I want a chinese hamster - convince me not to lol - Page 2

cactus · 09-07-2013, 04:13 PM

My girl Sif is a Chinese. I'd been begging my OH to consider getting one for months and he kept putting his foot down saying no but we saw Sif in the pet store in the adoption section because she has a nervous disposition. We'd been seeing her in there for over a month and I finally managed to convince him that she needed a good home and we could provide it.

We still haven't managed to get pics of her as she's still learning to trust us all these months later. If you can get her out of the cage she suddenly becomes a lot braver and loves to run all over me and the sofa, when she gets tired she'll snuggle up to me or my OH and start to doze.

Honestly, if you can afford a Chinese (payment for hamster and vet fund) and have the space/cage to house one then go for it. They're ridiculously fast, Sif uses her nest as a toilet and the amount of digging she does in incredible so make sure to get a tank style cage if you don't want a lot of substrate over the floor. Those are the only downsides to having her!

With my new hammies I always try to wait for a month or two and see if I'm still as keen to get one, once I've decided I will I get the cage set up and wait another few days, then I know it's time if I'm still really keen. If you do get one then I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures and hearing all about them

**DrKMcK** · 09-07-2013, 05:02 PM

I have no Chinese hammies, but I couldn't ever convince anyone not to get one. Over the summer I got Ted E. Bear, a Syrian and Toffee & Almond, two hybrid dwarf hammies. I'm probably going to get another rescue Syrian within the next couple of weeks. Once you get the "bug" for a particular hammy type, it's basically a foregone conclusion that you're getting it. So, you will post photos? Right?

kimlck · 09-07-2013, 06:14 PM

I should have said that "Noodle" ( couldn't they have given her a better name??) Was a p@h adoption.
I went in there almost every day for 3 weeks just seeing if anyone had got her or even if she was awake, the very first pick i have of her is curled up in the coconut shell that was in the adoption tank.
In the end i said to my OH, " i am going to ask about her"
An hour later she came home with me, she was supposedly a male, every time i played with her i called her big fella and every time she bit me as if to say "OI WOMAN I AM A GIRL!!!"

She is very sweet, and when she holds you with her tail is just....awesome
We are currently working on climbing up my arm.

POLAR WHITES · 09-07-2013, 11:57 PM

are they as fast as robos ?

racinghamster · 09-08-2013, 12:22 AM

No, not as fast as robos. Robos are much speedier. Chinese hamsters will scuttle along like mice, rather than be like the Ferrari 0 to 50 in 0.1 seconds like a robo!

Robos have back legs like a kangaroo in many ways that propel them into those fast movements. Chinese hamsters....well no, in a race, I know which one would win!

I agree that the males get a raw deal. It would be a male Chinese I would be looking for if I wasn`t taking in a wee oldie robo tomorrow.

That was my original plan anyway but is on hold for now.