hamster is the most friendly and easies to had train. They also seem to have a longer life span then the smaller ones plus the smaller ones tend to be mean and harder to handle. You also can get a teddy bear hamster male as well as female hamsters are a bit moody most of the time. You will want to get a cage with a plastic bottom and wire top not tank or more than one level. One that has a wheel in it as they run during the night. As far as food and stuff you want to get litter called care fresh as it all natural and will not cause the hamster any harm food you just have to try them and see what your hamster likes best, treats are good as well yogurt keeps them healthy and dog bisits help the trim their teeth as they grow and can be very painful if they get too large. names





Rascal


Tiny


Two Egg as they are the size of two eggs


Little Guy


Spunky


Hammy





it really depends on his personality if you need more info email me at xsitehim39 at yahoo.com
~Buy it a large cage and lot's of toys


~Change bedding (I recommend Carefresh, Aspen, or Soft Sorbent) once every week


~Hamsters hate when they have to live with another hamster so to be safe, buy just one.


~Feed it carrots, fresh fruit (not citrus), hamster snacks, and normal hamster food.


~Play with him every day for atleast 15 minutes





I think Chip is a really cute name!! Name him that lol=) Good luck
I have found that a very young female hamster makes the best pet. They are sweet and gentle. I would only get one though.





Always scoop the hamster up with both hands. Be careful not to let them escape from a height. They don't know not to fall from high places and this can really hurt them.





It is fun to give them treats of cheerios when they are bigger. They will stuff them in their cheek pouches and then bury them later in their cages.





I have always enjoyed hamsters. Be sure you give them a wheel and they will like kleenex that they can shred into a bed.
from my experience females are friendlier especially if they are older and not babies, go to a small pet store that keeps only one hamster to a cage, hamsters are loners, if you go to a large pet store that has many hamsters your chances of getting a mean ,scared hamster are greater, we have 3 hamsters and 4 rats (((good luck)))
Wow! I know this can be a VERY exciting time for you! Anyway, you'll need to but a water bottle, cage,(I recommened aquariam) Also their ball, wheel, and their food :) They also like sand baths, like chinchilla baths. I really hope this helped
exciting i know how you feel i own two gerbils well anyways you will need a water bottle a wheel no holes though a ball some food with 15% protien no pine or cedar bedding get care fresh ar aspen good luck
dont get 2 syrians, they eat each other! you should get 2 dwarfs called Chip and Cosmic Creepers!
if you get 2 hamsters don't put your hamsters together they might fight and eat each other
Hi there, I'd recommend roborovski hamsters. They live well in pairs or small groups if from the same litter. We had 4 boys and now we have 2 girls. The pet experts claim that roborvski's aren't very happy at being handled but from my experience, all you need is some patience, the same as with any hamster. A bonus with them is that as they are so small, they can't bite hard. I was bitten by my friend's syrian once and I still have a scar but rob's are so small that they can't get a proper hold.





If you go for ones that like to be kept in groups, I'd recommend getting 3 as if you have a pair and one passes away, the other is going to become lonely.





Here's an excerpt from an answer I wrote about 8 month ago on how I got my girls to become tame enough to walk on my hand and allow themselves to be petted:





To begin with, I put a few treats on my hand and let them smell the treats. I didn't move my hand away and gradually they became used to my hand being there. One was more bold than the other and climbed onto my hand, grabbed a seed and ran off. This emboldened the other who also took a seed. They kept scurrying back and forth til all the seeds were gone. Next day I did the same except I put the seeds right back on my hand so they had to step properly onto my hand. After about a week, they started staying on my hand to eat and a while after that, I was able to start stroking them. Now they run out at the sight of my hand and climb all over it!





Now the sound of me opening their cage causes them to come running over to the door and they love climbing onto my hand.





For food, they eat dry hamster food that you can get at most shops and they like some fruits. Mine love dried banana chips, fresh apple (but not the skin) and almost all sorts of seeds. Don't give huge amounts of seeds though as you don't want your little bundles of fluff turning into fat bundles of fluff lol. With fresh food, it's impotant to remember to remove it after 20 minutes of so as it starts to go off.





Another thing I'd recommend you do is start saving your toilet roll tubes as they love to play hide and seek in them. I change them weekly and they can safely chew them, run through them and use them as your toilet(which mine usually do for the wees but sadly not the poos)





Name wise, I called my boys after the characters in Lost-there was Locke, Sayid, Desmond and Hurley(because he was the roundest) and we've never got round to naming the girls, even though they had their first birthday a couple of months ago, so they're either referred to as the girls or ladies... Hope this helps and enjoy your hammies!