New Campbell's Hammy

[Samantha]

Hi Everyone, i have just found out that i am getting a little campbells boy from a rescue on saturday! He is 11 months old and came to the rescue because his owners were too scared to handle him and so he has spent the majority of his life in a cage with no contact/company. But that will all change when he comes to me, i have his zoozone 1 all set up for his new life of luxury and cuddles. :)

I have never had campbells before or any dwarf for that matter, i have always had syrians, so i was just wondering if there was anything that i should know before saturday? I have been reading up on dwarf hamsters for a while, and obviously with not knowing his origins (pet shop/breeder) there is a high chance that he is a hybrid so i will be testing him for diabetes when he has settled in but is there anything else?

Thanks!

[mangoandmimi]

ooh thats great!! looking forwards to seeing him when he's settled in ^_^
not really much i can add... just no fruits or sugary stuff :D

[SnickersTheFirst]

That's great! :D He'll have a lovely time with you.

You said about testing for the diabetes, are you aware he won't be allowed any sugar? This means no fruit and all sweetcorn will need to be removed from his food mix (if it contains any that is).

[Hamtastic]

Congratulations. Harry Hamster mix would be good, avoiding any corn, molasses, and added sugars. My dwarfies have learned to really like freeze-dried mealworms for extra protein. Not sure what to add, as I've never owned a syrian hamster, but somehow I feel you will need extra care with taming, as it seems that dwarves are more timid. ZZ1 is a great choice!

[Samantha]

Thanks for your replies.
I know that they cannot have any fruit or sugary stuff but i'm undecided about whether he would be allowed the supreme science selective food that i feed my syrian harry as it doesn't say it contains anything i know they can't have.

Here are the ingredients:

Wholemeal wheat flour, soybean meal, barley (min. 8%), oats (min. 4%), linseed, soy oil, minerals, methionine, lysine, salt.

What do you think?
xxx

[Hamtastic]

Hm, sounds very simple--I'd supplement it with more ingredients for variety. How much protein does it have? Should be 17% or more if you don't add extra protein foods (like mealworms).

[Samantha]

Thanks Hamtastic, the break down is

crude protein 19%
crude fibre 5%
crude oils and fats 5%
crude ash 5.5%

I also make my own mix of:
rice crispies
wheat flakes
porridge oats
millet
high quality ketten biscuits
split peas
barley
sunflower seeds
peanuts
and a few other things that i use to encourage taming/foraging, along with babyfood, pedigree milk bones, veg, yogurt and cheese.
Sorry i should have specified that the supreme science is just a base diet lol.

And i think you may be right about the taming but i'm looking forward to the challenge as all of my syrians have been tame from day 1.

xxx

[TinyPixi]

Awww congrats on getting your new rescue!! Can't offer any advice as I'm inexperienced myself in Campbells.......But looking forward to lots of pics of your new arrival once he settles in!! :)

[Hamtastic]

Oh, that mix sounds fine!

[Samantha]

Ah that's good :) Thank you Hamtastic.
And thank you everyone for your replies, i'll post pictures of the little guy once he has settled in :D

Thanks again xx

[Gizmodo ^_^]

Yay for getting a new hamster :D, sounds like your going to be a fab owner to the little one :)

[thelittleteacup]

dwarfies like sandbaths :) but make sure it is sand not the pet shop grit stuff! also hybrids can have a problem with keeping the weight off so too many peanuts and sunflower seeds arent a good idea :) cant wait to see him btw x

[Samantha]

I know I can't wait to see him either! It's all happened so fast that i haven't even seen a photo of the little guy :) The girl only said that he's a brown campbells so that could mean just about anything. She is dropping him off at about 10:30 on Saturday :D

Thank you so much for all of your advice everyone, i'm so excited! I'll keep you all updated. xx