Robirovski hamster?

[3amEternal]

DD would like another hamster, our much loved Syrian died a couple of years ago. She is 11 and will need to keep them in her room as we now have cats. Syrians are noisy so I'd like a smaller species. What are Roborovskis like, or Chinese hamsters? Didn't want a Russian as they are cross bred and prone to diabetes. Our Syrian had a massive hamster heaven cage, can the smaller breeds do ok in a Duna fun or similar? I understand the cage bars need to be narrower. Thanks!

[SuburbanRhonda]

That cage made from an Ikea display cage wouldn't suit my Syrian. She loves to climb and hang from the bars in her (massive) cage. In fact I thought all hamsters loved to climb.

[monkeyfacegrace]

I've had 18 hamsters over the years.

Regardless of what people say, robos/Chinese and Russians will all fight to the death. If they don't, then you are the exception not the rule. Get one.

My best ever hammie was a Winter white Russian. He was awesome, would never bite in a million years and just ran around being happy. I adored him.

Chinese and robos are adorable but just too small and fast. They are little ninjas.

Syrians or Russians are the way to go.

[rightsaidfrederickII]

What about your Syrian was noisy?

They don't make audible squeaks, and apart from some digging noises (which you'd get with robos too!) and the wheel noise (ditto) we don't hear a thing from ours. If the wheel noise bothers you then you can get ones that are much quieter e.g. Silent Spinner or Karlie Wonderland.

Dwarf hamsters don't really need any less space than a Syrian, but if you have more than one, you do need to avoid things like levels within cages and modular cages, as they can get territorial over them. Likewise, they need two of everything (wheel, hut, food bowl etc.) to avoid territoriality, and you need to have a back up plan (i.e. a spare cage) you can use in case they do suddenly start fighting.

If I were you, I'd stick to another Syrian, but get a better wheel / look at other ways to reduce any noise. Keep the Heaven cage if you still have it (they're great!) but if not you could always look at creating a "bin cage" which is a easy and relatively inexpensive project you can take on with your daughter. Just make sure the 'bin' you buy has at least 360 square inches of usable floor space www.hamstercentral.com/community/diy-do-yourself-hamster-projects/36025-photo-guide-making-bin-cage.html

[CharleyDavidson]

We've had all varieties of hamsters over the years. The basic rule is: the smaller they are, the faster they are.

The Syrians are easiest to handle.
Dwarves will be sold on the understanding they prefer living in pairs/groups, but they usually then start to fight and you suddenly need a spare cage before one gets injured.
Chinese and Roborovski hamsters are slow to be tamed but don't always bite. BUT they can be so fast that they are impossible (impossible!) to catch.

My favourite so far was our Russian that we had that was a winter white. We didn't know it when we bought it, but every autumn it's fur would turn snowy white, then go back to brown in the Spring. We had three winters with a super cute white hamster.


Get the best cage you can, and avoid bars if you have anything smaller than a syrian.

The best 'cage' we ever had was an aquarium with different levelled shelves in. They had lots of living spaces and levels to explore to avoid boredom.

Oh, and invest in a silent spinner if you don't want to be kept awake by a hamster wheel squeaking at night.

[pklme]

Mice are nice! They respond well to handling, if you put a bit of work in the early days. They are not nocturnal, and less aggressive than hamsters.

[StarryIllusion]

What was noisy? What wasn't?! All five of them as bad as each other! All have had silent spinners but you can still hear them running in it and burrowing in their food and throwing it at the side of the cage, the running about upside down from the wire, the picking up of the damn wheel and banging it against the side of the cage. (its on a stand and he has just discovered that he can grab the base and tilt it back to bang it.) I swear they trash their cages every night. And don't get me starting on the eating in the wheel and then dropping it to run so that it rattles round.