I look forward to getting a fur family

nick_syms · 10-19-2018, 06:03 AM

Hi all,
I’m nick_syms, from the UK.

I have joined this forum pre-emptively to gain some advice in preparation (and likely the duration) of getting myself some new hamsters!

Yes, new hamsters. I have had a syrian before, but she came to the end of her life about a year ago

I am thinking of getting some more hamsters after Christmas, but I was thinking of getting Russian or Robo which are a bit different, so be sure to look out for me asking noob questions in that part of the forum! I have already read a bit about having dwarf hamsters, but im sure there is still a lot I don’t know.

Why the change from Syrian? When I got my last hamster, I was still a student and spent a lot of time with her in my room. Now I am working full time in an office and am the only person in the house on weekdays. I also go to bed a bit (ok a lot) earlier than I used too, so my idea was to get a pair of hamsters so they won’t get lonely with my reduced contact time.

I may go post some picks of my last hamster and you will be sure to see pictures of any new ones i get in the new year

cypher · 10-19-2018, 07:04 AM

Hi & welcome to HC

Great to hear you're hoping to get another hamster.
If you aren't going to be able to keep a close watch on them during the time they're most active then I would suggest only getting one, hams don't need the company of another ham & most pairs will fall out & fight as they mature so need separating, one ham would be quite happy to live alone, most will enjoy some out of cage time though but I do find Russian hams tend to be more active during the day (depending on the individual to some extent of course) & get up earlier so you may be able to spend more time with your ham than you think.
Robos do tend to take more time & patience to tame so probably not the best option if you aren't able to put in the time you will need on a daily basis to make progress.
What ever species you choose look forward to hearing about it when the time comes.

Thin Lizzy · 10-20-2018, 03:55 AM

Hello Nick, welcome to the forum. I agree with Cypher, great advice.

nick_syms · 10-22-2018, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

If you aren't going to be able to keep a close watch on them during the time they're most active then I would suggest only getting one, hams don't need the company of another ham & most pairs will fall out & fight as they mature so need separating

Wow in my searches so far i have seen they can fall out when getting older, but that always seemed to be a lower chance than them getting along. That is a shame, I had my heart set on the idea that having two would be better for them.

In this case then, do you think I would be better off keeping with syrian again? Which breed is typically easier to tame and generally take care of?

cypher · 10-22-2018, 08:19 AM

I've never had a Syrian so I can't compare from personal experience but I've found Russians to be easy to tame, they are smaller & a bit faster but not difficult so if you wanted a Russian then you could just get one which would be very happy living alone on the other hand if you're more comfortable with the idea of taming a Syrian then maybe stick with what you know.