Introducing Boba! (And questioning what i can call her coat color) 😅

[MerryMad]

Hello all! I'm relatively new to owning hamsters, and just got a new one today after my last hammy, Bobo, passed away on Christmas 2020. He suffered from a lot of what I believe to be neurological issues with falling asleep at odd times at the drop of a hat, stargazing, falling over when walking, etc. He was never dropped, or handled by a child in the times I've had him so I know it wasnt injury based.. I had him for only about 8 months before he passed away, but he brought so much joy to my and my families life that when he passed he definitely left a void. So... today, I took my shiba, Jasmine to petsmart to pick a new one. ^^ (She loved our last hamster so much she kept sneaking in to stare at his empty cage looking for him after he passed. So.. I decided to let her pick our new one. 🤣 aka, whichever one she fixated on the most, we picked.)

And here we are at present time with our new little baby, Boba. She is really little baby Syrian and the absolute sweetest. She is sweet off the bat, but we are still giving her 3 uninterrupted days to acclimate. ^^ I've been searching the web, but I cant figure out for the life of me what color or pattern to classify her as. ;^; it's hard to get a good picture of her since shes so energetic, but she has a light orange umbros coat, with a clear orange mask on her face with a white belly with black tips on each hair. She has white legs and one tiny orange, barely noticable dot on either side of her hips. She has black cheek stripes as well. Posting a picture now. ^^ If anyone has any idea what I could even call her coat other than a Heinz 57, please let me know!!! 🤣 thank you for your help!!

Btw, yes I know the Qute cage I have is too small, but I connected it to a 20 gallon tank on top as well via tubes with a silent runner 9 inch wheel for her to enjoy as well. She has access to Timothy hay, fresh veggies, a sand bath, a litter box, lots of chews, and 2 hides. Since the room shes in is a bit bright, I also sewed custom curtains for the cage so she can sleep well and stay a bit warmer. ^^ open to any suggestions still though and I'm starting her off on a diet of tropical carnival for now.

Still super sad there are no northern California hamster breeders though. Would have loved to purchase from a reputable source rather than Petsmart.😓

[souffle]

She looks to be a Golden hamster possibly an umbrous Golden. The face and hip spots looking more orange are due to the hair being shorted there and letting the orange show through rather than the ticked hairs that are longer on the body fur. That is normal. The coat can change a bit when they get their adult coat at 10 weeks plus.
She's a little cutie for sure. She probably has other genes in there showing through. The wheel will be fine while she is little and if she grows very large she may need an upgrade.
Looking forward to hearing about her progress.

[SyrianNamedHarmony]

Boba is absolutely adorable. She seems to be taken care of pretty well. I'm not too sure how much bedding you have in her enclosure, but I would recommend atleast 6 inches of bedding (the more the better) for her to be able to burrow. Other than that I don't have any other recommendations.

[AmityvilleHams]

You've gotten a very cute hamster, though I can't be much help with coat colors and such! I would also like to add that you really need to keep your dog away from the hamster. Cats, dogs, and similar predatory pets should never be allowed in the same room as prey animals like hamsters even with supervision as it just leads to unnecessary stress even if nothing horrible seems to happen - regardless of how "nice" such pets seem to be towards hamsters and other prey animals, this will always remain true & should be followed at all times.

For food, the proper diet in the US is Higgins Vita Garden. Sunburst is loaded with dried fruit and really isn't as good for them nutritionally(plus hamsters in the wild wouldn't eat much if any fruit). Do not add lab blocks of any kind as they are unnecessary and tend to be very low quality, same with the Tropical Carnival food which is really just junk food. Timothy hay is completely unnecessary for them and honestly I would just ditch it entirely as it is a good way to introduce mites and such if you aren't careful plus it can even be an injury risk for their eyes in particular.

Being a Syrian she'll need a 12 inch wheel - the Silent Runner of course being ideal, though the size you have now can always be reserved for future dwarf hamsters!

Cages connected with tubes don't really add to the actual total floor space unfortunately, plus tubes end up leading to behavioral issues as well as giving an easy escape route and they're a nightmare to have to constantly clean. Syrians, especially females, end up needing quite a bit more space anyways - some people will say 80 cm x 50 cm or 100 cm x 50 cm is fine but really many females especially won't be happy with less than 1550 square inches(the equivalent of a square meter or 100 cm x 100 cm for example), which would have to be a DIY enclosure.

[MerryMad]

Oop. I Googled umbrus golden and she seems to fit that!! Thank you!!

And yes, I put in 6 inches of bedding in the lower half of the cage on one side with more in the tank. But she apparently hates burrowing and hasn't moved a single piece so far. I'm using white all living things bedding that my last hamster loved to burrow into. (Throughly fluffed up and I even beat it in a mesh bag to get more dust out before putting it in.)

She is barely bigger than a dwarf hamster right now and I will be upgrading her wheel when she gets bigger. Also working on building a DIY cage for her right now, so fingers crossed that comes out well. Using a Christmas tree bin to make sure she has plenty of space. ^^ I will post pictures when done.

As for the food, thank you for the recommendation! I'm going to be ordering some right now and probably using the tropical carnival for treats since Boba seems to really like it so far. I'll probably get rid of the hay as well if it can be an injury risk. Both Bobo and Boba seemed and seem to love the grainy ends, but I'd rather have slightly grumpy hayless hamsters than hurt hamsters. 😅

And as for the dogs, I am always careful with any interaction they have and it is never without a barrier between them and my supervision. I understand such interactions may typically cause stress, and I will of course continue to be vigilant and ever worried, but my last hamster, Bobo used to actually follow my shiba around the house in his hamster ball like a little shadow. He would go towards her when she was laying down and fall asleep in the ball tucked up against her. (11.5 inch that he LOVED and willingly got into each day to do laps around our living room. Never once forced him into it. Only let him stay in it for 10 minute intervals.) May sound hard to believe but they had a special little bond. I wont be trying to force or test the same kind of relationship with boba and jasmine ofc cause I understand that may have been a one off, but in my experience so far no extra stress was added. Bobo was a big whiney baby too annd chattered away every time something wasnt going his way. Aka if I stopped giving him treats, took him out of his hamster ball, or tried taking out leftover fresh vegetables he didnt eat. Never once gave me one of his signs he didnt like being around the dog. Never froze, stress bruxed, or anything. So I will be vigilant still and see how Boba reacts and separate them completely if she shows any stress at all, even once. But again, I thank you again for all the advice and I will take it to heart. ^^ I hope everyone stays safe during these crazy times!!! ❤❤❤