New hammy questions!

[gilhc002]

Originally Posted by cypher

He's definitely a Russian hybrid (normal/agouti colour I think) so as Amity says you do need to take a little extra care with diet, no sweet sugary foods, fruit, treats with honey etc as they can be prone to diabetes. What are you feeding him now? Burgess dwarf hamster harvest is one of the best foods for Russian hybrid hams.

Most Russians are very easy to litter train (although some will always pee in the wheel) you need to get some chinchilla sand, not dust) & put it in small tray close to where he sleeps & he should soon begin to pee in there, if not try putting some damp bedding from his nest on top.
If he continues to pee in the nest then you need to spot clean every couple of days & remove anything that's wet or smelly, if he starts using the tray then cleaning every few weeks, always putting some of the old nest & hoard back when you clean. If the hoard gets peed on just replace it with fresh mix.
You can also give chinchilla sand in a bigger dish for a sand bath which they need to kep their coats in good condition, he may pee in there too but that's fine, you can just remove any damp clumps when you see them.

Thanks for the advice cypher, have changed his veg choices up a bit now I know he is Diabetes prone, and am gradually changing him on to Burgess too. Am I write to think it's a good idea to remove the peas/banana chips from the mix if he's diabetes prone? Have got him a litter tray and sand bath, and he's loving them both! He's peeing in the nest much much less now, great all round really!

[gilhc002]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

Aw - he looks a very sweet Russian dwarf. He looks a little bit scared in a couple of photos with his ears down! But I'm sure he'll settle in soon.

Re how often to change his nest. Ideally you leave it really, but if he's peeing in it you'll have to replace at least some of it. It does stress them a bit if their hoard or nest are taken away and it can help sometimes to change the house they nest in to one that is easier to spot clean inside. A small shoe box (or ordinary sized shoe box if it will fit!) or a tissue box house is good. Something that is open underneath on top of the substrate (so they can bury hoards underneath) and ideally big enough to build a large nest and have a corner to pee in as well (if they choose to pee in the house).

You can end up with a bit of a vicious circle sometimes. If you take the pee'd on hoard away they pee on it more to deter predators from stealing it! I would try putting a different house in, on top of the substrate, maybe with a tube or bendy bridge over the door so it's dark inside and that should encourage your hammy to move into the new house and build a nest in there.

Also do you have a sandbath? They sometimes use a sandbath as a toilet as well.

Thanks for the advice Serendipity. Yes, he was rather nervous in those photos, I'd only just got him and hand to disrupt his nest twice already - once to change him off fluff bedding, and a second time as he was nesting in his tubing and peeing/hoarding fresh veg in there. Have got him a sand bath and he's doing much better with not peeing in his nest now. He's also a much happier hammy generally now as he's settling in lovely to see him starting to relax!

[cypher]

He definitely shouldn't be having banana chips, once you've changed him over to the burgess mix you shouldn't remove anything, even though it has some pea flakes in it's still ok & removing them removes important nutrients like protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals & complex carbohydrates, you don't want to upset the overall G/A by taking anything out, if his other mix has stuff like banana in it I would say it's best to just change over to the Burgess now, switching from one muesli type mix to another need only take a few days.
Good to hear he's settling in well & enjoying his sand

[gilhc002]

Originally Posted by cypher

He definitely shouldn't be having banana chips, once you've changed him over to the burgess mix you shouldn't remove anything, even though it has some pea flakes in it's still ok & removing them removes important nutrients like protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals & complex carbohydrates, you don't want to upset the overall G/A by taking anything out, if his other mix has stuff like banana in it I would say it's best to just change over to the Burgess now, switching from one muesli type mix to another need only take a few days.
Good to hear he's settling in well & enjoying his sand

I just had another look and realised that there were 2 kinds of Burgess Dwarf Hamster Feed on the website I bought from - one with pea flakes and no banana chips, and one with whole peas and banana chips. I bought the second which you can see is the 750g option on the link. Should I have bought the other one? Confused how they look os similar but have different components!!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/qdn/Burge...003ZGE25A?th=1

I just have one more question - I'm all sorted on what kinds of veg to feed (and those to avoid for a diabetic hamster) I'm just a bit confused how much to give him, and how often? Cheers

[gilhc002]

Originally Posted by cypher

He definitely shouldn't be having banana chips, once you've changed him over to the burgess mix you shouldn't remove anything, even though it has some pea flakes in it's still ok & removing them removes important nutrients like protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals & complex carbohydrates, you don't want to upset the overall G/A by taking anything out, if his other mix has stuff like banana in it I would say it's best to just change over to the Burgess now, switching from one muesli type mix to another need only take a few days.
Good to hear he's settling in well & enjoying his sand

Ok, the other one isn't the Dwarf mix its the regular mix, my bad! I'll get the dwarf one and put him on that!

[cypher]

That's very confusing! It's really two different items not just different weights so I can easily see how you ended up with the wrong food,if you look at the image the 700g one is the dwarf hamster harvest, the other is for syrians & really does have ingredients you don't want.
Start small with veg, most say about a thumbnail size piece until he's used to them, maybe try different veg every two to three days then work up to daily.
I've never had a ham overeat veg so once they've got used to it, just a few days to a week while I monitor what they do, I tend to give bigger pieces just because they're less likely to hide them!

[gilhc002]

Originally Posted by cypher

That's very confusing! It's really two different items not just different weights so I can easily see how you ended up with the wrong food,if you look at the image the 700g one is the dwarf hamster harvest, the other is for syrians & really does have ingredients you don't want.
Start small with veg, most say about a thumbnail size piece until he's used to them, maybe try different veg every two to three days then work up to daily.
I've never had a ham overeat veg so once they've got used to it, just a few days to a week while I monitor what they do, I tend to give bigger pieces just because they're less likely to hide them!

Very strange - will order some dwarf mix. At least it's only a few pounds! Thanks for the veg advice, will keep introducing it and up how much I give. Thanks again for all your help cypher, you're really making this new hamster stress much easier!

[cypher]

You're welcome
I'm sure you'll soon be past the new ham stress stage!

[Cinnamon Bear]

I also bought the 750 recently, 2 bags. Oh no, it is for my hybrid too, and robos.
I'll have to throw it into my seed mix then if it's not for diabetes prone dwarves

[gilhc002]

Originally Posted by Cinnamon Bear

I also bought the 750 recently, 2 bags. Oh no, it is for my hybrid too, and robos.
I'll have to throw it into my seed mix then if it's not for diabetes prone dwarves

Sorry to hear you made the same mistake but glad I'm not the only one!