We are picking up DD hamster today!

[drspouse]

We have reserved one of a litter of three at a local independent pet shop. We'll be getting a cage and bedding/food/dish/water bottle from the same shop. She is blonde and white and semi long haired. The shop only deal with registered breeders and don't sell animals in December.

I've checked various advice and we know we can't use shredded office paper or anything fibrous for bedding. DD has been great about keeping her room tidy (and we've said if the noise at night is too much the hamster can go in the spare room. She's 12 and this has been a real motivator (and we're having an incredibly hard year).

We also have a cat but DD has a lock on her door!

What else do we definitely need now, and what can wait for a Christmas present?

Aw that's sweet. I bet she will be so happy.

Some plasters! They're bity little fuckers😆(but v cute!)

Would you consider getting 2, so she's got company.

Does she have blackout curtains?
I know Syrian hamsters have very rigid nocturnal patterns, but i wonder if blackout curtains might make it easier to adjust it's pattern so it wakes up while she is still awake?

They are solitary animals

Yes. Sorry, I didn't realise they live alone. My mistake.

Hell no, they'll tear each other apart!

We have 3 hamsters ( all live separately) one comes to her name, takes treats, very tame, loves to come out her cage and play, we have another one who I collected from someone who didn't want her, she bites but is happy to be stroked on her back, loves her wheel and loves a bit of boiled egg and mealworms. The 3rd quite frankly would shred your hand off if he could but is happy to accept treats through the bars and has lots of stimulating toys and a large wheel. All 3 are proper little characters, have enormous cages with various levels, tubes, wheels, toys ect, but they are incredibly fun to watch. Hope your dd loves her pet hamster, we started stroking ours very gently with the back of a wooden spoon before I risked my fingers as their bites do hurt! We also left each one for a day or 2 to settle in before attempting to handle. X

Most pet shops do not sell suitable cages. They need a tank style cage 150x50 to fit in the required 8-10 inches of bedding for burrowing so be careful you aren’t mis-sold one of the unsuitable cages. We had to replace ours very quickly as it wasn’t suitable. You need bedding that holds the burrows, I find megazorb horse bedding the most const effective and 1 1/2 bales provide 8 inches compressed. I use carefresh paper bedding for the hides.

I used these guides when setting up our enclosure.

It's a Syrian, they are solitary.
We will check the size of the cage, @BooksAndHooks , but their recommendation was pretty enormous.

Good tip about the wooden spoon! @onwardandupwards

I'm excited for you!
I love hamsters - we had them when our kids were younger and I had a 'class hamster' for many years (replaced once ... and yes they noticed 😂).
The most important thing is to HANDLE them from the start, as much as possible. (Probably won't work with an 'inherited one' - too late.
So - lots of cuddles, strokes etc from day one and hopefully you'll have a lovely, amenable hamster).
(I'm sure there are inherently bad tempered ones though! Hopefully not yours).
Have you chosen a name? We were wildly original - Honey, Simba etc 😂

She's Bella - just paid for the whole pet shop and prayed my credit card would work.

Triple check the cage size. They need masses of space.
Tbh wouldn’t recommend a hamster as a child’s pet anyway as they’re crepuscular.

There’s some good advice on some of the better uk hamster fb groups.

We used Teabag Bedding from Carcroft pet supplies, they come in massive bags, 1 bag lasted us a whole year and our cage is 50x140 cm. Deep bedding ours is about 20cm deep and lots of hides. Make sure you have a big enough upright wheel so their back isn't bent so they can run easily.

We also have 2 cats but they are kept out the study where she lives, but on the rare occasion when they've accidentally been shut in there it's been fine, didn't pay each other any notice.

Victoria Raechel on YouTube has lots of good advice for setups too your daughter might enjoy watching those. We made some little mazes and things out of cardboard for when hammy comes out to play, they enjoy investing but are very good escape artists so make sure you have a secure area for them to get some exercise in.

Get a rat wheel. Hamster wheels are too small.

My hamster doesn’t burrow. He appears to have no natural survival instincts. So his 8 inches of burrowing space is somewhat redundant.

I’m not sure if they’ll post but I included pictures of his set up. I think it’s about 120cm by 60cm.

Also, he has several beds but his preferred sleeping spot is in an old mug turned on it’s side…

The pet shop told us the wheel is right for an adult hamster but we'll see how she goes.
Cage is all assembled and Bella is hiding under one of the platforms in her bedding. DD is itching to handle her so I've said make a list of what you will do on each day so we can work up slowly.

I'd give her at least a couple of days to let her settle before trying to hold, if they do bite it can be very painful, get your daughter to rub her hands over some tissue and pop it in her cage so she can get used to her scent, also we were told to sit and read to her so she got used to the sound of our voices. Then start by handing her treats to build trust, ours loves dried coconut and peas are usually a hit too.

You do sound partly clued up and it’s good that you’re asking for advice but hamster care has moved on MASSES in recent years and it does sound as though you could benefit from a bit more research before you come home with anything. As someone else said the Facebook group are good particularly have a look at ‘hamster care and advice’, they have lots of info infographics on products that are and aren’t suitable. The wheel needs to be bloody massive! The bedding needs to be several times as deep as you originally think it needs to be, cage needs to be really cluttered with hiding places, sand bath…
if you can get it alright, you have a much better chance of having a happy hamster who doesn’t buy any confident to interact. enjoy owning a hamster they are a delight.