Advice please - single winter white offered to me

[Catja]

Hi, I have been looking for a rescue hamster. Someone in my old home town has a single winter white free to good home. Apparently there were two put they split them as nobody who came wanted both.

They want rid as they are moving to a house that can't have pets, and yet they want to keep the cage as they night want more in the future!

Would a winter white split from his other be okay, what do people think. It would mean him travelling back with me for 21/2 hours in the car, would this be okay.

[Holly]

Splitting winter whites is incredibly common - several of us on here have had to do it following fighting - and they tend to do very well on their own if given an interesting cage and lots of attention. Sounds like he needs a good home and I'm sure he'd be fine with you.

Do you know if he's tame? Winter whites have a reputation of generally being friendlier than Campbells - whether this is true or not I can't say as I've never had Campbells, but my two (separated) ww's are very cute and friendly and no trouble at all!

Travelling should be ok - many of us travel further than that most months for shows and the hams tend to cope very well.

Good luck if you decide to take him.

[Catja]

According to the owner he is tame. He is apparently much darker than a normal winter white.

What size and type of cage would be suitable do you think?

[I_am_plankton]

If he is on his own Catja, then anything such as a Gabber Lux or Rex, Savic Rody, Imac Fantasy, Zoozone 1 or 2 etc

I hope you decide to take him - I take in quite a few rescues and they have all turned out to make fantastic pets

[Holly]

I'd agree with Plankton that the tank type cages are better for a winter white - dwarf hams can squeeze though smaller gaps than Syrians and I, personally, would be cautious with wire cages.

A Gabber Lux or Rody would be great for a single dwarf, a Rex or Zoozone 1 would be luxury and a Zoozone 2 would be a palace!

Alternatively you could use your Ovo with extention. While I'm not an Ovo fan I think a single dwarf is all it's really suitable for and with all your extensions he might be really happy in it.

[Faye]

I've just had to split my two - and they both seem pretty happy, active and are still very friendly... from what people have told me, I agree with the cage aspect - it's amazing how much you can fit in one of thos smaller tank-style cages!

[Catja]

Hi will be going up on Saturday to take a look at him - which means I will be coming back with him I've never turned an animal away!

What am I letting myself in for!

The owner says he is tame, doesn't bite but is super quick.

Off to read my books on hammies now to brush up, any advice most welcome - how quick or easy are they to handle?

I really wanted a pair but poor baby is on his own.

What size of cage is practicable. I have just got the Ferplast one (see Basia 1 left at Queenswood link) but was hoping to keep that for a Syrian as it is quite big, on the other hand it will be the new year or spring before Holly or Basia have new hammy babies and maybe I will have saved up for a new hamster heaven bythen .

I have a spare Crittertrail cage, the one with the wheel on the top that has never been used and two ferplast cages but I think these maybe too small as they are 34cm x 26cm but with plenty of options for tubes and an extra wheel house.

They are out of the fantasy cages on Tesco Direct at the moment

[Catja]

Forgot about the Ovo, it does have the maze and 2 pods and 2 carriers etc, possibly okay for a dwarf you reckon?

[Holly]

Hmmm...well I think your Ovo would be ok for a single dwarf - dwarf hamsters still need a fair bit of space as they are pretty active in their cages and I'm not 100% sure of the size of the pods? To give you and idea of what they need the Gabber Lux is a great size for a single - and that's 57cm x 40 cm. Does your Ovo come close to that? The tubes and wheel on the ovo are certainly a better size for a dwarf than a Syrian.

I personally wouldn't go for the Crittertrail - they are small, poorly made and complicated to clean and put back together. That size on it's own isn't really ok - you'd need extensions.

As for the Ferplast one - it's fantastic and would make a palace of a home for winter white ......but it would also be superb for one of Basia's/my babies

I personally wouldn't put a dwarf in an Imac, though that's a personal thing - I know plenty of people who do without mishap and who swear by them. One of our ww's squeezed himself through the bars of our playpen once and got stuck. I think if that had been his cage and we'd been out the consequences would have been horrific. Plenty of people would disagree with me though.

HTH