Longhair Brushes?

[pinksalamander]

Hi, I recently got my new Longhaired hamster and this is only my second (my last Longhaired died of Wet Tail ) So I was wondering what you recommed for brushing? Someone said a soft tooth brush, but I can't see this very easily getting tangles and wetness out from the booty area. So what are your preferences?

[babyboos]

I use a soft bristle toothbrush and my fingers to gently tease tangles. My very Long Haired hamsters live on a mixture of paper and wooden pelleted cat litter. I use Megazorb for the Short Haired hamsters but find this is far too "sticky" for Long Haired hamsters sadly.

[flogging_molly]

I bought a baby brush and comb set, the bristles on the brush are really soft and like babyboos I use my fingers to gently tease any tangles

[pinksalamander]

Someone told me that female's hair doesn't grow as long as males, so maybe I'll be able to get tangles out with my fingers. I might just buy a toothbrush anyway because I think my hamster would enjoy it

[Pendragon]

Originally Posted by pinksalamander

Someone told me that femals hair doesn't grow so long as males, so maybe i'll be able to get tangle sout with my fingers. I might just buy a toothbrush anyway because i think my hamster would enjoy it

That's right - the girls aren't as longhaired as the boys... they don't usually develop the "skirt" and stay shaggy rather than fluffy, with the coat only about 2cm long. I don't think you'll have any problems with her coat, although sometimes girls look a bit greasy, so when her coat looks like that, sprinkle her with some cornflour [cornstarch if you are in the USA], mix into the fur, leave for a minute or two and then groom out. It will absorb the oil in the coat and leave it silky and shiny again, and won't hurt if not completely groomed out.



This is Elderberry, one of my Long-haired females:





so you can see her coat's not as fine and fluffy as a boy's.

[souffle]

We use a baby toothbrush and our hamsters seem to enjoy being brushed. The long haired females are just tufty and don't require anymore grooming than a short hair but the males can get a bit tatty unless you keep on top of that skirt and use wood based catlitter or Carefresh in the cage.

[pinksalamander]

Dotty does actually have a rather tufty bum, but I am very sure she is a female and it's not as tufty as a male's. She has a little tiny skirt right on the very end of her bum, and these 2 little long bits poking out of around the position of her scent glands. It looks reather funny actually. She is then sort of soft and tufty all over. She already has a piece of wood shaving stuck fast into the hair of her back but she's not trusting enough yet to let me properly remove it. We just had a wee cuddle but only for 2 minutes tops.