Artie, my Winter White... story and questions!

[lykame]

Hello!

My name is Lydia and on Friday I bought a Winter White, a little guy whom I am calling Artie (short for Artur; long story). I'm pretty sure that's his name - he hasn't told me otherwise, yet.

It has been a very long time since I last had a hamster (two, in fact - Molly and Polly) and indeed I was a child. I think I can safely say, therefore, that I was nowhere near as conscientious as I am now (if I do say so myself ). And even so, I had no idea Winter Whites existed until Friday, and I think they're gorgeous!

Okay, so from all my reading he's probably a hybrid as I got him from Pets at Home, but still. He's a very pretty one!

I've already worked out from my reading here that the food Pets at Home 'included' isn't ideal, so I will probably slowly weane him onto Harry Hamster Food, which seems popular on here.

I've also worked out that as a likely hybrid, he will be more at risk of diabetes, which is certainly not something I want him to get! So I need to try and remove the more carbohydrate aspects from his diet. Currently with his current food I dread to think how much sugar is in that, and when I do get the Harry Hamster Food I am going to have to figure out what exactly to remove from it to make it more friendly (just the corn, supposedly?).

I got him a cage that is seeming smaller by the second, even though he's by himself. He was by himself in Pets at Home, and when I questioned the lady as to why, she said that the others had been bullying him and so they had been separated. I certainly remember Polly trying to bite Molly's nose off one day, and possibly somewhat succeeding, leading to us having to separate those two, so I'm never even going to try and introduce a new 'friend' [read: mortal enemy] to Artie, as I know this will super fail.

(My rapidly worsening feeling that his cage is too small isn't helped by my looking at some of the epic cages that a lot of the members here have, hehe. Artie is currently lumped with a Mini Duna in a fetching shade of blue/grey that ironically matches my utility room. Is this big enough for him? Or does he need more space?)

He's already had fun removing all the bedding from the house and making his own nest under the upper level (I tell you, I am already dreading cleaning the cage for the first time and destroying all his hard work; that's going to make me feel rotten!).

And he's been using the wheel (not the wheel that came with the cage, which seemed rubbish to me, but a different wheel I bought). I added a teeny tiny bit of olive oil to the mechanism to try and stop it from making a very high pitched squeal that I am more concerned about bothering him than me. I'm aware I'll need to clean and reapply that frequently. I'm pleased he's using the wheel as he seems a bit chunky to me and like he could do with trimming up a bit. (I dislike the way they are kept in Pets at Home, in a really small glass cage with no wheel or anything. It made my heart break for him.)

He has, dare I say it, yet to bite me. I have been yelled at a few times, which at first made me very upset and anxious that I was distressing him to that extent. I was also disturbed to find out that him emptying his pouches was a sign of fright as he did that too. Reading more about him and about the best way to handle that behaviour has really helped.

I really don't remember my other hamsters from a long time ago ever making noise, so the first time he sounded like someone was opening a zipper through an amplifier (honestly!) really freaked me out. I think he's just a tad home territorial (well damn, I would be too!) and he's fabulous and gorgeous once he's out of his cage (and all the time), and the yelling is going now that he's getting used to this place.

To provide him with more exercise I've also bought him a hamster ball. I just bought a small one (the main part of it is about 4 inches, although with the doors on it's more like 5). He's only small, so that seemed okay to me - I didn't really think he'd be able to roll a bigger one around easily, although I could be wrong. Then again, I don't want to hurt his back either. The first two times I put him in it, he went in willingly but promptly emptied his pouches out. I removed him quite quickly. Tonight I've put him in one more time and he still went in willingly and actually used it. He was soon whizzing around my kitchen floor. This made me happy but I am also concerned - occassionally as he's running I see his feet come out through the ventilation holes on it and I am worried they're going to catch and hurt him - like, literally break a leg. Should I stop using it or are there other balls out there that won't do this?

He's currently happy - I put a blanket over one corner of his cage and he is racing up and down, running on his wheel and drinking from the water bottle. This is having the disadvantage of making me feel guilty that perhaps the cage isn't big enough, even though when he's sound asleep in his nest it seems huge....

Gosh, the joys of hamster ownership!!! I think he's awesome already.

The two pictures - the first time in his wheel, I think more because it provided him with a corner to feel a bit safe in; and his first go with some alfalfa, which he had a nibble on, but I actually think he's a bit dubious about. But he's just so pretty and has such pretty colouring!!!

[Lucinda]

What a sweety!!
I have both my hybrids in their own mini dunas, and they're both perfectly happy. They do get adequate playtime which prob helps.
As your little man grows, you should be able to tell if he needs more space as his personality develops.
As for food, a forum user here has actually developed a mix especially for diabetes prone hamsters, available on ratrations. My hams like it far more than anything else I've tried them on

ETA: Have you got a link of the ball you have for him? It might just be a case of waiting until he's fully grown. My hams dont have any problems with the slits. I would advise that you avoid using it if theres any risks to Artie.

[souffle]

Aww he is gorgeous
He is lucky to have found such a caring owner. I think the mini duna is fine for a single WW and in fact I think they like the security of the shelf to nest under.
His colouring is that of a Normal Pearl Winter white so he is mostly that. One of my favourite colours / patterns. The Pearl is actually a pattern!
Silver's mix might be a solution for you but we have always used Harry Hamster with additions from the health food store for ours. They also enjoy a millet spray and if you get some budgie seed and put it in your hand he will likely hop on and be busy pouching it!
It's a great taming aid.
I would not use a ball or wheel where his feet can come though the slots. He could easily break a leg or foot if it rolled awkwardly. Concentrate on hand taming and maybe make a playpen for him or use a large storage box for this

[racinghamster]

Hi Lydia and welcome. I love your new addition and he sounds as if he`s going to be a spoiled little gentleman!

My own take on caging and diet with dwarf hamsters is this (and of course, it is only my opinion and it works for me!)

I prefer to use cages the size of the Zoozne 1. You will see plenty of examples of this perspex cage in the Housing and `show me your cages` sections on the forum. It is bigger than the Ferplast Duna and can still have a shelf or more accessories added inside to make the cage adventurous and naturally set up by using cork tunnels, cardboard egg box with holes cut into it, play tunnels, grassy nest and other such natural accessories. I think the Zoozne 1 costs around £30 delivered from most websites and is well worth a look for when Artie is settled. When your little one gets a bit bigger, he will appreciate the bigger floor space. It`s not a huge difference in size, but it does make a difference.

Harry Hamster is at best, full of large extruded buscuits and corn and not much else. i`ve went of it as a mix. If you want a good variety in your mix with smaller ingredients for dwarf hamsters, I would look at Burgess Supahamster Harvest Dwarf. pets At Home sell the dwarf version. Burgess do two mixes, one for dwarf hamsters and one as a normal mix for syrians. The normal mix has more in it, but also includes small pieces of banana, which will need to be removed because of their sugar content, but there are not many pieces in it anyway so no real waste. I also remove yellow corn (whole and flaked maize) and replace these with the following:

kallo organic wholegrain puffed rice (Healthfood shops)
Buckwheat (fed dry)
Jumbo porridge oats (tesco own brand are very good - porridge section)
Hemp seed (healthfood shops and Asda)
Pumpkin seeds (supermarkets or healthfood shops)
Millet spray (pet shops)
Canary seed mix (this also includes linseed and hemp seed usually)

Dwarf hamsters get as much natural carbohydrate content from the grains that they consume in the form of wholegrain. These are usually complex carbohydrates and needed as part of their normal diet. So apart from naturally sweeter ingredients like corn and banana, the rest of the mix is fine.

Pet shop hamsters usually are best seen as hybrid as far as diet is concerned, so it`s good to take these precautions early in their lives when conditions like diabetes can manifest. If the hamster is genetically susceptible anyway, then it`s better to act sooner with diet rather than later.

All of the ingredients I mentioned can be added to the hamster mix or fed by hand, which is a good way of letting your hamster take little treats from your hand.

tell us how `Artur` is getting on!

Edited to add: I never use hamster balls. I don`t like them. If a hamsters cage and wheel are big enough, they don`t require a ball. It`s much better to sit with the hamster and spend time socialising.

[fluffymunchkins]

Welcome to you and the gorgeous Artie
The mini duna is perfectly fine for a single ww, some are really active and would appreciate more space, but thats up to your judgement.

I feed my hybrid a mixture of harry hamster and budgie seed x

[Audrey]

Artie is gorgeous Welcome to the site!

[SnickersTheFirst]

Hello and welcome He is gorgeous and looks just like my Oscar.

The Mini Duna will be a perfect cage for your little one. All of my dwarfies have lived in one at some point and been happy enough.

[lykame]

Dear Lucinda,

Aww, thanks. He is gorgeous huh! I'm glad that they're so happy in the mini duna. I am torn about the cage situation - I certainly want him to have enough space and everything for when he's feeling active, but I also don't want to be overrun by cage or have to ditch this one for a new one, as financially that starts to add up.

But predominantly I will do what is right for him, so if I can see that he needs a bigger cage then that is what I will do. I have been eying some of the ways to join cages together but this seems rather difficult, especially as the cage is predominantly plastic.

I have taken the ball back - it was a space ball from P@H. I wasn't willing to take the risk with his feet and I didn't want the temptation of it lying around, as he seemed to enjoy it. Instead he has full access to the whole of my kitchen floor, which is a bit of a big space... although I think the tiles are quite cold and there is not enough shelter for him to be comfortable - but he gets exercise! My memory from my other hamsters is that he won't get much bigger, so I don't see the feet problem disappearing.

Thank you.

Lydia and Artie.

Originally Posted by Lucinda

What a sweety!!
I have both my hybrids in their own mini dunas, and they're both perfectly happy. They do get adequate playtime which prob helps.
As your little man grows, you should be able to tell if he needs more space as his personality develops.
As for food, a forum user here has actually developed a mix especially for diabetes prone hamsters, available on ratrations. My hams like it far more than anything else I've tried them on

ETA: Have you got a link of the ball you have for him? It might just be a case of waiting until he's fully grown. My hams dont have any problems with the slits. I would advise that you avoid using it if theres any risks to Artie.

[lykame]

Yeah he's really lovely. The two pictures I put on here aren't great as they're taken by my phone and he's not exactly still for pictures.

He really does like part of the cage that is under the shelf. This really amuses me, as I would have thought the house the cage came with would be the biggest attraction, but no, he would rather pull all the bedding out of it and drag it to the other side of the cage to make a deep nest. Fine by me! Although he's incredibly protective of his little nest corner.

I love his colouring. I had never seen it before and I really really really like the shapes of Russian Hamsters, so the two combined was awesome. All those arctic white creatures are always gorgeous to me, and as soon as I saw him I was rather besotted.

This feeding thing is so confusing to me; I think I am going to have to do a post in the feeding section. I only want to make one food change, so I want to get it correct from the start, and something that should be so simple is really not at all simple! I like the idea of Harry Hamster, but the person below has mentioned that it's not so great. But it's the highest protein content that I've so far seen (19%) and I believe I've also read that it's one of the only foods that contains pro-biotic. I looked at some pro-biotic powder to add to his food or water and it seems like a glucose-filled diabetes-inducing waste of money.

I have gone out today and bought him some millet spray and some mealworms. I figured one thing for tonight, so I gave him some mealworm. Having read that it's a big like the marmite of the hamster world (love or hate) I was hoping he would love it, and indeed he did. In fact my fingers must have smelt like it as he set his teeth into them. Thankfully they were only a couple of test bites to see what I was, as they did not break the skin and as soon as he realised I wasn't mealworm he let go. Whoops. I really really desperately do not want to get bitten by him, as I can tell already that it would hurt.

I got rid of the ball because I refuse to take the risk to his legs, even though he seemed to enjoy it. There are some balls that you can attach to a stand and they just spin, kind of like a hamster wheel but enclosed... but in which case he can just use his hamster wheel when he wants. Instead I let him out onto my kitchen floor, and my only concern about that is that it's quite cold tiling.



Lydia and Artie.

Originally Posted by souffle

Aww he is gorgeous
He is lucky to have found such a caring owner. I think the mini duna is fine for a single WW and in fact I think they like the security of the shelf to nest under.
His colouring is that of a Normal Pearl Winter white so he is mostly that. One of my favourite colours / patterns. The Pearl is actually a pattern!
Silver's mix might be a solution for you but we have always used Harry Hamster with additions from the health food store for ours. They also enjoy a millet spray and if you get some budgie seed and put it in your hand he will likely hop on and be busy pouching it!
It's a great taming aid.
I would not use a ball or wheel where his feet can come though the slots. He could easily break a leg or foot if it rolled awkwardly. Concentrate on hand taming and maybe make a playpen for him or use a large storage box for this

[lykame]

Wow, thank you for such a comprehensive reply.

Artie is a gorgeous new addition and I do believe he's going to be spoilt rotten. I had a moment today when I was walking around work thinking 'I wonder if Alfie would suit him better?' but he's still an Artie. Why is name finding so difficult anyway? I went through so many - Tobi[as] and Archemedes being quite high up on the possibilities....

I've had a look at a lot of the cages and well, the pages on this forum put mine to shame, although I will work on developing this. I'll have a think about upgrading his cage. This is a really difficult one. I don't want to spend money on another cage and essentially lose the use of this cage, which whilst wasn't expensive would then start to add up what with the cost of a new cage... but I also want to do what's right by him.

I saw a post on the RSPCA requirements for cages and was initially upset that the mini duna didn't meet the requirements, and then I realised that they got around that by adding the second level. Doh. It kind of becomes... if not the ZZ1, why not the ZZ2??? Or why not another cage that I can attach to this one? But I don't know how I would possibly attach another cage to this one....

... Yeah so I've had another peek at the Zoozone cages and they are huuuge! It seems people have to mesh the tops as well. It does look lovely though - although only one level. I'll see how he does in this one and if he seems to need more space then I think I would go for one of the Zoozones.

Now, the food issue. Ah, please help! I might need to make a post in the food section, to be honest, as I am becoming quite confused.

Well, today I found a place that does Harry Hamster. It has 19% protein, which is the highest protein level I have seen. The lady that was there sort of scared me away before I could properly read the back of the packet and I wanted to also check the Supahamster mix so I didn't buy a bag of it.

Why do you say Harry Hamster is only really biscuits and corn? The picture made it look more like sunflower seeds but I didn't buy the bag and actually check the mix. If that is the case then obviously that's very carbohydrate built.

I've read somewhere, however, that Harry Hamster has probiotic in it, and that this is very good for their gastrointestinal system. So I like that idea a lot. Pets at Home have an additive with this in, but it seems glucose based and therefore totally ruins my whole idea of trying to stop him getting diabetes.

The other thing I need to go away and research is this protein level thing. 19%, being high, sounds like a good thing. And the food he's currently on doesn't seem to have enough protein in it. I need to find out at what level the protein percentage is fine even if it's not as high as 19%.

The reason I ask is that I went to Pets at Home and I found their Supahamster Dwarf Hamster Harvest. I couldn't find any normal mix but this one looks quite nice. It's 17.5% protein and has canary seed, millet, grass pellets, maize, peas, toasted soya flakes, toasted wheat flakes, sunflower seeds, poultry fat and mealworms.

What would I need to remove from that? The maize, presumably? Or where would I get the normal mix from?

Argh.

I did buy some mealworms, which have literally gone down a treat. Especially as the Supahamster Drawf Hamster Harvest has mealworms in, I thought it would be best to actually see if he likes them - which he does, quite a lot. Furthermore, I bought him some millet spray, too. I've not tried this yet as I don't want to overdo him on new foods.

But... I just don't know whether to use the Burgess food, whether to use the syrian hamster version (which he's not), the Dwarf version (which he is, but it has less variety), or the Harry Hamster version, which has higher protein content and probiotic... but is maybe more corn based??? And things like the oats from Tesco, won't they have a very high carbohydrate content?

Help???

You'll be pleased to know I got rid of the hamster ball.

Many thanks for your time! Possibly I will go and post my confusion in the food section after some more research...

Lydia and Artie.

Originally Posted by racinghamster

Hi Lydia and welcome. I love your new addition and he sounds as if he`s going to be a spoiled little gentleman!

My own take on caging and diet with dwarf hamsters is this (and of course, it is only my opinion and it works for me!)

I prefer to use cages the size of the Zoozne 1. You will see plenty of examples of this perspex cage in the Housing and `show me your cages` sections on the forum. It is bigger than the Ferplast Duna and can still have a shelf or more accessories added inside to make the cage adventurous and naturally set up by using cork tunnels, cardboard egg box with holes cut into it, play tunnels, grassy nest and other such natural accessories. I think the Zoozne 1 costs around £30 delivered from most websites and is well worth a look for when Artie is settled. When your little one gets a bit bigger, he will appreciate the bigger floor space. It`s not a huge difference in size, but it does make a difference.

Harry Hamster is at best, full of large extruded buscuits and corn and not much else. i`ve went of it as a mix. If you want a good variety in your mix with smaller ingredients for dwarf hamsters, I would look at Burgess Supahamster Harvest Dwarf. pets At Home sell the dwarf version. Burgess do two mixes, one for dwarf hamsters and one as a normal mix for syrians. The normal mix has more in it, but also includes small pieces of banana, which will need to be removed because of their sugar content, but there are not many pieces in it anyway so no real waste. I also remove yellow corn (whole and flaked maize) and replace these with the following:

kallo organic wholegrain puffed rice (Healthfood shops)
Buckwheat (fed dry)
Jumbo porridge oats (tesco own brand are very good - porridge section)
Hemp seed (healthfood shops and Asda)
Pumpkin seeds (supermarkets or healthfood shops)
Millet spray (pet shops)
Canary seed mix (this also includes linseed and hemp seed usually)

Dwarf hamsters get as much natural carbohydrate content from the grains that they consume in the form of wholegrain. These are usually complex carbohydrates and needed as part of their normal diet. So apart from naturally sweeter ingredients like corn and banana, the rest of the mix is fine.

Pet shop hamsters usually are best seen as hybrid as far as diet is concerned, so it`s good to take these precautions early in their lives when conditions like diabetes can manifest. If the hamster is genetically susceptible anyway, then it`s better to act sooner with diet rather than later.

All of the ingredients I mentioned can be added to the hamster mix or fed by hand, which is a good way of letting your hamster take little treats from your hand.

tell us how `Artur` is getting on!

Edited to add: I never use hamster balls. I don`t like them. If a hamsters cage and wheel are big enough, they don`t require a ball. It`s much better to sit with the hamster and spend time socialising.