Hi everyone!

[ritacupc4ke]

Thank you guys so much for all of your replies! They have helped me so much!

Well, even though I always had doubts, and I guarantee you I've google searched a million times over if hamsters could be kept together, etc., as they hadn't shown any signs of aggression and are both dwarfs, I just kept searching up things about it and didn't speak my mind. But the thing is, when I bought mel, the lady at the pet store said it would be totally fine to pair her with any hamster! And she recommended me the TINY cage you see on top for both of them to LIVE.

But thank you guys, now I'm definitely buying 2 new homes for the little guys, I'm thinking of buying bin cages like the one they have now, as this one is actually kind of tearing apart with kilos of tape on top.

About the wheel, is there any way I could make it safe for Mu? Like put tape on it, or magazine paper? 'Cause the pet stores around me have or TINY plastic wheels, and I already have one of those, it's like half the size of the one you've seen, and the other ones are really expensive. I've also thought about ordering online, but Idk, wouldn't the shipping costs make it 10x more expensive?
Nonetheless, I'm going to try to save up money to buy one of the expensive ones, if you guys don't have any ideas, and it's one of those very popular ones that most of the people here in this forum recommend.

About the digging stuff, Mu actually loves digging on sand! So, in his new home, I'll likely put a nice little box with a lot of sand on it, haha.

About Mu's diet, can someone help me be more accurate? I know he loves peanuts and sunflower seeds, and I like to give him carrots once in a while. I usually am very cautious with their food and added sugars and other stuff, and try to get the food bag that I think they'll like the best and is more or less natural. Other than that, they don't really like the treats that I've bought which have vitamins and such, and don't have many preservatives or any added sugars, so I believe they'd be very good for them as well. I don't know if it's because I got the flavour wrong, or because they're not used to it, so I'd love to hear your thoughts about that as well.

All in all, thank you again for all your help, you guys warm my heart, thank you.

[Gerbil]

You sound like such a great owner to be making these changes

I believe Erinsanimals has a video on making wire or mesh wheels safer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWbGPfVw_3c

However, would it not be possible to order some plastic ones online? Amazon, for example - or perhaps Zooplus. If you ordered your cages from there you would get free delivery (as long as you're in Europe) so you could get some wheels at the same time.

With their diet, I'm far from an expert, but there are lots of threads in the feeding section that help to guide you. You sound like you're aware of diabetes which is great. What mix are they on currently?

[CMB]

You could add cardboard inside the wheel as a temporary measure. i haven't given my dwarf hamster carrot, as I think it has high natural sugars. I feed more green veg like broccoli,cabbage, cauliflower.

A bin cage each will be good. If you can get bigger bins it would give more floor space which allows for more toys etc.

A sand bath will be nice.

Dwarf hamsters seem to like mealworms. (not live ones) These are often sold for wild birds.

A dwarf hamster food it best if you can get one as there are smaller seeds and the hard nuggets are smaller and softer.

You can also get small seeds like flax, linseed, pumpkin seed, pine nuts etc from super markets or health food shops. My dwarf likes all the aforementioned seeds. These are given as treats. She also likes millet (sold for pet birds).

[cypher]

You could try threading cardboard through the metal of the wheel, not sure how long it would last but it might work if only as a temporary measure & would be better than it is now, don't use tape anywhere hams can get to it as it can be chewed & would be dangerous if ingested.
How much it would cost to order wheels online will depend on where you are.
Which food are you using to feed them?
Peanuts are fine as a treat, it's best to give monkey nuts (peanuts in the shell) if you can, just make a tiny hole in each end of the shell then let them work to get at the nut inside, I give mine one a week usually.
Sunflower seeds (in the shell) are fine in moderation.You can also give pumpkin, hemp & flax seeds, a few oat flakes are often enjoyed as a healthy treat too & they generally love millet & mealworms.
There are lots of veg you can give them, try to stick to the less sweet green veg for Mu, if you're not sure which veg are safe just ask.
Bin cages should be fine for them & I'm sure Mu will love the sand digging area, both should have some sand in the cage to help keep their coats in good condition.

[ritacupc4ke]

Thank you, again, for the great suggestions! As for the wheel, I'm going to temporarily try to fix it, and, if it doesn't work, eventually get a better one.

As some of you asked, I took a photo of their food.

The first one is their current one, and I bought it when I got Mu, and they are kind of fussy eaters, as they like to choose the seeds and the nuts in it, but I'm trying to work that out by leaving the bowls longer in their cage until they're completely gone.

The second one is their next one, cause the one on the right is practically almost gone, and I bought it in the supermarket, which I guess isn't the best, but definitely half the price of one bag in the pet store.

As for the vegetables I could give them, would celery be an option? And cabbage?

Oh, and about their water, should I change it even if there's a lot left? I read that you change it daily, but they don't seem to drink that much on a daily basis, so I'm quite confused.

[ritacupc4ke]

Originally Posted by Gerbil

You sound like such a great owner to be making these changes

I believe Erinsanimals has a video on making wire or mesh wheels safer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWbGPfVw_3c

However, would it not be possible to order some plastic ones online? Amazon, for example - or perhaps Zooplus. If you ordered your cages from there you would get free delivery (as long as you're in Europe) so you could get some wheels at the same time.

With their diet, I'm far from an expert, but there are lots of threads in the feeding section that help to guide you. You sound like you're aware of diabetes which is great. What mix are they on currently?

Oh and thank you for always being so nice!
I'm sure your hammies are also very lucky to have you!

[cypher]

Unfortunately that versele laga food really isn't suitable at all, it has quite a lot of fruit in it which Mu shouldn't have at all, you don't have to worry about diabetes with Mel but fruit should only be given in tiny amounts as an occasional treat anyway not as part of their main diet.
I don't know the second food & without knowing the ingredients, protein, fat & fibre content it's not possible to say if it would be suitable or not.
I'm still not sure where you are so can't recommend anything not knowing what might be available.

Water should be changed daily, it needs to be fresh so just empty it out & refill it, bottles should be cleaned out about once a week.

Here's a list of veg you can safely feed.

Safe veg, those marked * are relatively high in sugar so only feed to diabetes prone species as an occasional treat if at all.
Asparagus
Basil
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Common or red clover
Cabbage, green or red
Carrot*
Cauliflower
Celery
Chard
Coriander
Courgette
Cress (not mustard & cress as commonly sold together)
Cucumber
Dandelion leaves & flowers
Endive/chicory
Green beans/runner beans
Kale
Pak choi/Bok choi
Parsley
Peas/mange tout/sugar snap/snow*
Peppers, any colour
Potato/sweet potato cooked only*
Radicchio
Spinach
Squash/pumpkin*
Swede
Sweet corn/baby corn*
Turnip

[ritacupc4ke]

Originally Posted by cypher

Unfortunately that versele laga food really isn't suitable at all, it has quite a lot of fruit in it which Mu shouldn't have at all, you don't have to worry about diabetes with Mel but fruit should only be given in tiny amounts as an occasional treat anyway not as part of their main diet.
I don't know the second food & without knowing the ingredients, protein, fat & fibre content it's not possible to say if it would be suitable or not.
I'm still not sure where you are so can't recommend anything not knowing what might be available.

Water should be changed daily, it needs to be fresh so just empty it out & refill it, bottles should be cleaned out about once a week.

Here's a list of veg you can safely feed.

Safe veg, those marked * are relatively high in sugar so only feed to diabetes prone species as an occasional treat if at all.
Asparagus
Basil
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Common or red clover
Cabbage, green or red
Carrot*
Cauliflower
Celery
Chard
Coriander
Courgette
Cress (not mustard & cress as commonly sold together)
Cucumber
Dandelion leaves & flowers
Endive/chicory
Green beans/runner beans
Kale
Pak choi/Bok choi
Parsley
Peas/mange tout/sugar snap/snow*
Peppers, any colour
Potato/sweet potato cooked only*
Radicchio
Spinach
Squash/pumpkin*
Swede
Sweet corn/baby corn*
Turnip

Wow, thank you for your reply!

Oh okay, so I'm glad the laga one is pratically done!

I live in Portugal (europe), so I usually don't see many fancy brands like aspen and such, but Idk I've never looked for anything in particular either! And I'm also a very new owner, so I am still very new on the hamster section.

The Riga one says on the ingredients list: derivatives of vegetable origin, cereals, vegetables, minerals, seeds, vegetable protein extracts, fructooligosaccharides, colourants, antioxidants and various vitamins (A, D3, E 68, C275, E1, E2,....

And it doesn't have a nutritional chart or anything, so that's basically the most useful information I could get to share with you.

This one doesn't seem to have many fruits at all, which I guess it's good, taking from what you said. Nonetheless, I'll be looking foward to your opinion.

[AmityvilleHams]

I definitely wouldn't use that.The ingredients are much too vague to be safe.Zooplus delivers to Portugal and they sell this which would be a much better choice:
Excelentes ofertas em comida da Bunny para hamster na zooplus!: Bunny ZwerghamsterTraum Expert comida para hamsters anão

They also sell hemp which would be a good substrate choice(relatively low in allergens and much safer than wood substrate,plus cheaper than Carefresh and most likely lower in dust!)so you could order that at the same time

[cypher]

I was just looking at Zooplus in Portugal too to see if that have that food, it's a good mix for dwarf hams, a little low in protein but a few extra mealworms would make that up easily enough.
The food you're using really doesn't look as though it's very good quality, the ingredients are vague & you do need to know the nutritional info as well.
If you do an order from Zooplus you could get a good wheel too, they have the 20cm Trixie wheel which would be fine for both your hams. Or this wooden one is also a good wheel.