Hello!

[Xuli]

Hi everyone!
I live in the North East of England in the U.K
I love a good book and I play The Sims 4 a little too much. You'll find me watching random youtube videos and listening to music in my spare time. I'm a mother to a 4 year old, soon to be 5 and I care for my disabled mother. I've always been interested in hamsters since I was young.

I've owned hamsters previously in my teens, It's been a looong time since then! My daughter has had her eyes (and heart) set on Russian dwarf hamsters for some time now and I finally gave in and agreed and we got a female Campbells dwarf (I think). I personally wanted to get a Syrian since they are bigger and more child friendly but here we are. The one she chose today was so sweet and just sat in her hands cleaning itself, wasn't phased at all. So hopefully that's a good sign. I'm looking forward to going on this journey with my daughter and hopefully do things right.

I'm waiting for my Barney cage from Zooplus to arrive so our hamster is in a temporary pet store plastic cage. Any advice for dwarf hamster would be much appreciated. Oh our hamster is called Xuli (zoo-lee) hence the username.

[CMB]

Congratulations. Hope Xuli settles in well. A sand bath is enjoyed by most dwarf hamsters. You may also find it gets used for peeing in. Chinchilla sand is best for the sand bath.

Fitch substrate is good and can be ordered from the Fitch website. Unscented toilet paper is good for the hamster to have to use for it’s nest/bed.

If your hamster hasn’t come from a breeder, it is likely a hybrid dwarf hamster and they are able to get diabetes, so any food or treats should be sugar free.

Burgess dwarf hamster food is good. You can also give seeds and nuts like, linseed, flax, pumpkin, almond, hazelnuts. I get small packs from the supermarket. Sometimes the are near the baking isle or with the fruit and veg.

Most dwarf hamsters like eating dried mealworms.

Whimzee dog chews are ok for hamsters. They help keep the hamsters teeth from getting too long.

If you have a look at the Let’s see your cages thread. You can see some Barney cage setups. You may need to adjust how the cage is setup once you see how your hamster uses the level etc.

[dreamtree1234]

Hi and welcome to HC! CMB gave you plenty of very helpful advice, but if you ever have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to ask. Congrats on getting Xuli! I love the name. She sounds absolutely marvelous and very friendly. It sounds like she will be very easily tamed since she is quite comfortable being held already. A good thing to do is to begin using the tissue trick. Place an unscented tissue in your sleeve and in your daughter's sleeve for a few hours. Then, place it in Xuli's cage so she can get more accustomed to both of your scents. This will make taming even easier when you begin that process. Good luck, have fun, and I'll be looking forward to getting to know your darling Xuli when she settles in more.

[Xuli]

Originally Posted by CMB

Congratulations. Hope Xuli settles in well. A sand bath is enjoyed by most dwarf hamsters. You may also find it gets used for peeing in. Chinchilla sand is best for the sand bath.

Fitch substrate is good and can be ordered from the Fitch website. Unscented toilet paper is good for the hamster to have to use for it’s nest/bed.

If your hamster hasn’t come from a breeder, it is likely a hybrid dwarf hamster and they are able to get diabetes, so any food or treats should be sugar free.

Burgess dwarf hamster food is good. You can also give seeds and nuts like, linseed, flax, pumpkin, almond, hazelnuts. I get small packs from the supermarket. Sometimes the are near the baking isle or with the fruit and veg.

Most dwarf hamsters like eating dried mealworms.

Whimzee dog chews are ok for hamsters. They help keep the hamsters teeth from getting too long.

If you have a look at the Let’s see your cages thread. You can see some Barney cage setups. You may need to adjust how the cage is setup once you see how your hamster uses the level etc.

I picked up some Tiny Friends Farm bathing sand today and I love the look of the ceramic critter bath by Kaytee. Any alternatives?

We're using the Carefresh confetti as the sub for the moment, would that be a suitable alternative if I can't get fitch? Yes I agree, she has some cheap unscented loo paper as bedding now and the empty tube to play in.

I was thinking that after I posted since she does look like both Winter and Campbells. I bought her from Pets at Home. I felt a bit more at ease since the lady that served us knew about this forum and cage requirements, diet etc. I know PaH get some bad reviews but this staff member was an exception.

I ordered JR Farm Feast for dwarf hamsters, I liked the sound of having some meats included. Not 100% sure if it's recommended. I've noted the seeds and whimzee chews on my shopping list. I knew about the mealworms and the ones I gave Xuli in her bowl today went first.

Thank you for your advice

[Xuli]

Originally Posted by dreamtree1234

Hi and welcome to HC! CMB gave you plenty of very helpful advice, but if you ever have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to ask. Congrats on getting Xuli! I love the name. She sounds absolutely marvelous and very friendly. It sounds like she will be very easily tamed since she is quite comfortable being held already. A good thing to do is to begin using the tissue trick. Place an unscented tissue in your sleeve and in your daughter's sleeve for a few hours. Then, place it in Xuli's cage so she can get more accustomed to both of your scents. This will make taming even easier when you begin that process. Good luck, have fun, and I'll be looking forward to getting to know your darling Xuli when she settles in more.

That is a great idea! Thank you! I've been watching lots of videos on the taming process and fingers crossed I won't have too much trouble

[cypher]

Hi & welcome to HC
Congrats on your getting Xuli, look forward to hearing more about her.

If you got her from P@H then she will definitely be a hybrid, they can look more like one species than the other but will still have the mixed genes.

You can really use anything for a the sand, it needs to be big enough for them to roll around in as well as have a good dig in, you can use a plastic box or a ceramic dish or these bird baths work well!

Carefresh is fine to use as the substrate, it can sometimes be a bit dusty & some hams don't do so well with it but if she's ok with it then it's fine although Fitch is a lot cheaper & generally better if you can get it.

The JR Farm feast isn't the best food tbh, you can get the Bunny Dwarf HamsterDream Expert from Zooplus which is a much better food, a little low in protein for a young ham but a few mealworms a day will be enough to bring that up.

[Xuli]

Originally Posted by cypher

Hi & welcome to HC
Congrats on your getting Xuli, look forward to hearing more about her.

If you got her from P@H then she will definitely be a hybrid, they can look more like one species than the other but will still have the mixed genes.

You can really use anything for a the sand, it needs to be big enough for them to roll around in as well as have a good dig in, you can use a plastic box or a ceramic dish or these bird baths work well!

Carefresh is fine to use as the substrate, it can sometimes be a bit dusty & some hams don't do so well with it but if she's ok with it then it's fine although Fitch is a lot cheaper & generally better if you can get it.

The JR Farm feast isn't the best food tbh, you can get the Bunny Dwarf HamsterDream Expert from Zooplus which is a much better food, a little low in protein for a young ham but a few mealworms a day will be enough to bring that up.

Thank you. I will purchase that food instead and get some fitch bedding. My sister now owns 2 so I will need to get more!

[Thin Lizzy]

Hi and welcome to HC. Congratulations on your new ham Xuli, looking forward to pics.

[Sasha04]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Congratulations on Xuli! The other forum members gave some great advice. I’m looking forward to seeing pictures of her!