New to the species

[Babycakes]

Hi

Yesterday I went to p@h to get a hamster. I had done some reading on chinese hamsters and was curious about getting one. I looked at all of the hamsters and then saw there was a little chinese one in the adoption centre as she had been in store too long. Well that was my decision made! I filled in the paperwork and made my donation. I was aware at the time that these are better kept alone than with others. So anyway I have named her Baby Boo as she is sooooo cute and she is quite different to syrians which I have always had before. I can hold her already and she seems very friendly and she is so pretty. I wondered if anyone has noticed if Chinese Hams sleep in random places and positions, My syrians always nested and slept curled up. I have noticed Baby Boo fall asleep on her top platform, stood up! She also naps by her food bowl, again she is fully exposed with no nesting material around her. What do you guys think, is this ok?

[racinghamster]

Hi Babycakes, really lovely to see another adopted hamster, especially a Chinese as they are so lovely. She could be just adapting to her new home and he sleeping choices might be a little random until she chooses a spot she likes. What I always did was to get a cardboard box like a tea box or something similar and remove the floor. Cut a couple of doors in each end and push it down into the shavings. Chinese hamsters love to dig deep down and make a ball nest. So maybe give this a go and position the nesting box in a corner or under a shelf where it`s nice and dark.

What cage do you keep her in currently? You probably know already that she can`t have any shop bought treats or foods that contain sugars like fruits, honey, syrup, molasses or anything like this. A good hamster mix like the Burgess dwarf mix or even their Syrian version is fine. Just feed all of the mix and treats or additional foods can be small fingernail sized pieces of raw vegetables like carrot, garden peas, broccoli and a few other safe things like some of the nuts listed on the safe hamster food list up in the left hand corner of this page in the Navigation bar. Just click the WiKi link to find it.

I`ve only had the one Chinese female and she was adorable. If your little one turns out to be the same, you are in for a treat. x

[Babycakes]

Hi she has a ferplast mini duna with lots of toys. I have found her to be the tamest hammie I ever had. Anyway went in p@h today and now I also have a Russian!

[racinghamster]

Your too soft! Congrats.

[Babycakes]

Well it was sold as Russian but could be ww or hybrid, posted a pic on the other forum, any advice would be great x x

[RachK]

My son got a Chinese Kiki a few months ago. She's the first we've ever had here. And why did we wait so long to experience Cinese hammies? She is absolutely adorable so friendly I think they are amazing.
Congrats on BabyBoo. I'm sure her sleeping habits are fine. Kiki is one for making huge mountains of bedding & lots of tunnels through her cage.

[Babycakes]

I agree they are fabulous, I am quite smitten with her and she is so pretty so I called her Petal now

[Babycakes]

Here she is

[souffle]

aww she is lovely She is a Dominant spot Chinese and has lovely markings

[Babycakes]

Thank u x x
Is it normal for a Chinese to be smaller than a Russian?