Anything special for LH Syrians?

[Holly]

As I've said before (getting excited now!) we are getting our new LH BEC female on Saturday. She will be the first female - and first long haired - hamster we've had so I guess I just want to check there isn't anything special I should be doing for her before she arrives?

Firstly will she be ok on carefresh? And on paper based bedding (it's shredded paper small animal bedding - quite small pieces)? I read somewhere that LH hamster are best kept on pelleted cat litter - is this true? Or, as she's female and will not grow such a long coat as a male would, can I proceed with the carefresh?

Are there any toys I should avoid for fear of getting her hair caught?

She has a brand new (white and pink - I convinced Will that as she's female she'd prefer pink :P ) Gabber Rex cage with wodent wheel. I was planning on just putting her bedding under the shelf rather than giving her a "house" as all ours moved out of theirs very quickly anyway - will that be ok?

I was also planning on giving her a couple of "Chubes" as these are larger than plastic tubes and she can chew on them - plus a couple of "roof runs" off ebay and an apple tree branch for chewing.

Finally - will I need to brush/comb her or will she do it all herself?????

Soooo many questions..... :wink:

[souffle]

We keep our long hairs on shavings same as the ohers Holly because we think they are the most comfy. Carefresh is OK but it will be expensive in a rex and we find no better than shavings. We have a potty, one of the large ones with sand in the cage permanently. They long hairs do tend to get a little stickier round the 'girly bits' so we wipe with a damp cotton ball to prevent staining if required. We would also do this with a short hair if she was whiffy!!!The chipped tissue bedding is fine and we put it under the platform. It is best to get her used to nesting under there then she will be settled when she has pups :lol: I would not use the cat litter pellets as to me they are just not comfy and I would not sacrifice comfort for the sake of a good grooming every day.
The toys you suggest are fine and as the females are much shorter than males nothing special is required.
You will need to groom her. We use a soft baby brush, a medium toohbrush and one of the tiny fine combs you get for small pets. We groom Red daily as soon as she comes out so she is used to it. You will find some bedding sticks in the fur but is easily teased out.
Can't wait to meet her :lol:

[Basia]

Ooo, I'm looking forward to meeting her too.
I use Carefresh or Bob Martin paper cat litter depending on whether I am near Asda or not. I know it's expensive but I'm not keen on shavings, after all the years with the rabbits they seem to have an effect on my chest. I have 2 long-haired girls and Fuzzy is much furrier than Berry. I think it depends on whether they have 2 long-haired parents but neither of them have fur like a long-haired male. Mine have all the same toys as my short-haired, even Chunky and he does have longer hair.
I also brush them with a soft baby brush and I have a baby toothbrush. Chunky is really funny, he stands up on his back legs so I can brush his undies.
Will be thinking of you on Saturday - she's going to be a lot of fun for you. :)

[Holly]

I would not use the cat litter pellets as to me they are just not comfy and I would not sacrifice comfort for the sake of a good grooming every day.

They do look uncomfortable to me as well, though obviously I have no idea how a hammy feels on them! I'm glad i won't have to buy anything different - I've got into the habit of buying enough Carefresh every fortnight and will continue to use this with our new girl as well. It is on the expensive side but a Rex takes about half a bag (especially as we replace some of the cleaner "old" bedding to keep the scent how they like it anyway) so it won't make a vast differnce cost-wise.


You will need to groom her. We use a soft baby brush, a medium toohbrush and one of the tiny fine combs you get for small pets. We groom Red daily as soon as she comes out so she is used to it. You will find some bedding sticks in the fur but is easily teased out.


For some reason I didn't think we would need to groom - except for pre show - so I'm glad I asked.I'll try to do it when she comes out each evening like you do - lets hope she doesn't object too much!

I have 2 long-haired girls and Fuzzy is much furrier than Berry. I think it depends on whether they have 2 long-haired parents...

Oh dear - just when I thought I was getting to grips with the whole genetics thing :roll:

I thought that whether the parents were one LH and one SH carrying the LH gene OR both LH just made a difference to the number of babies who are LH (ie 100% LH with two LH parents and 50% LH with one LH and one SH carrying LH parent)??? I didn't realise it made a difference to coat length - does it??

I also brush them with a soft baby brush and I have a baby toothbrush. Chunky is really funny, he stands up on his back legs so I can brush his undies.

That's hilarious - I bet it's really cute to see!

[Basia]

"Oh dear - just when I thought I was getting to grips with the whole genetics thing :roll:

I thought that whether the parents were one LH and one SH carrying the LH gene OR both LH just made a difference to the number of babies who are LH (ie 100% LH with two LH parents and 50% LH with one LH and one SH carrying LH parent)??? I didn't realise it made a difference to coat length - does it??"

I expect you are right Holly - I haven't been studying hamster genetics! It was just what Berry's breeder told me when she was showing me her adults. She said they tend to have longer coats when both parents are long haired.

[souffle]

I dont think it makes much difference to coat length. Both our parents are SH and had LH babies so both carry LH. Red is very fluffy and her brother speedy who was a LH Satin had mega long hair even as a baby. Some breeders will add the rex gene into the lines which will make the coats thicker, even if the ham is not actually a rex itself the gene changes the coat a bit. We can usually tell if a hamster is carrying LH as they tend to have the odd long one at the back, have longer fluff behind the ears and have tufts on the scent glands. The coat is often thinker overall.

[Holly]

I suppose I should come clean about why I'm so interested in this particular piece of hamster genetics. It's because I'm considering breeding from our new hamster (which is why I've spent 3 months looking for "pure-bred" (or as near to it as possible) from a very good breeder of show standard hamsters). I've used the time to visit shows and study hamster genetics and try to get a vague handle on it all. The prospective father is a SH satin (I'll let his family go public if they wish to rather than revealing them myself!) so the whole LH/SH thing is of great interest to me :wink:

Both our parents are SH and had LH babies so both carry LH. Red is very fluffy and her brother speedy who was a LH Satin had mega long hair even as a baby.

Was Speedy yours?? Do you have a picture of him??

[pophammy]

You will find some bedding sticks in the fur

Bedding sticks? What's a bedding stick souffle?!? :lol: :lol: :lol: :wink:

The advice everyone has given you is great. Can't wait to meet her (and neither can Pawsy!!!!)

[pophammy]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y113/Pophammy/beddingsticks.jpg

[Jane]

You will find some bedding sticks in the fur

Bedding sticks? What's a bedding stick souffle?!? :lol: :lol: :lol: :wink:

The advice everyone has given you is great. Can't wait to meet her (and neither can Pawsy!!!!)

LOL - I think she means err, peices of bedding get stuck/tangled up in the fur :P Great pic lol :lol:

[souffle]

Speedy was a long haired cream satin but he was a red eyed one so we decided to let him go. He was really lovely and went to a little boy in Harrowgate. We kept Paws as he was back eyed. Yes everyone we are hoping that our Paws will be 'marrying' Holly's baby in due course. This has been planned and well thought out and we already have a good few homes for the pups as we would not wish to add to the unwanted hamster population.
Here he is as a baby
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y113/Pophammy/speedy1.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y113/Pophammy/speedy2.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y113/Pophammy/speedy3.jpg

[Holly]

Oh my goodness, he is a real stunner!

[souffle]

Now what we want your little baby and Paws to have is a black eyed LH cream satin male :lol: