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i am dooin's dd1. she said i can have a hamster if i know how much they cost to look after and how i keep them happy and healthy.

Tip No.1: Don't poke your fingers thru cage bars unless you want to test your blood type.

Go here!

www.hamsterfanaticforum.co.uk/

They are fab pets but make sure you really think about ity first. Not the most ideal child pet!

that link has everything youn will need to know. Spend a bit of time browsing then make up your mind

'Not the most ideal child pet!' <- I told her this, but apparently the hamster needs her

It loves her. It followed her finger around it's tank. It didn't follow dd2's finger or the man's finger, only hers.

It said on it's tank it has been in the pets needing rescue for ages and if she doesn't take it home today it will be lonely forever.

I am the worst mother in the entire world for not buying her the hamster there and then Obviously I hate hamsters (she might be onto something there, I must admit) Her cousin rescued a whole cat last week and all she wants is a tiny hamster.

I have told her that if she can tell me what they eat, how often she needs to feed them and clean the tank and what kind of tank, bedding etc it needs and how she will keep it safe from the other pets and she still remembers that the hamster needs her after the 17th when we come back off our weekend break then I will consider rescuing the hamster.

Hamster food and water
Toilet train it (yes,really)
I spot clean once a week and full clean twice a week but mine is very tidy and just throws poo out of his cage
Need a hamster wheel (a good size one like the wodent wheel)
Cage could be a sticking point. P@H mainly sell ones that aren't big enough. If you google Hamster Heaven cage, that's the RSPCA minimum cage size

Keep it warm in this weather!!

My ds had a lovely hamster that died on Friday when she tried to hibernate as his room was cold! He's coping, but he's 10 and it was his first "own" pet, he's devastated. he's been cuddling my guineas though!

Some hammies are truly lovely. It's just that the rest are right little sods.

Tips:
wake them up slowly. It stresses them out to be awake for long in day time.
If you drop them they can die, they can't handle any falls. You have to be very careful.
They have very poor vision.
Only feed them what they can eat today, they will always take more food but they end up hiding it and weeing on it, so extra is not good.
They don't like each other or even people. They don't get lonely. Do not try to get him or her a little friend to live with.
They do like interesting cages to explore. Old toilet rolls are great, you can tape them together with masking tape to make little tunnels.
They love to dig, the ideal cage has deep bedding.
They are very noisy at night.
You must check their water and food daily. I couldn't do this successfully as a child and neither could my daughter age 8-10.

Fancy mice are much nicer pets, by the way. Just saying.

I told her mice are nicer and gerbils, degus and rats but they don't need her. The hamster needs her.

She knows they don't like friends and can bite. She is under the impression that she can clicker train it to do tricks. I reminded her about who now looks after and trains her puppy. This is not her fault it is my fault and she is older now and will look after a hamster.

So far she has managed to tell me that hamster nuggets are best, they like fruit and veg occasionally but never onions. They need as big a cage as you can afford with wires on the inside and plastic over the top to keep dd2's cat away. Granda will build her a shelf and give her a door knob to keep the dogs out of her room and the hamster up high from the dogs. They like toilet rolls and mazes and you can train them with special mazes with puzzles and things. They don't need delousing or worming and they will be cheaper than dd2's cat. Dd2's cat lives outside mainly so she will only train it outside the cage when dd2's cat is outside.

She's 9.

We've just acquired a Syrian hamster. And the huge great Hamster Heaven cage. He has discovered the little penthouse reached by tues on the top of the cage, has made his nest in there and now refuses to come out. Boring.

Katisha - take the penthouse off and block the tubes for a bit, you can get bits that go over the end of the tubes
Harsh but I had to do it to get my new one handled!!

But it's his nest and he has a food hoard up there and everything! Won't I stress him out?

(And where can you get the bits? )

A tip, if you google "hamster breeders" you can possibly get a youngster which has been handled from a young age and is already hand tame.
I get mine from the lady who runs the hamster fanatic forum linked to further back. She is hamster mad and the baby I had from her was tame and friendly.
Good luck, Hammies are fab pets.

She doesn't want a baby hamster. She needs to save this particular hamster. It loves her. No-one else will ever love it as much as she does. She will call him Harry and he will be her best friend.

If you don't want to look after it then don't get it!

Never ever ever get a pet for a child unless its for you too!

^ I go by that - we have a shetland pont, 2 guinea pigs and a hammy. They are all mine .
Ds helps and loves them, but they are mine !!!

*shetland pony !

On phone so don't know if this will work. eBay has some, basically savic (which is the make) ring and cover they are called. Just snap onto the ends of the tubes. You could try taking out the penthouse and redirecting tubes but sometimes they just nest in tubes! Will be unsettled for a little but but I needed to handle mine
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=160856824690

Ah hadn't thought of eBay - thanks.
Do you think we should just leave him for a bit though? We have only had him since Saturday.

No do it now. I actually block all the tubes up straight away with a new one as they need to be in the cage for you to handle. I had to re block with this one as he's cheeky!
He might run round looking confused for a bit but he will nest somewhere

How much handling should we do?
The other thing is i have only seen him drink out of his bottle once and that was before he moved into his penthouse. I hope he's doing it when I'm not looking but I'm not convinced he's leaving that nest!

He will be - they are sneaky! The penthouse stinks too if they nest in it
Just go very gently, no sudden movements and maybe once or twice a day, put hamster back in on a good note. And don't panic if it all goes wrong, the one I had now reduced me to tears and now he's the friendliest ever

Ok thanks. Strange little creatures aren't they

Tell me about it. I think mine was dropped on his head at birth. He's sat fascinated by the Christmas lights at the minute