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Old 03-20-2018, 12:09 AM   #1
Juls
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Default First time hamster owner!

Hello everyone

As the title says i'm soon to be a first time hamster owner, and i have a few questions i hope someone will take the time to answer.

I've been thinking about getting a hamster for a long time, and i have now finally decided to get one At first i wanted to get a Syrian, because i read that they are easier to tame and all round better for new owners, but i went to the pet shop yesterday and completly fell in love with what i assume is a campbell dwarf hamster, or a hybrid (norwegian pet shops just name them as dwarfs, nothing else). She seemed very calm and gentle, and i wasn't able to stop thinking about her, so after thinking about it all day yesterday and all night i decided that i will get her <3

And now for my questions. First, i've been able to get a hold of a fish tank that measures 200 * 60 * 60 cm, and i've found a variety of safe toys and wheels. I want her to have as much space as i could possibly give her, so i'm wondering, is the size of my tank enough?

Question number two: I know that most hamsters like to dig alot and make tunnels, and i know what types of cage bedding to avoid that could be harmful. But do dwarfs have a preffered cage bedding to dig in? I want to be able to give her a few different textures, as i imagine that it will be nice for her to have some variety, so do you have any recommendations? I've also seen that some people have an area with rocks in their tanks, are there any types or sizes that are better than others?

And question number three: I know that hybrids are prone to diabetes, and i want to make sure i don't feed her anything that will make her sick. Is there a list of safe treats for hybrids? I've found some on google, but there is a lot of fruit listed on them, and since fruits are high in sugar i don't feel like i can trust it. I want to be able to give her som delicious treats every now and then, and during the taming proccess, but i of course want to make absolutely sure that i'm not harming her in any way.

I hope someone has time to answer me <3

EDIT: I read the sticky post about diabetic hamsters, and i have a clearer picture of what treats i can feed her to avoid getting her sick

Last edited by Juls; 03-20-2018 at 03:01 AM.
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Old 03-20-2018, 03:20 AM   #2
cypher
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Default Re: First time hamster owner!

Hi & welcome to HC

I would imagine the hamster you've seen is a hybrid, in most countries it's very unlikely that you would find a pure bred Campbell's or WW, it's generally best to assume they are hybrids as there's no way of knowing for sure otherwise.

Your tank is a great size, plenty of depth for lots of substrate & room for a good size house, wheel, toys, sand bath & toys. They don't generally like too much open space but you can easily fill most of the space with fun things for your hamster.

I prefer to use paper based substrate for my hamsters but I don't know if you could find that where you are, hemp is pretty good & if you can't buy a good brand locally you can order it from Zooplus, they do the Hugro hemp which is the best of the ones I've tried.
Personally I'm not a fan of rocks in the cage, I tend to think it's a little dangerous for tiny feet, you can put something like a granite tile or an ordinary wall tile upside down maybe under the water bottle or an area they use frequently to help keep nails trim.
Things like cork tunnels or tubes make a great addition to the cage too.

Have you decided which food you are going to use? A dwarf specific mix is best & Zooplus also sell the Bunny dwarf hamster dream expert which is quite a good food for diabetes prone species.
I would avoid shop bought treats as very few are healthy & free of sugars or fruits, you can give you hamster a wide variety of natural treats like sunflower, pumpkin, hemp seeds, linseed/flax either the seeds or if you can get them the sprays on the stem, small pieces of nut are fine as an occasional treat, mine love walnut, pine nuts & monkey nuts, I usually give a monkey nut about once a week. Millet sprays are popular with Russian hams too.
Starting off slowly with a small piece every few days you can build up to giving a small piece of fresh veg daily which they love too, just avoid too many of the sweeter ones.
mealworms are a huge favourite too & make excellent taming treats as well as providing them with a little extra protein when they are young & still growing.

Hope that helps a bit, if you have any other questions just ask
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Old 03-20-2018, 05:46 AM   #3
Juls
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Default Re: First time hamster owner!

Thank you so much for your answer I do have access to the Hugro Hemp, and i also have access to the CareFresh natural bedding. I'm going to a much bigger pet shop tomorrow to see what other stuff they have too I've bought some food that had lots of animal protein in it, since the seller told me it was the best one. I'm also going to buy some of the seeds you recommended. The seller also sold me some sticks with seeds and other goods on it, but i see that it's held together by honey, will that maybe be a problem?

I'm going to buy most of the stuff tomorrow, and then i'm getting the tank on Friday, and on Saturday i'm going to pick her up I went in and paid for her today, and i was able to take a picture of her. I can hardly wait until i get to take her home <3 Now i only need to find a name for her
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Old 03-20-2018, 06:01 AM   #4
souffle
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Default Re: First time hamster owner!

She's a beautiful hamster She looks closest to a black banded Campbells. The arrangements sound great and I'm sure she will love her new home.
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Old 03-20-2018, 06:21 AM   #5
cypher
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Default Re: First time hamster owner!

She is really gorgeous, no wonder you fell in love with her

I wouldn't give treat sticks with honey, it's no better than sugar really.
If you can get something like these JR Farm treats which just have a tiny bit of fruit in that would be fine.
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Old 03-20-2018, 12:13 PM   #6
Juls
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Default Re: First time hamster owner!

Thank you, both of you

I'm ditching the treatsticks and ordering the JR farm treats instead, thanks so much for the advice
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Old 03-20-2018, 12:21 PM   #7
Razor
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Default Re: First time hamster owner!

That is such an adorable picture!
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Old 03-20-2018, 11:53 PM   #8
Juls
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Default Re: First time hamster owner!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Razor View Post
That is such an adorable picture!
I agree <3
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Old 03-20-2018, 11:56 PM   #9
Juls
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Default Re: First time hamster owner!

By the way, i do have another question. I wanted to buy sand for my hamster so she can bathe in, and i've read that chinchilla sand is the best to use, or sterlized sand for children (but i don't have access to that). Is there any particular brand or sand type that is better than others? I'm also wondering if i should use the same type of sand for the corner where i want to potty train her, or if i should use a different type. All help is greatly appreciated
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Old 03-21-2018, 12:18 AM   #10
cypher
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Default Re: First time hamster owner!

In the UK this is the best brand of sand, not sure if you'll be able to get that one though.
I think Zooplus may sell the JR farms sand but I think that one is a bit dusty, I don't know if you could order from Rodipet but they do good sand.
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