Could you please help me?

[Denise Nathania]

Hello, I'm from Indonesia. I have 2 hamsters, a campbell (3 weeks old) and a winter white (1 month old). I'm really a newbie as their mom. Recently i'm inspired and know much information about the ideal rules to take care hamsters from some hamster expert in instagram & youtube. Because of it, now i know that i make many mistake like my hamster cages is really small and the wheel size is too small, the bedding isn't suitable, etc. But the big mistake that i do maybe is how i treat my hamsters.

Now the case is, even if i know that i wrong.. i can't fix it right away. Because in my country, the biggest cage they sale in the pet shop is not even close with the standard size. Besides that, my city is really really hot like 35-39 degrees (in Celcius). So, i can't use the aquarium type for their cage and my house can't use the AC all the time. I want to make it myself but feeling uncertain about the safeness of the materials. So i think maybe i should buy it from outside my country, but it's pricey and i need to save my money first. I know it's a bit pathetic T.T

Because all of that I feel sad, i can't give a good quality life for them. These days, my campbell hamster named Chloe is like to sleep and i think she is afraid with human (or maybe with me?). She doesn't like it when i touch her and run away after take the food that i give to her . And the other one named Cookie, he is a sweet guy. Cookie never bites hand, he always come to my palms even though he can't stand still and maybe want to escape. But these days, he likes chewing bar, sometimes like running in full speed so suddenly, and the most make me sad is that he is run away from my open palms. It hurts me a lot. But I know that's because they are not really happy right now and i don't treat them right. I really love them, i want the best for my hamsters but i don't know what to do. I feel really sad and stressed when i see my hamster stress. I actually don't know much what they really feel, their body languange. What's their reaction when they are feeling happy or insecure.

Could you please kindly help me give me your opinions? Is the case of their behavior can be helped at once with just the bigger cage? Or what must i do for them? Is it too late for me to change their perspective to me?

Thank you for reading this message.
Note: i'm so sorry for my bad grammar

[SimonandSyril]

You do have alot of problems Denise and I'm sorry to hear that. The easiest way to get some more info about hamsters is youtube. Look at some of the famous pettubers that have animals and get information there. HC is a great website for most things but usually basic things like this youtube is the way to go. As far as cages go the best option for your situation is a bin cage. Do some research on how to make and clean a bin cage and some of the pros and cons. I do hope your situation betters soon.

[CMB]

Hello.

Putting toilet tissue up your sleeve for a few hours. Then tearing it into strips, then put the strips into the cage. It will help your hamster get used to your scent. Talking to them to can also help.

Scatter the food instead of using a food bowl or hide the food so they have to spend longer searching for it.

You can make things for your hamsters. YouTube has diy toy videos. If you read through other posts, you can get to see ideas,cage layouts etc that you can use for your hamsters.

All the best with your hamsters.

[Pebbles82]

Hi. It's very difficult when you can't get access to good supplies. Could you make a bin cage out of a plastic storage bin? Do you have Ikea there? They sell a 78cm Samla bin quite cheap and it makes a good sized bin cage. For bedding you can use plain white toilet paper, torn up. You'd need quite a bit of it, but it doubles up as nesting material as well.

A small wheel shouldn't be too bad for a dwarf hamster. About 6" or more diameter is ideal.

The taming for Chloe sounds quite normal really - some dwarf hammies are much more shy than others.

One thing you could do is make a kind of playpen or fence off an area in the room that is hamster safe, and give them some out of cage time (not together!) Again a large plastic storage bin or large cardboard box could do as a play bin or taming bin. Or you can use the dry bathtub as a playpen area or taming area. They are a bit easier to tame when out of the cage (in a safe environment) as they get territorial in the cage.

Try not to worry too much - the best thing you can give them is love - talk to them and let them have a run around in a safe area and they'll be fine

Food can be difficult to get - you can supplement with human leftovers - a bit of veg or plain cooked meat, nut, cheese, rice, pasta, that kind of thing. Also pumpkin seeds.

[Denise Nathania]

Thank you so much for replying my message and thank you for all that suggestions, it gives me hope . I will do the best i can to make them happier.