How much do you spend on your hammy per week/month?

[jennifer01]

thought this would be interesting and I am curious to find out as I am sure there will be quite a difference in everyone's price range



so how much do you spend?







thanks



jenny

[babyboos]

A bit like asking how long is a piece of string for me I am afraid

Food is about £15 per month for dry mix

Fruit and vegetables consist of what is in season, what I buy for myself and don't eat, or what is on special offer in the market...

I buy small bird seed mix, shelled and unshelled human grade nuts, and dog biscuits every month at around £5 in total. Millet sprays, dehydrated banana chips, dried fruit and other treat items another couple of pounds.

Bedding is toilet tissue around £1.25 for 4 rolls lasting a month.

Litter layer is Megazorb around £7 per month for 18kg.

Charlie Chinchilla sand £2.50 every three months. Super Pet Potty Litter too at £1.50 per box each month.

There is so much more but I can't think of it all right now - I do have accounts that I try to keep reasonably up-to-date.

Of course I am not really representative of a normal hamster owner having so many and running a rescue the numbers fluctuate so dramatically week to week, month to month. When I have babies I get wheatgerm and baby foods, and I do stock up on oats, grains, and seeds from the health food shop whenever they are on offer and store them in air-tight containers.



I would estimate £5 per month for food, litter layer, bedding and treats would be adequate for one hamster Jenny but hopefully some others with more typical numbers will be along to answer your question soon. Some months you will spend more getting large bags of certain items such as the litter layer but these will last you a couple of months.

[nooboo]

I reckon I spend about £20 on food, and another £12 on bedding, nesting, sand etc.



I think I really spend about £40 a month in total, but then again I have 17 hamsters... 5 Syrians, 3 Roborovski, 7 Campbells, and 2 Winter White Russian Dwarf Hamsters.



Back when I just had two Syrians I think I could have easily kept them both with enough food, bedding, treats etc. for say £20 every three months.

[Emma]

Hmmm....



Carefresh - probably 2 bags a month £6

Bob Martin's litter - 1-2 bags a month £3-4

Safe bed - probably 1-2 bags a month £2-4 (rats use this as well though)

Biocatoilet for Phoebe's litter tray.....negligable, it'll be 1 bag every few months and the rats use it much more so it really counts as their cost.

Dry mix - Probably 2 bags a month £4

Other food - banana chips £2 every few months, dog biscuits £1.50 every few months, chocolate drops £1 every few months (rats eat them too though!) millet sprays every few months £2.50

Fresh food tends to be little bits of what I have anyway, so I won't count that.



So total probably maximum £22 a month for 1 Syrian and 4 Roborovski (4 cages total), but that's not counting things such as new wheels, exercise balls, bottles, bowls etc or other toys which I probably buy every few months as needed.

[Nienna Valar]

Hmmm...



I think I spend about:

10$ on Carefresh every 3-4 weeks

10$ on food every month

5-10$ every month for treats or toys (she has a lot already!)

[flogging_molly]

hmm, that depends really

[pophammy]

I would say £10 a month for two hamsters plus a bit extra at Xmas for presents! After your initial outlay they are quite inexpensive to keep.

[flogging_molly]

Agreed they are rather inexpensive * compared to other pets

[Emma]

Agreed I think it's a plus point for hamsters that they're not expensive to run, as it were! Although it can cost up to around £100 for a decent cage, accessories etc when you first get one.



Additional monthly cost I forgot to mention - £5 into the hammy vet fund!

[i-love-paddy]

Its about £20 a month for food and treats, £10 a month for the vet fund



all in all, including all my cages, I have probably spent well over £2000 so far