Where to buy a Syrian?

[CaptainWill]

Hi guys,

I am looking for a Syrian Hamster for Christmas, I know it is already a bit early to contemplate it but....

I live in the South East of the UK, to be precise, Maidstone in Kent.

I am looking for a newborn hamster from a breeder, but I just can't find one on the internet. My friend owned two hamsters, but he can't remember where it was, but he mentioned East Sussex.

I appreciate any information and help :p

[velma]

Hello CaptainWill! I can't help you with your query but welcome to the forum! If you have a look through the boards you may come across someone. In fact, I'm sure just the other day someone else was asking about hamsters in Kent. From a breeder really does depend on if they are having litters at this time of year though. I know some breeders don't mate their hamsters as much in the winter months. But in the meantime, you'll find all the advice you need about food & housing in the thread boards so you can be properly setup when you find the ham for you.
Welcome to HC :)

[Shannonmcn]

There is a list of National Hamster Council breeders on the Southern Hamster Club website (http://www.southernhamsterclub.co.uk/new/index.php?option=com_weblinks&view=category&id=43&Itemid=90) which might be a good place to start. You can also ask in facebook groups like Syrian Hamsters GB which has a decent user base and I think there are a few breeders active on there.

[CaptainWill]

Thanks Velma and Shannonmcn,

I have looked on the Southern Hamster Club site, but haven't found anything of significant use

[Pebbles82]

If you can't find a breeder, we got ours from a small local pet shop. He was still a baby but was quite hard to tame as he hadn't really been handled. Or the RSPCA have rescue hamsters for adoption. If you put the type of pet and your postcode in on this page it comes up with the hamsters for adoption in your area. Although I can quite understand you preferring to get a baby hamster from a breeder :-)

Find a pet to adopt - Find a rescue dog, cat, rabbit, horse (http://www.rspca.org.uk/findapet)

Is Southampton too far? Vectis - a moderator on here, has a hamstery in Southampton.

Not sure if she has any hamsters ready for buying - you could ask her! Look for the username Vectis on here.

[CaptainWill]

Would just buying a hamster from Pets at Home be better than a breeder?

[Shannonmcn]

Nope, the complete opposite. P@h hams are from rodent mills, the quality of care depends a lot on the store and individual staff but they do not have the time to properly socialise hamsters and it is MUCH harder work to get a pet shop ham to trust you. Their health is also often poor, they are bred fairly indiscriminately with little thought for longevity or robustness.

A good breeder (ideally one who shows or who is affiliated with the NHC) will have healthy, friendly hamsters who have been handled almost from birth. There's really no comparison.

[hammy2]

I would avoid pets at home unless its in the adoption bit as the pets come from rodent farms. They're horrible to the pets and don't handle them right (I am guilty and have given in myself a few times and still have two sweet rats and Zoe from there) but there's many rescue centres that have baby hamsters if you do a bit of research on Facebook. Some even bring the hamsters to your home to check you have the right set up

[Bertiebobbins]

Just so you know, the animals in the p@home adoption corner 99% of the time are "old stock" from the shop floor, so ultimately came from a rodent farm if that's your biggest concern.

I was looking for breeders in the East Sussex area and couldn't find anyone. Could you get to East Croydon/Bromley easily? I got my two hams from a pet shop around there but they're not rodent mill, they're responsibly bred in-house from livestock she's sourced from show breeders she knows, they're so different from normal "pet shop" hams, for a start they're both enormous lol and so, so friendly, so easy to tame. Send me a PM if that's a good location for you and I'll give you the details. By the way if it's a bit of a journey for you, I brought both mine home on bus and then train quite a long way and they were both fine.

[Pebbles82]

Hi. I looked on gumtree where there are hamsters for sale for adoption in your area - a variety of circumstances - some where people can't look after them any more and one where the hamster has had babies, so there are babies for sale. It is a problem, if they're not from a breeder, knowing how healthy they are genetically, but you can check to see if it looks alert and bright eyed. The babies do still need homes as well. It can be hit and miss but with the right cage, diet and lifestyle that can be good for the health of a hamster. Ours was a pet shop hamster and he's very healthy. As with having babies, some of it is luck!

https://www.gumtree.com/hamsters/maidstone?distance=15

The babies for sale are 9 weeks old and the seller says they are all hand tamed. Don't know the sellers' circumstances - maybe she bought a hamster that turned out to be pregnant, or maybe she's a hobby breeder.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/hamsters/syrian-hamsters-for-sale/1138597432

If you are planning on getting a hamster, it's a good idea to get the cage first and get it all set up and ready, so when you go to get a hamster (and sometimes this can be spontaneous!) it can go straight into a suitable new home and not need upgrading afterwards.

There's lots of information on this site about suitable cages, but the Barney cage from Zooplus is a good buy and not too expensive. You are not going to need to upgrade from this as it's 100cm. Many people, including me! Started off with something too small and had to upgrade within a few weeks - which works out expensive and stresses the hamster out and sets back taming.

If you can't fit the Barney in, the Alaska is slightly smaller but within minimum recommended size. A 100cm Barney will fit on top of a chest of drawers or something like that though - doesn't matter if there's a slight overhang at each side - and it's a better built cage.

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/hamster_cages/hamster_cages/189303

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/hamster_cages/hamster_cages/284288

You'll also need a bigger wheel for it - the cages only come with small wheels for dwarf hamsters and they're usually very rattly as well. There's a thread on suitable wheels, but this 28cm one is fine. If you want a quieter one, the 27cm Wodent wheel is available from Pet planet.

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/accessories/exercise_wheels/174195

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=446&pf_id=52721

[CaptainWill]

Hmm.... very interesting Serendipity7000, thanks.
The chest of drawers was exactly where I intend to put it!