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Old 10-08-2016, 07:53 AM  
cypher
Dwarf whisperer
 
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Join Date: May 2014
Location: Wales UK
Posts: 24,789
Default Re: Looking at getting another hamster

I'm completely biased when it comes to dwarf hams in general but I would advise you to give some though to what you want from a ham as they are rather different to syrian hams, do lots of research on each species, Russians (Winter whites/Campbells/hybrids), Chinese & Robos all have different characteristics that may or may not appeal to you.
If you have a read through the different species sections here on the forum you may get a good idea of other people's experiences with their dwarf hams & what they are like to own, or be owned by
Russian hams have a bit of a reputation for being nippy but I haven't found that to be a problem with most of mine, they are a little easier to tame than the other dwarf species & do often like to interact & have plenty of out of cage time.
Chinese tend to need a bit more time & patience with taming, they are a lot faster than the Russian hams which are a lot faster than syrians so you have to be sure you can cope with that! Chinese do tend to have a very sweet nature, males can be quite cuddly little things (& sometimes lazy) whereas females can be rather hyper & super active as well as very agile!
Robos are also very fast, tiny little things, some do become hand tame with patience but others may prefer not to interact so much with humans & can be harder to tame & bond with.
Getting the cage size & set up can be a bit challenging with dwarf hams, I've had some that loved lots of space & made full use of it but others can be intimidated by too much space, you won't really know which your ham will be until you have it so you may need to be open minded & flexible when considering that.
Keeping pairs is far from easy & many fall out as they begin to mature & want their own space so if you do consider a pair bear in mind that you will need to have a second cage ready just in case, falling out can happen quite suddenly so you do need to be prepared.
Pairs need a particular kind of set up to have a chance of doing well, generally a smaller cage, no levels or anything they may get territorial over & two of everything basically.

That barely covers it really but if you have any questions just ask.
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