Why I should never go to pet shops

nooboo · 09-24-2005, 12:40 PM

We went to pet store for food, and to have a look around today. I finally talked Dave (my fiance) to get another hamster, as there will be no babies from our current gang.

We looked at them for a long time. The Syrians looked way too old, it was a Pets at Home incidently. I don't know of any breeders in Manchester except for the guy we dealt with last time, and never wanted to go there ever again. Dave wandered over to the dwarf hamsters, joking that we could have perminent babies. That's when I lost him. He always maintained that he liked the hamsters, but couldn't see my fondness, but here he was making some very odd awww noises, while I spent 20 mins explaining to a customer, and an employee, why Syrians are solitary, what they can eat, and how to tame them. Oh and what type would be best for a 10 year old (I thought Syrian as they are less quick etc.)

Once the employee was free Dave reapeared. With a hamster carry case. I thought he might want the brown/ginger Syrian there even though it looked rather old and not too well. But no, there was a group of three dwarfs in one cage together. He gave me a look as if to say they are cute I want them. I had to agree, they were adorable. We think they are Roborovski.

I will do a lot, and I do mean a lot of pictures to see what you think. We need to sex these ones too, the employee thought that they were in same sex groups in their tanks but didn't know what sex they were. So I am a little worried. I don't know what to offer foodwise, cagewise or anything. I got a lot of ladders for the Rotastak, and they seem happy, but as I make up my own hamster food I am a little worried it won't be right for them.

OK so basically I need help, are they Roborovski (see my other thread), how do I sex them, and how do they differ in husbandry requirements from my Syrians.

One thing that was amazing - we put them in a blue container with wood shavings while I sorted out the caging. I have given them two long kidney cages, 4 rounds, one burrow basment, three water bottles, and two wheels, oh and two food bowls. (Shall I give them a sand bowl etc? ) Will this be enough cages? Would they like an attic each? I did put in two hippo houses :s while they were in the blue container. Dave wanted to get them used to his hand, they ignored the food, but were crawling all over him, so he decided to play with them. I was not sure, in terms of stress etc. but they seemed so happy I couldn't stop him.

I took some pictures of them, and I wont let him take them out again tonight, or should I? I got three smaller balls for them, maybe I should try them in them??

**babyboos** · 09-26-2005, 04:04 AM

What do you make the hamster food from?

These guys will surely appreciate some millet sprays - from the bird aisle, and a good quality bird seed to supplement their normal hamster mix. don't worry about hamster mix pieces being too large they have good sharp teeth and Roborovski in particular have high protein requirments, especially when living in a colony situation - I find it really does reduce cannabilism.

It is great to hear Dave is so smitten

Keep up the handling and get them out in their balls, they will hopefully love them. I would also bet they will love you to make them assault courses in either a large storage box or the bath. Just think of the hours of fun they will provide Dave and yourself with

I would give them another food dish and three attics if you have them (plus enough small ladders). A sand bath or two (or even three

) will be much appreciated by them. If you can do that as a priority you will have three very happy little Roborovski on your (or Dave's

) hands, especially if you do keep handling them daily.

nooboo · 09-26-2005, 10:11 AM

right attics added, i even redid the tubing so to get from one section of lower to a section of higher they can go up at a diagonal, yet they are not using it, nor their ladders and are staying at the bottom, its starting to worry me a little.

i felt odd buying mealworms, but they seem to like them, got a cardboard mave unit type thing, which is about 1meter and a half squared.

right, my food mix even for the syrians has a bird seed included, i found a wild bird mix, cheep, it has no sharp seeds, no really small ones either has sunflower seed and the other common ones in, with that porrage oats, a basic pellet thingy, flat peas, flat sweetcorn, mixed dried fruits, (coconut, papya, mango, pinapple, banana, strawberry, rasins and some others) some chopped up nut, (walnut, chashew, peanut, hazelnut and some whole shell on monkey nuts too) dried vegtables ( potato, carrot, peas, parsnip, corgette, sweed etc) some trill ( added to the lot i just did for the robos, that a good idea?) oh and a bit of a rasberry hamster mix i found just coz its adds a great smell to the food. ah and some pumpkin seeds (not sure wether they could so added only a few) and some cat food bits

they get a lot offresh fruit and veg treats, and dog biscuits too, any hints on this food or anything i did wrong please say. but they have been happy on it for a month. the little one gets extra nuts etc to help her too.

**babyboos** · 09-26-2005, 12:43 PM

I would make sure to give everyone a bit of protein rich food from time to time, now you have the mealworms that will be great for them all Syrians and Roborovski included. If you have chicken for tea or tofu one night keep a bit plain cooked for the hamsters too. Did they eat all the bird seed first? Did you manage to get a sand bath in? Don't worry about going up the ladders/tubes just yet. They are in a new environment - when they settle in a bit they will start exploring. Pumpkin seeds are fine as is a small amount of kitten kibble. The Raspberry Hamster Mix does smell yummy :P

nooboo · 09-26-2005, 01:32 PM

the bird seed does not go first, neither does the fruit, but the nuts sure do go fast

As well as nuts for protein, they get cheese occasionally, boiled egg, and sometimes chicken. And of couse now mealworms. I alternate the treat nightly, one night it's fresh vegetables or fruit, then the following, a protein rich food, does that seem right or should the ratio be different? I did give them tofu, but then I want to eat it and Dave gets in a mood because I feed him no meat (next time I will offer him the mealworms). Oh and yes they have a sand bath and I set up that blue stack box that they were in while I was fixing their cage into a hamster play ground. They have a see-saw thing, and one of those jigsaw put together playgrounds too. I placed a second larger sandbath in there as well, and we then have the box on the bed and watch them picking them up now and again, then floor ball time then they go home. I like to stick to routines.

**pophammy** · 09-26-2005, 02:33 PM

The is a very good breeder in Manchester who lives not far from the Trafford Centre. PM me if you want details. She has a couple of litters due soon but you may be hammed out now!!!! Good luck with the newbies. Sound cute

Emma · 09-27-2005, 06:08 AM

Have you worked out the nutrition of your home-made diet at all, like % protein etc? Also where do you get your dried vegetables from - I've scoured the supermarket for some without onion in to no avail, and I really don't want to give P@H my money for theirs!

nooboo · 09-27-2005, 10:06 AM

After looking around sites and the information on the back of the various hamster mixes available I worked out approximations of nutritional values, for example, the mix I have has approximately 15% protein, higher for those hamsters I feel need it. Although they usually get more protein as they each get a small amount of chicken, egg or cheese every few days (cheese is the rarest treat that I give due to its high fat content. I would just cut it out, but they enjoy it so much I feel bad depriving them). They also all have vitamin drops in their water. About the only thing I'm concerned about is fibre but as there has been no indication in their droppings of a lack of this, I do not worry overly much about it.

I also had help from my grandmother, she is a doctor in zoology and many moons ago she used to keep hamsters, although unluckily they were for experiments. Back then you didn't exactly go down the road for 'Harry Hamster' mixes, especially when she was taking her degree so she did give me a few pointers (like how to dry vegetables). She is by no means an expert, which is why I would gladly take any advice you may have.

I used to get my dried vegetables from Pets at Home, but they didn't have a wide enough range, so I've been experimenting drying my own.

**babyboos** · 09-27-2005, 10:33 AM

Dessicator machines are available on eBay but they are very expensive. I would love to make my own dried banana, apple etc. chips.

nooboo · 09-27-2005, 11:06 AM

I use a pizza tray with mesh or a seive over the top, if that makes sense

You need to keep the oven at about 60 degrees Celsuis with the door slightly ajar, so that the water gets out. The problem is you need to have an oven thermostat really, as the stupid oven does not like staying at a certain temperature so I have to really keep an eye on it (look at it every 30 mins or so). You need to have 4 inches clearance for each tray, and turn the trays regularly around so front is at back top is at bottom etc. (I do it when cheking the temperature if the vegetablea are more than a layer deep I stir them a bit too at this point)

When they are nearly done it gets tricky, as they can scorch easily (actually I was going to ask if slightly scorched would be bad for hamsters, or are they charcoal free as it were?) just leave the oven open with heat off for an hour or so to allow them to cool down fully before storing in an airtight container.

must rememeber that it all seems softer when warm, so let bits cool near the end so you can see how hard they are really getting

different things take different time, you can blanch them first before putting them into the oven. but then get them to cool to 60 oc before putting them in. the smaller they are the quicker it is.

so all in all a lot of hassle, thinking of going bacjk to pets at home, but its a long way from my flat, and last time i ended up with a hamster :P