People witht loads of hamsters!

crawleytown · 06-28-2008, 06:39 AM

I know there are some people on this forum who own 30 hamters + which I think is amazing and I wish I could do it!! I was just wondering how it is humanly possible, do you not just spend literally every spare minute cleaning out cages, feeding handling ect? I am intrigued

Ness · 06-28-2008, 06:56 AM

I always wonder this but I seem to manage it with twelve.

I guess you could clean out different cages on different day, that would make it easier.

**Spuds Mum** · 06-28-2008, 07:21 AM

Just like anything you seem to adjust to take account of it - so maybe my house doesn't get cleaned as often as the hamsters! And yes, hamsters do seem to have taken over my life a little, but its worth it, so the sacrifice doesn't seem that bad.
I used to clean mine out on a rota as Ness mentioned above, but to be honest I hated that as it seemed all I ever did every night was clean out hammies! Now I just do the whole lot of them on a weekend - once I am in the swing of things it doesn't take too long really, as everything is all out and ready etc.

Ness · 06-28-2008, 07:43 AM

yeah it also did drive me mad a bit buy doing the rotastak on a different day well I just hated cleaning it lol.

you just get into a habit of giving them food water and playing, I tend to play with them when I give them there food. I love it when my chinse hamster sits on my hand and eats food so calmly, when he's normally quite cautious

I guess it confuses my friends a bit, and some think I have a baby due to buying baby food which is funny. some people say I shouldn't have so many pets that I'm being selfish or just being stupid when it comes to take them to the vets. So I think the main thing thats affected is my social life because everything else is on a set routine anyway (like you eat about the same time, sleep, watch tv, you also learn to do hamsters stuff) but when people want you to go out, you can't take the hamster food with you but you can take yours so you end up making your friends wait and everything like that.

not that I have much of a social life, lol

crawleytown · 06-28-2008, 09:02 AM

Why do they say you are been selfish!? Do they not think there is enough hamsters for everyone

Ness · 06-28-2008, 09:06 AM

well they think I should let the kids get to them first, really.

agatecrystal · 06-28-2008, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ness

well they think I should let the kids get to them first, really.

That's non-hamster people for you!

Spacemonkey · 06-28-2008, 09:46 PM

I can clean mine all out in an afternoon. They get attention equally even if I have to do a late and early shift. You manage, its not all that hard once you get in the swing of things

06-29-2008, 02:19 AM

I find that yes, I spend pretty much every minute handling, or feeding, or cleaning, or shopping for them! I drove 140 miles yesterday as I wanted a specific cage for two of my youngsters. But you get used to it...to me its just like having a big group of demanding kids!! I don't find the cleaning too bad - it helps that mine are mostly in Gabbers which are easy to clean. I just blitz a few cages together - although last weekend I did 7 Gabbers in a row and ran out of hot water!

I couldn't face having a rota. It would make it seem too much like hard work to me. Evenings tend to be pretty manic - I'm usually on the go non-stop until 11pm-ish. People know not to ring me then as I'm too distracted by preparing hamster dinner, or playing with hams or my Syrians are crashing around in their balls in the background.

You have to be prepared to make some sacrifices. I don't go out in the evening that often anymore and I don't go away on holiday. But, its my choice. My hamsters give me a huge amount of pleasure. I probably won't live like this forever, but at the moment, its certainly worth any sacrifices I have to make.

Matty Day · 06-29-2008, 02:28 AM

well i currently have 9 cages and hamsters i cope fine i have what i term a half rota i only feed every three days( as i like my hams to eat there food stores) and its quite easy just doing water bottles and handling every day thougth it takes me two and half hours each night or an hour with two of us doing it

cleaning i do four cages on saturday and 5 on sunday so not bad takes me all day thougth i take regular breaks i can clean cages back to back i like to take 15 minutes beetween each one