If you have a hamster house in the cage then make sure it has two entrances, and make sure that there are no blocked off corners in the cage. You cannot watch your hamsters twenty four hours a day, so you need to make sure that the hamsters can get away from each other, should an attack take place. This is especially important when the hamsters are new to each other, and full compatibility has yet to be established.
This is especially the case when hamsters are still getting to know each other. Introduce them slowly by placing their cages side by side so that they get a chance to smell one another and interact through the bars at a safe distance. After a number of days or weeks, if you notice them tolerating one another then you can place them in a brand new, scent-free cage.
This will allow them the opportunity to get to know each other in a neutral environment, without one feeling more dominant than the other. If you are going to keep more than one hamster in a cage, then it is really important that there is enough room for them to have their own personal space.
If the cage is cramped, then there is more chance that your hamsters will fight. It is also a good idea to ensure that each hamster has its own house, bottle, food bowl and toys to prevent any fights over-sharing. Plus, just like children, hamsters can get bored, so either change the layout of the cage regularly or introduce different accessories so that they are stimulated and less likely to scrap.
Although hamsters are relatively clean pets, when two or more are together in a cage they need to be cleaned out more regularly. Overpowering scents could start to stress out your hamsters so make sure they are spot cleaned daily. Normal fighting between hamsters is about dominance, and once one hamster puts the other one in their place it generally starts to calm down.
Chasing, squeaking, sniffing, and squealing is considered normal behaviour, although it can look and sound upsetting at times. As long as your hamsters do not come to any harm and they are happy to interact with one another on a daily basis in terms of sleeping, eating, and socializing, then just put the daily squabbles down to a bit of hamster rivalry. Actual fighting looks very different! If you see your hamsters biting, clawing, chasing, or cornering another hamster to prevent escape then these are signs that there is bullying and fighting going on between your hamsters in their cage.
Hamsters are not like other pets in that they miss having company. Providing your hamster has plenty of human interaction then finding them a cage playmate is not required. If, however, you do want to get a couple of dwarf hamsters, please ensure that you integrate them slowly and watch out for signs of fighting. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Hamsters are territorial. They are getting older. Hamsters love being solitary. Limit their interaction time. Put distance between cages. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. We do not sell your personal information.
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We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. This depends a lot on the quality of the water. Where I live the tap water is fresh and clean, safe for any human or animal.
I know that there are places where this is not the case. So the water I put Sunday evening when I clean his cage, is still good next Sunday.
If you know your water is not very fresh, I suggest changing it more often. Or switching to bottled water and leaving that for more days if you wish. There really is no clear answer, your hamster is capable of drinking condensation on water pipes so taste is not a matter to him. But do keep the water as fresh and clean as possible, to avoid any problems for your hamster.
If your hamster is very very active and drinks his water very fast, then obviously you will need to provide more water, or change it more often. A sedentary hamster can live with less water and not really need much.
So I unscrew the tube part from the bottle, throw out the remaining water, and get a clean paper towel. Rinse out the bottle just to be safe, then wrap the paper towel on the end of a spoon or fork.
This way I can reach inside the whole bottle and wipe it all down. If your water bottle is not very long and you can get your fingers in, then do that and a paper towel. Then, rinse once more and put enough water in the bottle. Do not clean the water bottle with any kind of soap or disinfectant. Those require much rinsing and even then it might not be safe for your hamster to drink. If the water bottle is damaged or really needs a thorough cleaning, consider getting a new one.
I looked around for a good water bottle, and looked at the reviews as well. You can find a good water bottle for your hammy on Amazon, and it can hold about 11 ounces of water for your hamster.
Also make sure to clean the water tube itself with a Q-tip on the inside. Be careful to not leave cotton fibers on the tube, so your hamster will not catch its teeth in it.
The water bottle usually works, but here is how to check it. The small ball at the end of the tube must move freely, even at the smallest touch. There should be no resistance when you try to push it with your finger.
So keep the water bottle in the cage, and reach for it. Gently push with one finger to see if the ball gives way. If it gives way you will also see a bit of water come out. You might have to take the water bottle out and put it back in a better angle. Some cages have a small hole on the side, to put the tube through. If it does, then you can be sure that the position the bottle will stay in is correct. If none of this works, and the ball does not move when you push with your finger, take the water bottle out.
Get a clean Q-tip and fiddle around the tube itself until you see what the problem is. Or, unscrew the water tube part and rub it inside with the Q-tip. What to do when your hamster does not drink water Your hamster not drinking water is a serious thing, and it must be checked.
He will not be hurt by this, since he has part of his pouch there, and it is used to expanding to great sizes. Hold your hamster in your hand, and gently tug at his scruff. When your let go, the skin should snap back easily. This means your hamster is not dehydrated and is drinking water. But if the skin on his scruff does not snap back easily, and instead slowly goes back to its initial shape, your hamster is very dehydrated.
Especially if you still see a bit of raised skin where you tugged. If your hamster is indeed dehydrated, do the following: Check that the metal ball on the water bottle is fine, and lets water drip. You might see air bubbles come out when you check, this is a good sign. If after a couple of days of changing his diet and checking his water, your hamster is still dehydrated bring him to the vet.
He could be having a more severe problem. Remember, a very active hamster will drink more water and more often, so make sure you provide lots of water for him! Table of Contents So do hamsters need their nails trimmed? When do hamsters need their nails trimmed? Yes, but ONLY in cases of overgrown nails. This is not something you should do regularly, like with your own human nails. Hamsters usually trim their nails by climbing, grooming, digging, foraging.
This is where you, as a responsible hamster owner, will come in and help the hamster take care of himself. Leave healthy nails alone. They should have a bit of length to them, because the hamster uses them for climbing and getting a grip.
They might break at some point, and they can and do fall off. Hamsters usually wear down their nails by the usual things they do. Digging a tunnel into the earth, making their nest, foraging for food, running around, grooming themselves, climbing on op of rocks, and so on. The ones he does do, are on softer material like wood shavings and paper bedding.
This means that sometimes, some hamsters get overgrown nails. That can be fixed. After all, no one trims them in the wild. This means that your pet hamster will need your help for several reasons. First an overgrown nail will curve in on itself and become painful for the hamster.
Second, nails too long will make grooming painful for the hamster. When he grooms, he also grabs onto his fur and hold it in place to clean it. Third, overgrown nails, if left unattended will fall off. But this is never a pleasant ans simple process. So they end up bending over backwards, for lack of a better term. The nail will not simply fall off, it will hang in there for a couple of days, until the new nail grows back.
These are all things that can be avoided. Not all hamsters get overgrown nails. Hamsters are notorious for not staying put, and squirming. Your hamster should first of all be comfortable with being held. Some hamsters will be okay with being on their backs, some will not. Another could be the hamster just being on all 4 and you holding one of his paws.
If you think you need help, ask a friend to hole the hamster while you trim the nails. Do expect fidgeting, and do expect squirming, maybe even a few protesting sounds. No hamster likes being held for this. Also be aware that even if your hamster might get relaxed enough to let you hold him, the sound of the nail being clipped can spook him.
So be prepared for anything. But look at where the nail starts, from the finger. Its very small, and very short, about the size of a couple of grains of sand. While very small, that little pink cloudy part is crucial. Do not cut into it. It has lots of blood vessels, and cutting into it is like cutting into the neat right under your nail. When you cut the nail part, the translucent part of the nail, make sure you leave at least as much nail as the pink part.
That means if there are 2 grains of sand of quick, then you should leave 2 grains of sand of transparent nail on your hamster. Seeing a vet for professional help Getting your hamster to a veterinarian to help trim his nails is probably the best decision. Also, in the case of a bleeding accident, he will have a solution to stop the bleeding and disinfect everything.
Preventing overgrown hamster nails Preventing is always much easier than treating. But for this we need to look at why hamster nails can become overgrown in the first place. Usually hamsters wear them down with their day-to-day activities in the wild. So you will need to provide your hamster with a few hard, rugged surfaces to walk over or climb onto. For example a few flat stones from your garden rinsed and dried, of course arranged around his cage are going to help. And if you place the stones in many places, he will step on them often.
For example placing them right around the food bowl will make sure your hamster walks over them to get to his food. Get a board big and wide enough so the hamster has room on it. You can also find emery paper and tape it to a small board. Slowly start tilting the board, keeping it at an angle, with the treat on top. The hamster will dig his nails into the board to get more stability and a better grip. Or, you can keep the board perfectly horizontal, and only have a treat tied to a string or on the end of a stick.
This is teasing, yes, but the hamster does get the treat in the end. Simply make him walk over the board a few times, and let him have his treat. Always check to see if his paws are okay. If you get grit small enough, he should be fine. You can try this exercise every weeks, to make sure your hamster keeps his nails short. A word from Teddy I hope you found what you were looking for in this article. Us hammies usually take good care of our bodies, so our nails are usually pretty trim. If you want to know more about us hamsters you should check out the related articles below.
Are Hamsters Rodents? Table of Contents So are hamsters rodents? Difference between hamsters and other rodent petsHamster vs mouseHamster vs ratHamster vs guinea pigHamster vs rabbitHamster vs ferretHamster vs squirrelA word on keeping a rodent as a petA word from Teddy So are hamsters rodents?
Yes, hamsters are rodents. Hamsters are rodents, like rabbits, mice, rats, guinea pigs, squirrels, ferrets. There are many more rodents out there than that, but those are the most common ones kept as pets. You can read much more about the exact scientific classification of hamsters right here. Rodents in general are prey animals, so they all have a reflex to run and hide. So expect your hamster to be jumpy, not sit still, and look panicked half the time.
Who knows when a owl might swoop into your living room and take them away? Jokes aside, that run and hide reflex is what saves hamsters from extinction in the wild.
As a pet though, they can be hard to handle, especially the smaller breeds like the Dwarf types. Very small and wriggly, the Dwarf hammies are all over the place and you should not handle them away from their cage. Another thing about hamsters being rodents, is that they will have this instinct of burrowing. If you give them enough bedding to dig into, you will lose sight of your hamster very fast. You can find out more about bedding for hamsters and how to pick a safe one right here.
Finally, as rodents hamsters have a different need for affection that other pets. But they do enjoy your company, and can let you handle them. If you want to know more about how to successfully tame your hamster friend, you should check out this guide right here. What hamsters eat, as rodents As rodents hammies will eat mostly grains and veg, with a couple of insects or worms here and there. In the wild hamsters rely on grains, seeds, and some edible roots. But kept as pets, hamsters have a much wider variety of foods available for them.
You can find here a good list of safe and unsafe foods you can give to your hamster. Some of them are already in your pantry or fridge. Or, if you want to be specific about it, you can check out each food group in particular. Another article about what kinds of dairy hamsters can eat is right here. Finally, more about hamsters and bread can be found right here.
Another option is feeding your hamster commercial food mixes, which already have a healthy mix of all the nutrients your hamster needs for a good, long life.
But in general, hamsters will enjoy most of the things us humans can eat too. Do keep in ming that they love to chew and gnaw on things a lot. Do hamsters need to chew a lot? Yes, hamsters have front teeth that keep growing. They never stop growing. This is why your hamster need a lot of chew toys — more on that here, and how to DYI some or buy them. Otherwise, your hammy will end up chewing whatever he can find, like the cage bars. My Teddy used to do that sometimes, and you can find out more about hamsters biting their cage here, and how to stop them.
Or, at least make it happen mess frequently. Hamsters need to chew a lot, to keep their front teeth from overgrowing. So always make sure your hamster has something safe to chew on, like chew toys. And remember that he will chew on everything, including his own hideout, the food bowl, and whatever else is in his cage.
As such, there are a few differences between hamsters and other pet rodents. Hamster vs mouse Mice are much smaller than hamsters. They can be kept in small packs as far as I know, and they do have similar life spans to hamsters years However if a hamster is hard to hold onto, a mouse is much harder.
A mouse is much smaller, and will definitely not sit still. Also mice smell much more than hamsters. The female hammies come into heat every few days, and can develop a smell.
But as a whole, hamsters are clean and not smelly at all. Mice have the bonus of being much more curious and eager to try new things than a hamster. A hammy si more of a creature of habit than anything. Hamster vs rat The rat wins in terms of intelligence here.
However few people like keeping rats because of how large and non-cuddly they can look, compared to hamsters. That being said, rats are able to solve simple puzzles, and are calmer, more level-headed than hamsters.
That also means they can get bored, and once that happens they will entertain themselves with the cage bars, or moving the things in their cage. Of all the mouse-type rodents, rats are the best escape artist. They will find a way. Rats can sometimes develop tumors, which can shorten their lifespan years. Hamster vs guinea pig Here it really depends on what you like more. Hamsters tend to be cuter and fluffier than guinea pigs. But guinea pigs are much easier to handle and tame.
Well, a guinea pig is pretty much already tame from the get-go. Both are rodents, but guinea pigs are very very mellow and will generally sit and stay wherever you left them.
Whereas most hamsters should be kept my themselves, and can only live together under certain conditions. A guinea pig however can get smelly, since they pee a lot. So they require much more cleaning and maintenance than a hamster. Hamster vs rabbit Aside from the obvious size difference, hamsters can sometimes lose to the rabbit in terms of cuteness.
Depends on whom you ask. While a rabbit can make do with a small enclosure, he needs to be let out often, and in a very large space. So your entire apartment will become his playground. And we all know how hard it is to catch a rabbit running left and right. Of all the rodent types, rabbits are the best at avoiding being caught.
Hamster vs ferret Ferrets are much, much larger than a hamster. They are much faster, and agile, and need plenty of exercise. While your hamster can make do with his running wheel, a ferret will not. A ferret will need at least one cage mate, while hamsters need to mostly kept alone. Conversely, a ferret loose in your home is not alright with other animals. It will possibly attach smaller animals like the hamster, or a rat.
And larger pets like a cat or dog can hurt the ferret with sharp teeth and a much larger size. Both ferrets are hamsters love to try and escape, however ferrets will be trying the sturdiness of their cage and your home at every possible turn. Hamsters are a bit … slower, if you will, and are easily distracted. Hamster vs squirrel A squirrel for a pet is nothing to laugh at.
The space requirement for a squirrel is much larger than a hamster. Still being rodents, squirrels will flee very fast, and will hide food stashes wherever they can. A word on keeping a rodent as a pet When it comes to pets, you have to accept that not all pets are the same. Rodent type pets can bond with their owner, and do like human company. That being said, rodent-types are funny, energetic, and make the oddest faces.
Some rodents are quiet, and calmer, like a hamster, a mouse, a guinea pig. While others are all over the place and will need your entire attention. All in all, owning a hamster as a rodent can be rewarding in its own way — more on that here, and how to care for him in general.
A word from Teddy I hope you found what you were looking for here. If you want to know more about us hammies, you can check out the articles below You already know about the poorly made pet store cages, too small for even one Dwarf hamster, let alone a Syrian.
Table of Contents A short comparison of all 5 hamster cages1. The best cage for curious, exploring hamstersThe pros:The cons Simple, safe, large cage for Syrian hamstersThe pros:The cons All-around great cage both for Syrian and Dwarf hamstersThe prosThe cons4. A great option for lots of substrate, or a digging hamsterThe prosThe cons5. For mobile users, you can navigate this table by swiping left or right on it.
The best cage for curious, exploring hamsters This cage is big, large enough to fit either a Syrian, or 2 Dwarf hammies. The more Dwarves you have, the more space you need, even if they seem to be getting along just fine.
This cage has pretty much everything. In terms of actual size it measures Get a measuring tape and try to imagine that. This means your hamster is going to be a-okay, with room to spare. There is the ground level, which is conveniently plastic and the sides are tall. You can find great hamster bedding here, and what to look out for. All picked out by someone who actually owns a hamster. If your hammy is like mine, then you can simply add a bit of bedding on the floor and insert a large hamster wheel for him to get all his exercise.
The pros: Very large cage, lots of room for your hammy to run around in and dig around and do whatever a hamster does.
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