Newbie with questions.

[kyrilliondaemon]

I know its not long term, I just figured it was best to mention all the same (especially for others reading this later thinking about it...)

Lucky Stitch, the hamster heaven is a great ham cage Sounds like you're sorted on the wheel front too

Er... Cucumber goes down brilliantly with all of our pets, so its definetly worth giving her a try of that. This wiki page has a list of safe and unsafe foods that might help - Safe and Unsafe Food and Plants - Hamster Central WIKI
Some other favourites with ours are things like mealworms (but some syrians won't touch them), apple, cheese (again some won't touch it but some adore it) and lots of seeds and nuts go down well too

Are you sure on calling her Stitch yet?

[Esmy]

Hi Katy, my hamsters particularly love carrots (I get shredded), broccoli, and sunflower seeds. There's a long list of hamster favorites in general, but that's what mine love most I think.

[xStephC]

Hey Katy, congrats on your new hamster! I'm sure you'll give her a loving home. Hamsters can be completely different on what they love, so it's basically trial and error for a while. Many love sunflower seeds though, so I'd go for that first. My hamster doesn't really care for sweet peppers or strawberries, but my friends hamster goes mad for it. Daisy loves carrots, broccoli, plain chicken, cooked pasta and millet seeds, if that helps any. Have fun!

[HoppyHammy]

Hiya Katy! I've had many hamsters.
To start off, I live in the United States. (Land Of the Free, Home of the Brave)
XD


To answer your first question, I use Carefresh Ultra White because it's odorless and cheap. Also, Bear (My robo hamster LOVES It!)

I have done both. From my experience, (My hamster Bear was the one who I put in a small cage first) My hamster Bear liked it better when his cage was always changing. So, to start off, I got him a Crittertrail Z habitat. Then, when he was about a year old, I built on to it (That's another reason i LOVE crittertrail and would recommend it anytime) and put a Crittertrail Begin and Connect habitat. Then, when he was about 3, (This addition was a couple days ago) i gave him a bunch of tubes and led them to yet another habitat that was not namebrand, and it has 2 floors. I think that with my other hamsters, Life was boring living in the same cage all the time. Bear was kindof a wake up call (Literally he wakes me up every morning with his play and his wheel)

And for your last question, I have used MANY Brands with my hamsters, but the one that my hamsters like the best is Kaytee* Hamster and Gerbil Healthy Support Diet with Forti Diet. It's healthy, really cheap, and it has all the seeds, pellets, and corn they need! Plus it looks really clean, not dusty or dull like some other brands. This is the only food my hamsters would eat, probably since it's so colorful! I also give my hamsters veggies, and lots of fruit. Bear loves Sunflower seeds. (Honey Roasted LOL)


__________________________________________________ _______________
Now I'm no expert, but these are the brands I've stuck to for many reasons, and I've even explained the reasons. Your Welcome! HoppyHammy

[kyrilliondaemon]

Originally Posted by HoppyHammy

Hiya Katy! I've had many hamsters.
To start off, I live in the United States. (Land Of the Free, Home of the Brave)
XD


To answer your first question, I use Carefresh Ultra White because it's odorless and cheap. Also, Bear (My robo hamster LOVES It!)

I have done both. From my experience, (My hamster Bear was the one who I put in a small cage first) My hamster Bear liked it better when his cage was always changing. So, to start off, I got him a Crittertrail Z habitat. Then, when he was about a year old, I built on to it (That's another reason i LOVE crittertrail and would recommend it anytime) and put a Crittertrail Begin and Connect habitat. Then, when he was about 3, (This addition was a couple days ago) i gave him a bunch of tubes and led them to yet another habitat that was not namebrand, and it has 2 floors. I think that with my other hamsters, Life was boring living in the same cage all the time. Bear was kindof a wake up call (Literally he wakes me up every morning with his play and his wheel)

And for your last question, I have used MANY Brands with my hamsters, but the one that my hamsters like the best is Kaytee* Hamster and Gerbil Healthy Support Diet with Forti Diet. It's healthy, really cheap, and it has all the seeds, pellets, and corn they need! Plus it looks really clean, not dusty or dull like some other brands. This is the only food my hamsters would eat, probably since it's so colorful! I also give my hamsters veggies, and lots of fruit. Bear loves Sunflower seeds. (Honey Roasted LOL)


__________________________________________________ _______________
Now I'm no expert, but these are the brands I've stuck to for many reasons, and I've even explained the reasons. Your Welcome! HoppyHammy

Er.... I'd just like to mention a few things I disagree with here...
1. Many hamsters will get stressed if their home is always changing
2. Modular setups have many downsides and a single large cage is often best for many reasons, even modular setups should always have a single large space attatched somewhere
3. Our hams don't find life boring living in the same cage all the time, we give them space, toys, out of cage time and other enrichment to ensure they're happy. We had to change one to a different cage earlier today and the poor thing has been hiding ever since (he's had a stressful day but the change was neccessary to monitor a health concern)
4. Hamsters don't really care how bright their food is. They care how it tastes and foods with loads of added colours often tend to contain added sugars and be bad for the hamster.
5. Its useful to be aware how much sugar your hamster is having in its diet. Like humans hamsters shouldn't have loads of sugar. Honey roasted sunflower seeds will be really sugary so they're not a treat I'd ever feed. Hams like sunflower seeds anyway, they don't need sugar to make them taste nicer

[DrKMcK]

Hello Katybeth and welcome to Hamster Central. Stitch looks lovely. Keep in mind that a very young hamster who has just moved into a new home should not have much fruit or veggies until they settle in. The stress of a move into a new home can upset their tummies, and fruit and veggies can make it worse. I usually won't give them anything other than a straight hamster food diet with a small amount of dry oatmeal and if the ham is just weaned, I will add in some jar babyfood. After a week or 2 I start adding in the fruit and veggies once or twice a week until they are used to it. I'm looking forward to seeing more of beautiful Moo.

[Katybeth]

Moved Stitch into her new cage last night

She loves it, watching her climb the bars is adorable
On a side note, she let me hold her for a few minutes last night as well

[kyrilliondaemon]

It sounds like she's doing brilliantly with you Its great to hear an update too

[DrKMcK]

How exciting for Stitch! Looks like she's enjoying her wheel. It will be nice to watch her grow up her on the site.