Biggest Hamster Mistakes

[4Taylor20]

So when i first got my 2 hammies, a syrian and a dwarf, i made the worst mistake of putting them together, that was before i was a part of this site and knew any better. i thought they would be pals. No hammies were hurt so its ok. no worries. But i feel so so bad about it, like the worst hammy mommy ever. So i thought maybe this could be a thread about hammy mistakes and how to avoid making them. Go nuts, cant wait to read the replies

[Nancy's Hamsters]

Biggest mistake I know of was placing a Hamster in a big huge Guinea Pig size bin with no lid while cleaning out her bin cage. Hubby didn't know I was cleaning Hamsters and let my
mouser extreme cat in, and when I went to retrieve the Hamster who was in the next room cause the GP bin is too big for the room all the Hamsters are in she was taken away and was gone to the bridge.

Lesson Learned was even when you know a hamster can't escape a cage Never leave it unattended, and also let your mate know when your cleaning so the cats stay outside

[shawniyatwain]

I have made several basic mistakes before I joined the forum, I used to use cotton bedding (luckily my hammies was never hurt by it) and I have used rotastak and shop bought cages for my hammies for a long time before realising they were too small when I joined here. I feel bad for my hammies having to live in those things!

[greysome]

Oh goodness, where to begin! And it all happened with only one hamster, a campbell dwarf. Years ago, when I had my first ever hamster (I called her Badge, short for Badge(r) the Spaz which may come in later), I had her in a super tiny cage. I was told it was more than big enough for a dwarf hamster though I now know it was way too small. I thought I was taking care of her well because I gave her about 4-5 inches of substrate, which I thought was far more than the recommended amount and I had her housed alone, which I assumed all hamsters had to be. I didn't know that different types of hamsters were actually different species and not like dogs where they're the same species but different breeds, although looking back on it, she should definitely have been housed alone

Anyway, she was (understandably) extremely territorial about her cage and after she bit me a few times, I stopped trying to consistently tame her. Another mistake I made was the whole taming thing--I tried to tame her on my schedule, not hers, and when I would stop for a bit, I assumed I could pick up right where we left off when I began again. After a few months, I took a hands off approach entirely and figured she was an observation-only hammie. When I cleaned the cage, I put her in a ball that was probably too small and honestly, I don't think she enjoyed it. I cleaned her entire cage and everything in it at once so she ended up returning from the ball into an unfamilar-smelling place. The poor girl must have been so stressed and unhappy and I'm surprised she even made it to a year old, never mind living past 2.

All that is bad, but one of the things I feel most guilty about concerns the origin of her name--she was named Badger originally because I noticed she loved to dig and would generally know her movement underground by the puffs of bedding moving about. It became Badge the Spaz due to her behavior, which I thought was cute and didn't think may have been a sign of any health/neurological issues. When she drank water, she would only do so on her back and with her back legs kicking. She also did a lot of head tilting, which I projected as her being inquisitive and would be calm and docile (so long as she was in her cage without my hand in there as well) one minute and then the next, running around the cage so fast she would slam into the walls, toys, her wheel, etc. I didn't even think of the possibility it might be related to either her cage size/habitat or that there might be a underlying health issue. Honestly, the only thing I can say I did right by her was her food--I had her on Hazel Hamster and several times a week, she would get some fresh veggies

[POLAR WHITES]

unwillingly letting my hamster that I bred when I was interested in getting a good dominate spot and he was my second attempt, escape from his cage didn't realise the cat was in the room and it was treat time, as I opened the door turned to get some treats as I turned back he was running behind the sofa, I went looking for him, caught a glimps but so did the cat, and one very small squeak later he was gone,

[Pebbles82]

1) Knowing nothing about Hamsters before buying one.
2) Putting him in a rotostak unit after reading up about the minimum cage size and kidding myself that the three small units were probably equivalent cage space only to have to get a new cage 3 weeks later (he grew and was getting stuck in the vertical tubes).
3) Moving him overnight to new cage - it was a bit too cold turkey and I don't think he has fully trusted me since. In hindsight I would say that might be ok if it is from small cage to larger cage, but if it is from enclosed unit to cage it is a big change. In future I would move them a night or two after letting them play in the new cage a couple of times I think. I was having a busy week and kind of just dumped him in the new cage and left him there overnight. I did put familiar things in but he was a state for 10 days. Thankfully he came round and enjoyed the cage and is now tame but a bit antisocial.

[TraceyH]

I used to have hamsters in the 70s and 80s and then had a 20 year break. On impulse I saw a syrian in a pet-shop, fell in love with him and bought him without doing any research at all on hammykeeping in 2010.

So, I made just about every mistake in the book.

Wrong sized cage, wrong sized wheel, fluffy bedding and lavender shavings.

Thankfully, whilst trying to find an answer as to why the lavender shavings caused my cockatiel to have a coughing fit I stumbled on this place, corrected all my mistakes and the hams lived happily ever after.

[Skeever]

First time in the last twenty years owning a hammy was a rescue adoption. I wasn't sure it was a hamster. It may have been something else with the tail chopped off, since the tail stub looked bloody. But since I merely took it off someones hands, I had no idea what to do. The cage was a huge birdcage, which may have been big enough, and the litter and water and stuff were right, I think....they came with the hammy. After putting my hand in the cage and getting a bone deep bite, I tended to leave him on his own,unless I had time, or he was too rowdy and noisy, and then I would allow him to free run the apartment. Oddly enough, he didn't bite outside the cage. He didn't sit still, but he didn't bite. A second reach in the cage assured me he was a vicious psychopath, so he got a lot of neglect...he was feed, cage cleaned, and let out now and then. The rest of the time he got the attention people give to a goldfish. Lived over a year, but I don't know how old he/she was when I got it. Internet? where I was living, what is this internet you speak of?

Second mistake was getting Ziggy, and thinking lil Ziggy could be quite happy in a one and a half foot square bird cage that would make a parakeet claustrophobic. And that was before putting a house, a wheel and toys in it He loved to come out, did lil Ziggy. I thought he loved me. He wanted to stretch his legs. He would've climbed all over a cat to get out of that cage. Fortunately he bit the cage from day one, and I went online thinking this hamster thing must be harder than it sounds. He got a real mulitlevel cage, and all the fixins before weeks end.

And, thats it. I haven't made any mistakes at all since then. None. Zero.

PS this is a hamster forum.....we won't talk about owning rats in the early eighties. A couple of disturbing tales of mauled baby ducklings and one raped female rat....

It's amazing the world didn't fall apart before the internet......

[Shannonmcn]

First two hams had a pretty small cage with a barred floor on the second level and a wheel that was definitely too small! I think my second little syrian might have died from the cold as well, she was living with my dad and I don't think he knew to keep the house warm for her

[kittokitty]

Neglect - I'm sorry to say that it took the death of a hamster to set me straight. I'm NEVER going to make that mistake again (probably going to feel guilty for that forever )