I randomly adopted a Dwarf Hamster a few days ago as i felt sorry for him in petsathome. He was in a tiny tank on his own, with no wheel or anything. I "donated" £10 to take him away.
Research online suggest to me he is a Winter White? The staff were pretty clueless about his breed or his age ("few months old").
He is a very sweet little hamster, he sits in his wheel at night cleaning himself and eating. He walks into my hand and likes to be handled.
Do you think i should get him a companion? Or is it too risky now, with him being too old.
Aww bless, what a lovely little ham, congrats!
You have a russian hybrid, all russian hams sold in pet shops or anything you might find in the adoption centre will be a WW/Campbells hybrid.
Definitely don't get him a companion, only same sex siblings can be kept in pairs & even that can be difficult, at this stage it is way too late to introduce him to another ham & not at all necessary, they live perfectly happily alone & he'll enjoy your company.
Not sure what cage you've got but what I can see in the vid looks ok although you can fill the base with substrate to allow for digging which they love to do!
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Hi hudsonhicks - welcome to the forum and many congratulations on your new arrival. He is a very cute and handsome lad.
Just want to echo what cypher has said; Please don't consider introducing a companion as they will fight. I have five dwarf hams....some pedigrees and some hybrids and they each live in their own large cage very happily on their own.
I also can't see what cage you have but dwarf hams do love to burrow into their substrate. I have one that sleeps in her burrows rather than a plush house. They do need a lot of room, in the wild they can roam about 6miles each day/night, so a little bundle that covers a lot of ground.
Not sure what toys you have for him, loo/kitchen paper tubes are brilliant and a tissue box makes a perfect house. They do like to have some cover in their cages, so bendy bridges are ideal too.
Have you had hamsters before or he your first? What is this handsome fellow's name?
Your little chap looks very adorable, I want to take him home!. Like others have said he's a hybrid, which is a cross between a winter white and russian dwarf hamsters
The minimum size cage people usually recommend is 70cm x 40cm. I can't really see the size in the video - but I think it's a bit too small. If you can get the measurements or a full picture we can help more
Very excited to see more of him, he's such a cutie!
He is a very handsome little guy! Very happy to hear he is friendly too, you've hit the adoption-centre jackpot! cypher and artisans have already given you perfect advice so I'm just going to echo Winnie and say that we need to see more of this little fella
Welcome to the forum and well done giving an older ham a chance!
This is his cage ATM,, i've ordered another one of these cages off Amazon that i will link up with the 2 tubes as well as a silent wheel. that i will link up with the 2 tubes.
I had Dwarf Hamsters and Normal hamsters when i was little.. about 15 years ago now
His favourite food is: dried meal worms & sunflower seeds.
His favourite tricks are taking food upto his wheel and eating it there and he likes to stick his noise out his house whilst he's sleeping. He's also built another nest on the other side of the cage.. he alternates where he sleeps
We also have a cat but shes the most non-predatory docile cat on the planet and doesn't care about hamsters
Welcome to HC!! I see everyone has already gave you some great advice He is really cute, love little white dwarfs. Congrats too! Have you thought of a name yet or does he already have one?
I think linking the cages would be a good idea and it will give him loads of space to run around When you get him more space, I'd recommend getting some more toys. Other than Pets At Home, shops like The Range have a good pet section! As Artisans said, you can also use things at home as toys, such as toilet roll tubes, cardboard boxes, tissue boxes etc... There are also some good DIY toys and things online if your up for the job haha!!
Aww what a cutie!!
I am not sure if you said the dimensions of the cages you are buyin but as long as they are over 70x40 I think it's a great idea but just remember hamsters usually benefit more with one large floor space. Enjoy your new ham