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Old 10-06-2022, 05:45 AM   #1
ShadowNinjaHamster
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Default Would it be a little too soon to take a new hamster?

Hello!
unfortunately my hamster passed away yesterday and I feel empty and sad. I was thinking maybe getting a new hamster would be a way to move forward, but wouldn't it be too disrespectful towards my previous hamster?

Also, I don't know any breeders, so pet stores are my only choice. How should I buy a hamster? Now I know not to buy the fattest hamster, just in case. If I bought dwarfs should I buy one or two? Because often they're in pairs.

Thanks.
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Old 10-06-2022, 07:26 AM   #2
cloudy
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Default Re: Would it be a little too soon to take a new hamster?

If you feel ready to get another hamster then go for it. It is not too soon and it is not disrespectful. We all have our different ways of dealing with grief and you could look on getting a new hamster as honouring Bogie. You could rescue a hamster and give them a wonderful life as you did with Bogie.

I would never put two hamsters together. Hamsters do not need company of other hamsters and would be better of living alone.

I do not know if Poland have free ads like we do here but maybe there are places people advertise their own unwanted hamsters in too.
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Old 10-06-2022, 08:15 AM   #3
ShadowNinjaHamster
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Default Re: Would it be a little too soon to take a new hamster?

Quote:
Originally Posted by cloudy View Post
If you feel ready to get another hamster then go for it. It is not too soon and it is not disrespectful. We all have our different ways of dealing with grief and you could look on getting a new hamster as honouring Bogie. You could rescue a hamster and give them a wonderful life as you did with Bogie.

I would never put two hamsters together. Hamsters do not need company of other hamsters and would be better of living alone.

I do not know if Poland have free ads like we do here but maybe there are places people advertise their own unwanted hamsters in too.
They do not even have wheels or anything in pet stores. Just food and nothing else.
If you don't believe me I can post a picture, so um…It's the same as saving. I felt very sorry for Bogie when I saw him, so I took him.

I just miss Bogie and a new hamster would probably help me get over of Bogie. Plus, I have a lot of food and bedding left over from Bogie.
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Old 10-06-2022, 10:59 AM   #4
Ria P
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Default Re: Would it be a little too soon to take a new hamster?

I think it would be too soon.

My advice would be to look for a good vet first and to do more research on hybrid dwarf hamsters.
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Old 10-06-2022, 11:11 AM   #5
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Would it be a little too soon to take a new hamster?

Any bedding or other items would need to be disinfected and left at least 3 weeks ideally in case of unknown illness or disease that could be passed on. Food I'd leave a couple of weeks as well.

I agree that reading up about the species of hamster is a good idea and making sure everything is right for them. Also read up about what to look for to check a hamster is healthy.
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Old 10-06-2022, 01:06 PM   #6
Stanza
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Default Re: Would it be a little too soon to take a new hamster?

I don’t think it would be disrespectful, but if your new hamster is going into Bogies cage, you need to take some time to thoroughly disinfect and clean everything that can be kept and then perhaps at the same time as your preparing for a new hamster, you could start researching where would be the best place to buy your new hamster.
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Old 10-06-2022, 01:35 PM   #7
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Would it be a little too soon to take a new hamster?

You might want to look into good cage set ups for dwarf hamsters as well, and good houses. There are lots of set ups on here for ideas and toys can be home made or cardboard. I think on one of the photos you had a fleece donut bed as his nest? Anything fabric like that is risky to have in the cage as hamsters chew things - especially nice soft things that could be ripped up for nesting material, and they could swallow some and get a blockage - plus some of these things have foam padding in as well. I have one of those I use for out of cage time. Same thing with "fluffy bedding" material - it can be swallowed and cause blockages. Paper is best for nesting. Sorry if you know all that already.

They do like building a nest in a house, with just torn up toilet paper strips and that helps give them normal behaviours as well - foraging for the paper strips and nest building. They almost always love labyrinth houses (eg houses with more than one room inside which makes it dark inside). And would go straight into one to build a nest - because it's dark inside. It mimics an underground burrow basically.

Not sure which cage you had but possibly even think of a cage upgrade. If set up well with lots of enrichment, tunnels, toys and hideouts and a shelf it can give them a very good life. The more cage space you have, the more enrichment (and larger labyrinth houses) you can add. An ideal sized cage for a dwarf hamster is 80cm by 50cm - and not really any smaller than 70cm by 40cm. They can also really enjoy a bigger wheel - eg an 8" wheel.

The key to a happy life and normal behaviours is to set things up to encourage normal behaviours like nesting, foraging, hoarding and digging. So a house that's open underneath and sat on top of the substrate allows them to bury hoards under their nest (and keeps it well ventilated so it doesn't get whiffy). Some labyrinth houses are large enough to fit a corner toilet inside and they almost always use an "ensuite" toilet. I'm not so sure about dwarfs - Syrians do and our robo uses his as well.
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Old 10-06-2022, 10:02 PM   #8
ShadowNinjaHamster
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
Any bedding or other items would need to be disinfected and left at least 3 weeks ideally in case of unknown illness or disease that could be passed on. Food I'd leave a couple of weeks as well.

I agree that reading up about the species of hamster is a good idea and making sure everything is right for them. Also read up about what to look for to check a hamster is healthy.
But the bedding is closed in the bags, unopened. I threw all of the chew toys etc away.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
I think it would be too soon.

My advice would be to look for a good vet first and to do more research on hybrid dwarf hamsters.
My last vet was really good. I wouldn’t get a dwarf this time.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
You might want to look into good cage set ups for dwarf hamsters as well, and good houses. There are lots of set ups on here for ideas and toys can be home made or cardboard. I think on one of the photos you had a fleece donut bed as his nest? Anything fabric like that is risky to have in the cage as hamsters chew things - especially nice soft things that could be ripped up for nesting material, and they could swallow some and get a blockage - plus some of these things have foam padding in as well. I have one of those I use for out of cage time. Same thing with "fluffy bedding" material - it can be swallowed and cause blockages. Paper is best for nesting. Sorry if you know all that already.

They do like building a nest in a house, with just torn up toilet paper strips and that helps give them normal behaviours as well - foraging for the paper strips and nest building. They almost always love labyrinth houses (eg houses with more than one room inside which makes it dark inside). And would go straight into one to build a nest - because it's dark inside. It mimics an underground burrow basically.

Not sure which cage you had but possibly even think of a cage upgrade. If set up well with lots of enrichment, tunnels, toys and hideouts and a shelf it can give them a very good life. The more cage space you have, the more enrichment (and larger labyrinth houses) you can add. An ideal sized cage for a dwarf hamster is 80cm by 50cm - and not really any smaller than 70cm by 40cm. They can also really enjoy a bigger wheel - eg an 8" wheel.

The key to a happy life and normal behaviours is to set things up to encourage normal behaviours like nesting, foraging, hoarding and digging. So a house that's open underneath and sat on top of the substrate allows them to bury hoards under their nest (and keeps it well ventilated so it doesn't get whiffy). Some labyrinth houses are large enough to fit a corner toilet inside and they almost always use an "ensuite" toilet. I'm not so sure about dwarfs - Syrians do and our robo uses his as well.
Hi!
I'd like to get a Syrian hamster. I felt so sorry for this hamster:

He doesn't have anything, no wheel, nothing and he seems to be kinda fat. I haven't seen him moving, but he has been at the store for awhile and I don't know. I just feel sorry for him. That's how I also got Bogie. I just felt sorry. for him.
Yeah, Bogie slept under the donut. He always used it on his nest. Never chewed it though and he never was on it actually either. He just slept under it. I threw that away as well.

My cage is bigger than that and I am not looking for a new cage. I just have so much unopened paper bedding and food left as well. It's true what they say. You can buy stuff for a hamster only once and he'll have it for the rest of his life.

Hmm, Bogie almost never used his house. He had many houses and his last house was the biggest. He had smaller houses, but he didn't fit into those, because he was too fat. You know what? Maybe I shouldn't get that overweight Syrian hamster. I should try to pick a healthy hamster the next time. They all look sick at the store though. Except some very small dwarf hamsters.

I can't find the old paper that I used for Bogie anymore, so I use some kind of weird paper and I have it left over. I just used some of it for Bogie's carrier.

I was thinking of getting a Syrian, maybe. Specifically the one I showed you the picture of. I feel so sorry for him. I have never seen him moving, but I know he's breathing. I've been keeping an eye on him for awhile.

I can't get a new hamster yet, since cleaning Bogie's cage takes time.

The minimum cage size for a Syrian hamster: Depth: 50cm. Width: 80cm. Height: 50cm.

My cage is even bigger than that. I bought the biggest cage I saw at the store and as it later turned out, it's for guinea pigs and Bogie never used the other half of it.

I'll keep cleaning Bogie's cage. I threw many of the you away. Also the donut, since it was quite a mess.

Last edited by souffle; 10-08-2022 at 11:04 AM.
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Old 10-06-2022, 11:55 PM   #9
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Would it be a little too soon to take a new hamster?

Sorry - didn't realise you had a large cage. I just vaguely remembered you were thinking of changing cages a while back, so maybe you already did. Did you have to mesh the cage then? Bar spacing for guinea pigs is usually larger than 1cm.

Shame about the donut bed - they wash up quite well I found, in a washing machine - although then you need to check them to see if they're still in tact and no loose stitching etc - although maybe it was beyond cleaning up. And to disinfect it would probably need a very hot wash and then it might fall apart. Although it can be hard if certain things are associated with the last hamster but that can wear off in time. I think they're great for out of cage time but I wouldn't use one inside the cage again - even if your last hamster didn't chew it, another one could. Any kind of fabric is a bit risky in the cage.

A Syrian would almost certainly escape if the bar spacing was bigger than 1cm.

The one in the photo looks like he's asleep. It can help to see them awake to make sure they're not sick. I think in most pet shops they are just in a tank with bedding, a food bowl water and perhaps one toy - a cardboard tube. Our first one was. No they don't usually have wheels in pet shops either. That's not such a bad thing if they're babies or very young because if they have a wheel too soon there have been stories of them having a heart attack from over use. I know some breeders don't give them a wheel until they're about 12 weeks old. Baby hamsters are often rehomed at 6 to 8 weeks old. Although most people give them a wheel straight away.

I know what you mean about feeling sorry for them and wanting to give one a home. It's very tricky - weighing up the need to save one and the risk of poor health if the pet shop conditions aren't good. You had an awful time initially with your last one having bugs. I don't know what it's like where you are, but are there people advertising wanting to rehome their hamster? Eg adopting one. They are often unwanted pets that were bought for children who got bored with them.

If you do get one from a pet store and the hamster isn't active and healthy looking then get a vet check - and if it needs any treatment the pet store should pay. But if it does seem active and healthy then it might be best to just let them settle in for that first 2 or 3 weeks settling in time rather than stressing them out with another change of environment by going to the vets. Baby hamsters can get freaked quite easily. I wouldn't go to the same pet shop though.

It can be quite a task thoroughly disinfecting the bars of the cage - I used to put them in the bath and spray the bars inside and out thoroughly all round with the disinfectant spray, leave it 15 minutes or so, rinse it off and then I'd go over the bars again with a sponge with washing up liquid which foams everything up - eg soap gets all bits of the bars and joints so nothing is missed, and then rinse all that off. Same with the base - inside and out. It's not just to disinfect it, but to remove all scent of the last hamster or it can freak out another hamster if they can smell a previous one (or smell sickness).

If the cage was then going to be used for another hamster I'd probably then clean it a second time after all that with white vinegar. Which does help remove scents. But that needs thoroughly rinsing off or it's a bit of a strong scent.
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Old 10-07-2022, 01:01 AM   #10
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Would it be a little too soon to take a new hamster?

I don't think that Syrian looks overweight - but possibly pregnant. It's hard to tell when they're curled up and sleeping.

I think we've all just seen a hamster that has been "the one" - they come over and look at you or something. And that's why we get them. They bring us great joy and they are totally dependent on us and it feels like a worry and responsibility sometimes - until you get used to it. And when they get older are sick there are always hard decisions to make and we learn from experiences. I used to be horrified at the idea of euthanasia - now I think it's a good thing. Harder for the owner than the pet. And however much they give us joy and friendship, welfare is the key - ensuring they have a happy life, suitable surroundings, avoiding stress for them (they are so susceptible to stress).

That's another thing to be aware of/careful of. If it's a female hamster it could possibly be pregnant. Pet shops can be rubbish at sexing/segregating them. Many people get a hamster and end up with a litter of babies and then have to rehome them. Some get a male and find it's a female (although with Syrians it's easier to tell which is which).

Female syrians can also be incredibly active and gregarious and need a lot of space. And they come on heat every four days and some people find the musky smell a bit overpowering when they're on heat. Some hamsters smell more than others in that way, some hardly at all, and some people don't notice it and some do.

Males can be more lazy or laid back and hide away more and it's harder getting them to come out of the cage - but that is a generalistion - you can get some very active males as well (I have one at the moment). Either way they are nice - just different personalities. I found the lazy ones are more likely to accept cuddles. But can also be more stressed by changes.

Generally they are thought to be a healthier species and less prone to disease than dwarf hamsters - none of ours have ever been sick until they got old - but that's a generalisation as well as any hamster can be born with a genetic issue.

When looking at them, see if their eyes are bright and they seem fairly active - not necessarily fast, but if woken, do they go and eat and drink and move around ok. That kind of thing.

It's sad seeing them in pet shops. Some people adopt because they don't want to support pet shop practices - but adopted ones are usually from pet shops as well. You could also see if there are any reputable breeders. Then they have a genetic pedigree and their history is known, and they're usually hand tamed from birth - and breeders usually give ongoing follow up and advice if you have a problem.

Last edited by Pebbles82; 10-07-2022 at 01:15 AM.
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