How many hamsters is a good amount for you?

[Jane]

Just wondering how many hamsters is a good amount for you personally, and do you think you have too many?

Like, someone could have three and it could be too many for them but other people have 20 and cope fine..what's good for you?


I only have my one Charliebum at the moment and I think up to about four is fine for me. When I had all three dwarfies and Charlie it was good. I think if I had four syrians it could be too much, but I think I could have upto three syrians with no problems and still have lots of time for them.

What's a good number for you? Do you want more?

[littlemissdwarfhamster]

I currently have 20 dwarfs and 2 syrians and thats about right for me.

I have had more in the past and with my small flat it was a bit of a nightmare. But at this number I have enough bloodlines for breeding, some nice show hammies, babies, oldies and the odd rescue. All of which I can spend time with and it doesnt take me 4 days to clean them all out!

I'd like more syrians, maybe just one or two more but I dont have a lot of cage space so I am limited.

[Gust0o]

I want more - possibly because of my addictive personality

I think, as we look to breed, I'd like more - to give me more options in terms of lines, etc.

At the moment, as companion animals, I have 7 - and that's a fantastic number, for me.

Of course, it's hard to say no to cuties

[pophammy]

I would like to have more, but I think that about 5 Syrians and 2-4 Dwarfs (depending on whether they are single or in pairs). We do not have time to give any more than this the attention and out-time they each deserve. I would not want to give up love and play with them just to have more.

[Basia]

Well I have 12 at the moment, and I think 20 would probably be my limit. I do spend an awful lot of time with them but I enjoy it.

[Leon]

I currently have one Syrian and two robos. That's all... I'd like to have more, especially a pair of campbells but I'm telling myself to wait as we may move at the end of the year and I'll need to make sure I have enough space for all the cages

So I guess two pairs of dwarfies and a Syrian is a good number for me.

[Matty Day]

ive got three at the moment i have no problems with this number

i think id be happy with about 12 max at the moment

maybe when i have finshed studying id be happy with 16-20 hams

[Mollz]

Hm, this is something I have been thinking about for a while. At the moment we have 4, and space-wise we currently have room for 10. We are looking to keep 1/2 babies from our up and coming litter and mum is desperate for a hamster of her own so this will take us to 7 within the next 4/5 months.
When we get more shelves then our limit will be 15, I think, but I do hope to build this up slowly so that they are not all old at the smae time - so I hope to keep to under 10 until 2009!

We also decided to have 1 rescue at a time - and try to always have 1 rescue, just so that we are helping a little hamster in need of a home/TLC but still maiking sure we have breeding/show hamsters as well as the ones which are only pets (who are just as special and important to us!).

[sammys/mum]

Limitwise my Mum wouldnt allow more than 4 cages in my room! But I think I'm happy with what I have at the moment. A little taste of each! The Campbells are so clumsy and full of character I love to watch them! My Robo is also lovely to watch and is the cutest little thing! And my Syrian is such a lovely friend he is always there!
I would like to get a WW at some point and a small group of 3 or 4 robos but at the moment I'm happy!

[Hanlou]

Well we have just the two Syrian hamsters at the moment, though I am hoping to get a Robo' or two soon.

I think that would be our current limit in all honesty. If we had just hamsters and no other pets we'd be able to have more, but with two groups of chinchillas (a pair in one cage and a single chin in another), a group of rats, a group of degus and a pair of Spiny Mice it just wouldn't be fair to any of them to increase our numbers still further at the moment.

Another consideration at the moment is that we need to decorate the house (and the garden is a bit wild!) so won't have as much time this year.

Plus everything needs a reshuffle and we are in serious need of some organisation - we have tons of space (3 bedroom house with just the 2 of us living in it!) but no storage! So I don't want to take on any more cages at the moment until the house is how I want it. It is true that I have been looking at Ikea shelves / drawers etc thinking about how I could fit cages on them but realistically I have to sort everything out before I really know what my limits are! :P

Mum and dad are, however, redecorating our living room for us whilst we're away (how wonderful are they!! ) so the Robo' space will be fine as I have worked out a living space for a Robo' in the Rody Cavia in there once it's been done...... ...... so that one's sorted and needn't be disturbed no matter what we do with upstairs.

My ideal would be to have the small animals (mice and hamsters) in one room and the bigger animals in the other. But until everything's sorted out that's not possible. I think I'd really like a Chinese hamster in the future, but that could be a lonnng way off!

I have pretty much decided that if anything happens to Tinkerbell, we won't be getting another Syrian though; not for a good while as Herbert is so demanding I think he's put us off for a while! Two Syrian's like Herbert would be exhausting!

(Why can't I post a succinct post....just for once.... I apologise for my waffliness. )