Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[AnnieHank]

My friend has asked me to adopt a hamster from her local pet rescue. I don't know a lot about hamsters but a quick google check and they seem like good pets, similar in care to chinchillas. I was wondering if this is true and if I could accommodate this little guy without much trouble to my 3 chinchillas. I believe they have slightly different dietary requirements so he would have his own cage of course. I would quarantine him carefully, washing hands between contact of him and my chinchillas.
If I agree to take him, how long should I quarantine him? Would he be allowed to play with my chinchillas? Is there anything else I should know before I agree to take him on?

[GrayRodent]

I used to have hamsters when I was little. I wasn't allowed to have gerbils or anything that looked like a rat 'cause Mom thought those were creepy like the ones that invaded our barn and killed and maimed our chickens. She gunned those down with a shotgun. So I owned hamsters. I don't know why because I never really liked them.

There were only a couple that I remember that acted tame but it was late in their lives when they were half dead. Hamsters don't like people and hate to have their sleep interrupted. They'll crawl around on you but treat you like an inanimate object unless you interrupt what they're doing. In that case they bite.

The plastic cages we had (and replaced more than twice) were poorly designed and easily damaged by chewing and difficult to repair. This resulted in frequent escaping and sometimes an encounter with one of our three cats. Sometimes there were pieces.

A wire cage would be safest if you don't have cats. Otherwise I recommend a glass aquarium with a wire top. I know that's considered bad practice but it would have saved some of my hamsters.

Finding an escaped hamster is about impossible. Eventually they come looking for food. One got lost for two weeks and took half a bowl of pellets before getting axe murdered by the cats. I later found it had stashed the food under some toys in my closet. Don't expect them to return to their cages on their own like chins or rats.

Knowing what I know now I would have avoided plastic cage furnishings. Mine chewed tons of plastic without ill effects though.

Since they don't overheat like chins hamster balls are nice to have. I remember making little obstacle courses for my hamsters but they never learned them. They are rather oblivious little creatures. Occasionally they'll urinate in the ball and then you might have to wash them off in the sink. Hamsters can be bathed in warm water safely as long as you keep them warm until dry. You can actually find hamster soap but I never soaped mine. I don't think it really bothers them since they don't seem to show emotions of any kind and don't act any different before, during, or after. They can bathe in dust like a chin too but I've never tried it.

Hamsters are very easy to care for as long as you clean the cage about once a week. They don't require a big cage at all. Maybe 3 sq feet and a wheel for a single hamster. The urine has a high ammonia content and they make a lot of it. The urine is very sticky and it makes the bedding hard to scrape off the cage if left too long. They do tend to pee in one corner of the cage but not always. Outside of the cage they just go wherever when you let them out to roam. Their urine is very foul way worse than rabbits but it cleans up easy enough. I think chinchilla pellets will be insufficient for a hamster diet. They eat way more kinds of food than chins. In fact I think anything eats more kinds of food than chins!

I think the biggest disease threat to chins would be giardia. Probably two weeks would be a good quarantine. Just monitor its output for anything odd and watch for any symptoms of respiratory illness or eye infection. Personally I've never had a sick hamster that I can remember. Hamster poo should be softer than chin poo but not sticky. I don't think they go through relocation stress like chins so you shouldn't see changes there unless there is a problem.

It's really not even necessary to let them out. Hamsters do fine as long as they have bedding deep enough for them to dig through and hide food in. I'm sure it annoys them to change it out. I think it's probably not a good idea to let a hamster play with a chin since they would likely chew through chinnie's foot if it ever got close enough. That or it might disappear into unlikely places that a chinchilla can only dream of.

I've cared for hamsters for years and have owned many. It was fun mildly entertaining to take care of them and watch them do the things hamsters do but I never could tame one and never really enjoyed handling them. I got my first rat as a pet years later and could not believe the difference. I never got bit by my rats. It was like the lights were on and someone was home whereas a hamster is more like a mechanical toy that just does does a bunch of random things. If you manage to tame yours I'd love to know your secret.

[AnnieHank]

Thanks a million for that, really appreciate the advice.
I've agreed to take him. He and his 3 brothers were in a pet shop that closed down and the guy who ended up with them was going to drown them and dispose of them. Sounds like they were quite badly neglected when my friend's boyfriend bought them off this guy to save them but he can't keep them so it would make me feel quite good about myself to give one of these little guys a nice home. She suggested I take 3 but I hear they're solitary creatures so I might only take the one.
I don't have cats so that shouldn't be a problem. I'll see what kind of cage he comes with then decide whether to buy or make a better one or not. I have a really big hall with no places for even an ant to hide so he should be okay running around there, unless they can get under doors?

[GrayRodent]

They can certainly get under a door. Which is dangerous because you don't know if you open the door if it will kill them on the other side. We were able to catch them when they did this though.

Keeping one to a cage is  probably best. We used to keep two to a cage but they were together at the pet store (probably litter mates). I learned the hard way that introducing one later is risky. Hamsters are cool as a desk ornament in the evenings and maybe a good way to see if your six year old will properly take care of a pet before getting them something bigger but not much else. I'd hate to see them destroyed just because no one wants 'em though.

[AnnieHank]

Thanks for your help. I couldn't say no to an animal in need if I can help but it's useful to know what I'm expecting. I won't get my hopes up about taming him but I'm just back from the pet shop (I bought everything!) and I'm still excited to have a new pet all the same!

[ohio chinny]

i don't know where this information originated, as my mom claimed to have found it somewhere several years ago, but she seamed very convinced while dissuading a friend of mine (a hamster owner) not to get a chin, because of her hamsters. ordinarily, she is prone to getting information from good sources, so i will pass it along, anyone with more experienced knolledge regarding chins and hamsters in the same household, please correct me if it is untrue.

my mom told me that chins and hamsters had some sort of territorial aggression, where one (i do not remember which) would basically attempt to find and kill the other after encountering the mere scent of it. causing stress to both, and possible harm if they did manage to somehow come into contact. i have never herd it verified or tested... Also, she said that the fumes put off from the mixture of ammonia and cedar are toxic to chins, this i would be inclined to believe, since that one of the reasons you don't use cedar with chins. In any event, i would keep their respective dwellings a distance apart, or even in separate rooms, if only to prevent the fumes from reaching the chin.

also, keep in mind, i have never owned a hamster, and only have heard that cedar is one of the most popular beddings.

so basically, take this with a grain of salt, cause i don't personally have the chin+hamster experience to back it up with

[GrayRodent]

I don't think it's a problem housing them in the same room unless somehow the hamster upsets the chinchilla but it's been my experience hamsters are typically quiet. I know that some people have reported that having chins and degus or birds in the same room which can stress the chins because of the noise and high activity.

Cedar chips are popular for hamsters because it smells good. I used to use it before I learned it is harmful to the lungs of both people and animals. The cedar has an oil in it that is an irritant.

Ammonia is also irritating. Especially to asthma sufferers. I suppose the combined force of the two would be pretty bad for the hamster that has to live in it! However hamster lifespans are so short I wonder if it has any real effects on them.

Hamster urine does have a high ammonia content but it's certainly not terrible unless you don't clean the cage for a couple of weeks. It's still way less than having a cat box. For someone who properly takes care of the cage I don't think this is going to be a hazard to anyone.

Both chins and hamsters are territorial although some individuals are worse than others. Allowing them to come into contact is a bad idea. I imagine they would try to kill each other under the right circumstances.

[ohio chinny]

thank you , i was familiar that cedar's nice smell is part of why its popular, however, i didn't know that the oil that causes it could be an irritant to humans... or hamsters, for that matter... I'm curious, do hamsters have much of a sense of smell? i know cats smell very well, and so do chins, i don't know which would have the stronger sniffer tho. dogs I've heard are pretty much the top of the scale (as far as housepets go anyway). but i have no idea where hamsters would fall...