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Hey,
My friends have just brought me a hamster for my birthday, a total surprise but they knew i've always wanted one.. so yhyh im pretty on top of the world at the moment..
Im a bit unexperienced ^.^ Like, I used to have one when I was little and it died [Obvs] but now .. I wanna care for it but do you have any tips?
Main topic: The Summer
What should I do to make sure it's okay during this intense heatwave? And also :) What snacks/treats do you give it?
Thanks :)
Callum
I've had a few Hamsters I think 3 I've had now all lived long and died unfortunately due to old age. I would advise in this weather to re-new his water every hour if your in doors maybe even more often that if you feel it and it's a little warm so it's always got fresh and nice and cold water.
As for treats I always use to buy the normal food and than get one of those stick things you hang from the top and all 3 use to love them and rip them down and have a good old munch. Also use to give them a bit of salad and green stuff as a treat now and than they all use to munch that up as well.
I would also recommend buying a Hamster ball to let it out now and than I use to do this when it was awake and bored and when I cleaned out the cage and let it have a good run around. If you have stairs don't forget to block them of. when it's in it's ball.
keep its cage in a cool place, give it fresh water often. hamsters teeth never stop growing so they tend to chew on everything to make them shorter so if you dont want the cage to be chewed to bits i suggest you buy some hamster chew toys & chew sticks etc. also i suggest buying a book on hamsters or searching online to know a little bit more about them.
I have a hamster ball and its got a gnawing stick that hangs on the side of the cage... His food obviously. Its just, He must get hot :L And it scares me :L I dont want him to die :')
Thanks for your help! :)
My hamster tends to look after himself when it comes to the heat... if he's cold he normally sleeps in all of his bedding but this week he has moved all of his bedding out of his 'bed room' and now sleeps without.... I did give my hamster an ice cube to see if he'd like it and he seemed to really enjoy licking it lol
If you want your hamster to be a friendly hamster that likes to be handled I wouldn't rush into trying to hold him all of the time because this is what I did with one of my old hamsters and he was a little evil monster lol The one I have currently I used to just put my hand in the cage and let him smell me he soon let we start stroking him and finally now lets me hold him :)
So an Ice Cube may help. I held him for around 20 minutes, then I put him back in his cage [I hate that word] and no whe seems to be REALLY curious of everything in there :S Almost like his memories been wiped :L:L Ahah, Hopefully he'll perk up.. .:) Thanks for all your help!
In the summer you will need to clean his 'home' more often, especially uneaten food as it could make him ill :(
Since hes on his own and there isn't any more hamsters, he will need more attention obviously.
Lol, The reason he's on his own is because he's a syrian hamster and if there with other hamsters they become vicious[sp?] and an kill other ones :L Sooo :) Yh Thanks for your advice
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack120
actually if you take away its food that its stashed it pisses them off for some reason i dunno why. so its best to leave the food its hidden, usually its beside its bed.
I mean food they leave in their tray or something :PQuote:
Originally Posted by Scouse
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack120
oh well thats ok then :P
Aha, Thanks for your help guys :) I've kinda settled into the fact he doesnt need watching every 5 minutes now... A bit apprehensive of him dying on me thats all =D
Just a few things I picked up with my hamsters:
1) Apparently you are best to rub your hands in sawdust or whatever you use for the bottom of the cage before you handle them so its not as freaky for them.
2) My hamster always used to love those little yogurt or chocolate drops out of Pets at Home, might be worth while getting. Was only 57p for a good sized packet :)
3) Like someone else said, be sure to replace their water every day (especially in this weather) and clean them out once a week.
Get him some stuff to nibble on :P
maybe dont put so much bedding in his house to keep him cooler and try squeasing an ice cube in the drinking bottle
Awww, you should get it a ball that it can run about in outside it's cage as I don't recommend letting it run around the house. My sisters hamster used to love that, would run about it non-stop. Then it died.
Thanks for the help guys :)
They like those sunflower seeds :P
my hamster stopped eating after i moitored him for a bout a week
so i ended up getting advice and fed him baby food
gigglee ;p
neways
i would think tht the paper bedding might b cooler 4 him instead of like the fluffy bedding imo
but its up 2 u
make sure u change his water a lot
and u could try find out what sorta food they can have i gave myne cucumber once
he loved it ;]
I am on my 4th hamster so far in my life.
Ok so I love giving my hamster lots of room haha I used to have 3 different cages parts. 1 big house then a maze and then another big cage haha
but in weather dont put as much bedding in the home cause the hamster will overheat. Clean its cage out more often and change its water often. Try to keep your room cool but not chilly.
as for feeding:
buy regular hamster mix as their food. My hamster I have now ive had for about 3 years now (she is getting old) and she loves those strawberry yogurt bites. I also have a wire cage i let her go in to let her chew her teeth down. Also i give her chew toys as well. My hamster loves vegetables! I havent tried fruit yet but my hamster is in love with carrots and lettuce. The thing is with fruits and veggies is that you cant give them too much cause it will go bad overnight (the food will) and it could get your hamster sick. So give them veggies as it will make them healthy but not that much. Like i usually just break off a little little little peice of a carrot for her. you can imagine how much to give the hamster cause of how big she is. Just be sure not to give too much veggies and you should be fine. dont put too much food in either. I feed my hamster every other day and just fill up her food tray.
Hope this helps!
Ta.... Ive tried him with plenty of different foods.. Carrot and Apple etc... He seems to enjoy it :P Got the choccy drops, and I change hs water and food daily so ya know..
I think he'll be ok :) its just that he was new to me, so.. I was worried about him! :)
Hardest bit is just settling the thing, just give it a day to get used to the cage, next day maybe let it sniff your hand, feed it by hand but dont pick it up, etc. Plenty of guides on the net, just dont rush the hamster as stessing em can kill em. After about a week it'll be used to you/people and after that there generally pretty safe. The bigger ones also wont forget you if you dont handle it for a few weeks, smaller ones often need reclimiating to people as if they were new.
They like sunflower seeds, but dont feed em to much of it can upset the stomachsl. Freash fruite, veg is also good but avoid things like lemons. Clean it out every week or so, and aim to change the water once a day, but it'll be fine if you foget.
Hamsters hoared like crazy so just becuse there foods empty dont mean the hamsters out of food. They also gnaw bars loady and use there wheel all night so can be noisey to sleep with, which if your a light sleeper means you may not want it in your room. They like a natural day/night, tho are mainly active in evenings and mornings, they wont mind being woken up to much ether. They do enjoy having a roll in a ball, but watch out for stares :p
Other than that good luck.
Plenty of water, a wheel, a mini plastic house, fill the food dish every 2nd day i'd say