Bonne Année à tout le monde!! - Hamster Month thread :)

[SunnyOy]

Thank you BorisPasha, Montréal is a good place to visit than a good place to miss
It's a great place to spend summer at.

I would like to get some advice from experienced hamster owners.

1. How often would you take hamsters to clinic for the check? I canceled one appointment with the vet since the temperature was so low outside.

2. I started to feed them some very nutritious food: boiled egg and chicken breasts, food mix(sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried carrots, dried bananas, dried pineapples, some grains, walnuts, peanuts and red, yellow, green and orange-coloured pellets) and fresh broccolis. Nowadays, they stopped eating oxbows and I guess it's tasteless. How should I adjust them to start eating oxbow again? I do not want to starve them and force them to eat whatever they have.

3. Myachick and Dumpling (8.5 months old) do not like to trim their teeth by biting the chewing toy I gave them and I'm afraid their teeth could over grow very fast. However, I do not want to make them bite something chemical with artificial tastes. Is there anyway to make them trim their teeth?

4. How do you trim their nails? I've got one pet scissors and only managed to cut Myachick's nails while he was sleeping on my hand. However, for Dumpling and Kiwi, it is impossible to trim.

[cypher]

Sweet photos of Dumpling, I particularly love that second one

In answer to your questions, you never need to take your hams to the vet just for a check, you can do a basic health check yourself & only take them to the vet if they show signs of something being wrong.

What food mix is it that you've been using? If it has good nutrition levels, the right amount of protein, fibre & fat & not too much in the way of sugars or dried fruits (some are find for syrians but still not too much) then I don't see why you would need to go back to oxbow which isn't an ideal food.

Teeth get trimmed just with eating if they have the right kinds of foods, seeds to shell & most mixes have hard biscuit like pieces so they don't necessarily need chew toys, whimzee/antos dog chews are loved by most hams so they would probably chew those if you them to have something extra to chew on.

Trimming nails can be a bit tricky, if you can't manage it yourself you should be able to get it done at the vet.

[SKB_Hamsters]

Wonderful start to the month! Nice photo of the Montreal new years fireworks! Myachick, Dumpling and Kiwi are all so adorable! Myachick is a really relaxed hamster - such sweet photos of him sleeping. It was lovely that you gave Dumpling a wonderful home too - love that 2nd photo so cute!

[Rads]

Merci Sunny je ne m'entraîne pas beaucoup avec mon français seulement quand je pars en vacances donc je suis un peu désaccordé? Just writing this took me ages...!
Peanuts in their shells are good for Hamsters as they get to chew through the shells to the nuts inside.
Also Ghost has various levels in his cage all connected with " Bendy Twig" bridges which being slightly rough help keep his nails to a good length aswell as the running in his wheel.
I feed Ghost a regular hamster mix and supplement that with various veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds and pieces of dry biscuits which he does like to nibble on.
I sometimes think I do over feed/treat him as he is putting on quite a bit of weight lately..

[Pebbles82]

Chews for teeth - most hamsters go crazy for these - they are vegetable based and the small size is good for hammies

https://www.amazon.ca/Paragon-Whimze...whimzees+small

You will also need a dry hamster mix to help them keep their teeth trim and give them all the nutrients they need. Your mix sounds good as a supplement but I would still put out a dry hamster mix. Oxbow isn't that great. You can get Harry Hamster on Amazon.ca - this price is for 2 bags. I would freeze it before use for a week (as with all dry hamster mix to avoid possible moth eggs from storage). It has everything needed - all the vitamins and protein levels and hammies like it - the pieces are a good size for Syrians. It also contains peanuts in shells and is sugar free. If you can get Hazel Hamster anywhere it's the same mix exactly (although packet info is different due to import regulations).

https://www.amazon.ca/Supreme-Friend...s=Hamster+food

As Cypher said - taking them to the vet for a nail trim can be a quick simple option and the vet can show you how to do it. They also have special clippers. If you do it yourself, be very careful to just take the very tip off - no length - if you cut the quick it can bleed badly and be painful for the hamster and cause problems. There's a diagram on this page demonstrating where the quick is. I would not take as much off as the diagram says - just the very tip - not any length.

https://hamsterdiaries.wordpress.com...claw-bleeding/

To keep the nails short have a rough stone - a piece of granite or a plant pot terracotta base - under the water bottle.

[SunnyOy]

Thank you Cypher, SKB_Hamsters, Serendipity7000 for your valuable suggestions and recommendations et je te remercie beaucoup Rads! Ghost est un hamster vraiment chanceux avec toi!

I agree with Cypher and Serendipity7000, it can be too risky to do the nail cuttings for them unless they could sleep like a human being. That is why I do not want to try with Dumpling or Kiwi.

Yesterday I changed the arrangement for Myachick's cages. Due to the metal mesh being too rusty, I decided to replace his old resting cage with his playground cage and his playground cage by a new large cabin.

Now there is an issue that he is not used to the sand bathroom and he held an extra 2 hours to pee in the old sand bath container. What a cautious hammie! Luckily, I kept his beloved yellow cloth for resting, his coconut hideout and his little nest to sleep in. I hope he can adjust to new environment as soon as possible.

To comfort him, I played some soft music and fed him his favourite food to let him enjoy in warmth...

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[Rads]

Sunny,
I think Myachick is lucky to have you too..! He has a great set up there and should be happy I think, Hammies are always cautious to change so a little apprehension is quite normal.
When I gave Ghost's cage a thorough clean and make over he had to inspect everything at least twice..
Also when Ghost has had an extended period of out of cage play time when he goes back into his cage he behaves as though it is all new to him..!
I did rather enjoy the video of him chilling to music..

[Drago]

Loving this month's thread thus far! Little Myachick looks so much like my old boy Duncan! Must be his long lost brother Looking forward to the rest of the month

[SunnyOy]

Rads,
Myachick is exactly like Ghost and he keeps inspecting every corner even though what he has there are almost all his old belongings.

Thank you Dargo, I have seen several silver grey Syrian hamsters and they do look the same! Everytime I see hamsters who resemble Myachick and Dumpling I say the same sentence as you said. Indeed they may be the long lost brothers lol~~

After posting pictures about Myachick and Dumpling, it is time for Kiwi girl. She is the third hamster adopted by me from pet store, after being abused by another female hamster. She is extremely active and playful by playing hurdle run with my arms...

The only concern is they are placed next to each other and squeaks made by Kiwi drive the two boys crazy in the night. However by placing her away can lead to worse situation where she may get cold easily in the salon, since it takes a long to heat up our high-ceiling apartment.


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I'm curious, when do your hamsters wake up and how long do you play with them every night? I have a busy schedule and I just find it very hard to stay up late every night and darkening my eye bags really concerns me a lot... Mines wake up around 11:30 pm and I spend 1.5 hours on average with them. I know it is not sustainable so I was wondering how do you handle this issue?

The following 3 pictures are Myachick and Dumpling. Can you distinguish which ones correspond to which hamsters?

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[Drago]

Such adorable photos! When I had my hams, I generally would strive for a bare minimum of 15 mins daily (the nights I had little time, I'd let them out into a pen while I did school work). However, on a better night, I'd keep them out for 45 minutes or so. Of the 45, 15 or so I'd spend holding and petting them. The remainder of the time, I'd just let them freely roam. I tried to get them out daily, but don't stress when you can't. Just try to get them out at least a few times a week