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Old 06-22-2020, 10:11 AM   #1
Phaedra
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Join Date: Jun 2020
Posts: 3
Default WW Husbandry Help

Hi all,

I acquired a WW today as a rescue. My friend's teenage son bought one a few weeks ago and decided it too noisy for him (he's autistic, it was sensory overload) and he was going to let it go outside if he couldn't find someone to take it.

I have no idea how to look after it, but I want to do things right. I had Syrians as a child, but that was a long time ago. I live in the UK, if that helps at all.

I plan to buy it a bigger cage, this one from Zooplus

But I have no idea what food to get, or what percentages to for in terms of protein, fibre, fat. I saw some figures on other threads here, but not if they're applicable to WW or Syrians, or .... And what about fresh food and treats I assume to stay away from fruits & sugary veg like carrots, corn etc.

Best kind of bedding? How often do I clean the cage out? Anything to be generally mindful of?

Sand baths; do I buy chinchilla sand or something else?

Is much of the info on this forum generally applicable across all species of hamster, or is geared more toward one type?

Help please!
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Old 06-28-2020, 04:58 AM   #2
cypher
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Join Date: May 2014
Location: Wales UK
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Default Re: WW Husbandry Help

Sorry to be late answering your post, I saw both & opted to try & answer most of your questions in this one.
As for the cage the alternative you mentioned in the other post the alsask is ok, it's a good size but it is very tall for a Russian ham as they are not good at climbing, they can climb up but not down so there is a risk of falls & the cage needs to be set up carefully with shelves or ledges to avoid that.
Zooplus do sell the hamster heaven cage which is also a good size but not too tall, tall enough for a wheel (8") with substrate or a house underneath though. It is best used without the penthouse & tubes & the holes can just be blocked off with the bits provided.
I've have kept Russian hams in that cage & they do fine.
You won't find a suitable food in the uk but you could feed either the bunny dwarf hamster dream expert from Zooplus which is ok or a better food from Rodipet a young ham will need a bit of extra protein added to either mix but that can easily be done with a few mealworms, tiny pieces of dried chicken (cat treats that are just pure dry chicken are fine) & mine all love a bit of plain tofu too.
Fresh veg can be given daily but should be introduced slowly at first, I would avoid fruit or sweet veg, if you need a more specific list just ask.
I use Kaytee clean & cosy (just the plain white) which is available from various places so quite easy to get hold of, it's the best I've used.
You don't need to clean the cage much, mostly spot cleaning pee than just partial cleans when needed, you never clean the whole cage at once & try to leave the nest & hoard alone as much as possible unless peed on.
Chinchilla sand is fine for the sand bath.
A lot of info on the forum is applicable to all species but not everything, it's a lot to answer in one post but if you have any more questions or anything isn't clear just ask.
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Old 06-29-2020, 10:30 AM   #3
Phaedra
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Join Date: Jun 2020
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Default Re: WW Husbandry Help

Thank you so much for your reply. I realise I asked of questions, I ass feeling a it like 'Gah, I rescued this hamster and I have no idea what to do with it!' moment. Your answers are really helpful though.

We got him set up in his new cage today. I went for the Zooplus Skyline Barney, which I bought last week. It had the smallest bar spacing and quite a deep tray. It came with one shelf, but we added another after we saw him climb the bars.

I got a combination of Megazorb bedding and kaytee clean & cozy in the cage, filled almost the depth of the tray.

I also had a look at Ratrations, but I'm not sure whether any of those dwarf hamster mixes are nutritionally balanced. But I'll have a look at rodipet and order that.
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