Dwarf hamsters-any do's or don'ts regarding which kind and also care?

[HappyGrace]

We're leaning toward a dwarf hamster for dd but would love any suggestions or info you'd like to share about your experiences with buying/keeping them!

 

For instance, on another thread it was brought up that the Robo dwarf hamsters can be very hyper-I would not have known that and was so happy to have that information! Now it has me wondering if there is anything else like this we should know! We did read that the cage needs to have the bars spaced closely and they can't have cedar shavings, things like that. Would love any personal experiences with dwarfs though!

[Avila]

I highly recommend a glass aquarium, since we never found a wire cage that was large enough with small enough bars that the hamster couldn't escape. Our previous hamster was larger, and he got the nickname Houdini because he could get out of any cage except the glass one. But you do have to make sure the hamster can still reach the water bottle in the aquarium! We put in a wooden house with a ramp that ours can stand on to be able to reach the water, and that seems to work just fine.

 

We have not been able to find any hamster food that doesn't have corn in it, and we read that dwarves shouldn't have the corn, so we just take it out. We use aspen shavings and the recycled paper stuff, and we fill it full enough that ours can make tunnels. Ours also likes toilet paper tubes to hide in. We got a silent wheel, and it needs to be closed up and not wire. We have found that dwarves are not as purely nocturnal as regular hamsters.

 

We bought ours at a Petco, and we made the guy take them all out and handle them. We didn't really care which kind, so we bought the one who reacted the best. Our little girl is the absolute sweetest little thing! She will let you pet her, and she has never bitten any of us. I think she is truly remarkable for a pet store hamster. But even she is not really a cuddly pet, and you really have to watch that she doesn't escape or that you don't drop her. Ours was alone in her cage, so we did not buy two of them, like most of the books recommend for dwarves. We were afraid to add another in. Ours hasn't seemed to be lonely or unhappy at all.

 

My 10 yo DD does most of the care and such for her, and we have found her to be a very enjoyable and low-maintenance pet.

 

Best wishes!

[carlychan]

We're leaning toward a dwarf hamster for dd but would love any suggestions or info you'd like to share about your experiences with buying/keeping them!

 

For instance, on another thread it was brought up that the Robo dwarf hamsters can be very hyper-I would not have known that and was so happy to have that information! Now it has me wondering if there is anything else like this we should know! We did read that the cage needs to have the bars spaced closely and they can't have cedar shavings, things like that. Would love any personal experiences with dwarfs though!

.

 

We have had many, many hamsters over the years. Just a word of advice...we would not have another dwarf hamster. They are cute as can be but can be very mean. The european or teddy bear hamsters are much, much nicer and friendly. So, besides that all my advice will apply to any hamster.

 

Get them out early and often. After they settle in for a few days you can start getting them out. They will nip/bite at first but do warm up quickly. The dwarfs may never outgrow this:) The pet store should tell you what kind of food and bedding they prefer. The new bedding keeps smells away very well. Some hamster smell better than others, though. You can ask any specific questions you have...I would be happy to answer.

 

Carly

[Daisy]

I have never once been bitten by our dwarf hamster and my children haven't been SINCE they started listening to me. Here's the best advice I can give you.

 

1. Wash your hands before handling the hamster. If you smell like freshly chopped carrots, it will assume you are a freshly chopped carrot.

 

2. Never lure the hamster out of his nest using food. NEVER. He will get used to nipping at the very first thing you put in front of his face, which is often a finger.

 

3. When the hamster has let you hold it and behaved well, put it's favorite treat in his feeding area as a reward.

 

As far as care goes, we like our wire cage and our hamster has never escaped. It does have to have small bars and be appropriate for smaller rodents.

 

I cannot stand the smell so we clean the cage twice a week. I find it necessary.

 

Save your toilet paper rolls and bury them under the bedding. The hamster LOVES to run through the tunnels. Old socks make great nests also. Just throw them in there. The hamster knows what to do.

 

My children like to make obstacle courses for our hamster but make sure you inspect it first for safety.

MAKE SURE before you buy the hamster that it will let you handle it!

[Nestof3]

We like ours, but they are not pets to play with. They are just fun to watch and pet in their cage every now and then. They are very fast.

 

Definitely buy the flying saucer over the wheel (small size):

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3155596&lmdn=Product+Type

 

We have two wheels and two hamsters. One of them was, I believe, killed by the others eventhough they were always together. They really do fight over the saucers.

 

I put in paper towel tubes and little cardboard boxes that I cut holes into every now and then for variety.

 

I also bought a little plastic castle I found on clearance that they love. Essentially, they have fun if you change their habitat around.

[JudoMom]

I mentioned the Robo dwarf in the other thread.

 

We also have a Russian Dwarf. I just asked ds10 (it's his hamster) and he says he's nippy. He's the most nocturnal of our 4.

 

The other dwarf we have is a Winter White. He's the friendliest of the bunch (even more so than our Syrian). He wakes up to check us out when we enter the room, and he lets ds7 pick him up and he crawls all over him.

 

Ds10's advice when I told him why I was asking about his hamster was "Tell them to get a Winter White if they want friendly and cuddly".

 

All 4 hamsters are in different cages. We bough glass aquariums, food dishes, and water bottles from Walmart and wheels from Petsmart. We used to have a CritterTrail habitat, but I found it difficult to clean, and I ended up breaking it when I was trying to reassemble after cleaning.

[HappyGrace]

THANK you all so much for taking the time to answer my questions! I had read elsewhere that the Winter White was a good kind, but that pet stores often don't carry them.

 

Dh found one dwarf left at the pet store and it let him handle it and was very docile and sweet. But he is going to ck other stores and gather more info. If the other ones in the other stores don't let him handle them, he might go back and get that last one-maybe it just has a really nice personality. HOW on earth we will hide it til Christmas, I'd have no idea though! Our original plan was to give the cage and a card saying she could pick out the hamster after Christmas. The pet store did say they would be getting a small animal shipment on Monday that would probably include hamsters.

 

So I am just being the prayer warrior at this point, praying for the right decision for dh!

 

 

The tips are so great-please keep them coming!!!!!!!! I will be printing them out.

[JudoMom]

THANK you all so much for taking the time to answer my questions! I had read elsewhere that the Winter White was a good kind, but that pet stores often don't carry them.

 

Dh found one dwarf left at the pet store and it let him handle it and was very docile and sweet. But he is going to ck other stores and gather more info. If the other ones in the other stores don't let him handle them, he might go back and get that last one-maybe it just has a really nice personality. HOW on earth we will hide it til Christmas, I'd have no idea though! Our original plan was to give the cage and a card saying she could pick out the hamster after Christmas. The pet store did say they would be getting a small animal shipment on Monday that would probably include hamsters.

 

So I am just being the prayer warrior at this point, praying for the right decision for dh!

 

 

The tips are so great-please keep them coming!!!!!!!! I will be printing them out.

 

Our Petsmart carries Winter Whites.

[Angel]

My parents bought my dd two dwarf hamsters years ago. They nipped. The female nipped all the time! Drew blood once :tongue_smilie: A couple years ago, dd wanted to try having them again. We trekked to a couple different pet stores and decided to buy one. Dd wanted to hold it before we bought it. The guy had to get gloves on to get it out of the cage...umm, NO! Then he asked if we knew anything about gerbils. Umm, no. We came home with two gerbils that day. What a difference!! Other than the fact that they breed like crazy if you have a boy and a girl (don't ask how I know :tongue_smilie:) they were great pets.

 

Gerbils like to have company, so you need two, but they are much nicer and actually like to be handled. They warm up to you quickly. Their cage doesn't smell unless it gets wet. They are fun to watch. Our boys (yes, we ended up with 17 at one point) are much friendlier than the girls, though the girls are still nice.

 

A glass aquarium works best. They like toilet paper and cardboard boxes for their bedding (they like to chew it up and make their nests themselves).

 

I know you asked about hamsters, but we'll never have hamsters again after having the gerbils. Such a big, big difference in temperment and personality.

 

Good luck!!

[The Girls' Mom]

My dd had a dwarf that she adored. He lived to be a VERY old hamster...like 5 years, which is ancient for a dwarf hamster. He even turned grey and looked like an old man. Anyway, he only bit her once, and it was just a few weeks before he died...he was getting crochety. However, he hated me. He would bite me every time I touched him. Thankfully she was good about dealing with him.

[HappyGrace]

Agh-i told him the info about the Winter Whites being good-but he is at Petsmart right now and they have two and the lady said they are horrible-those two have been there for three months and no one will buy them because they growl.

 

I told him I think they must have bad ones because all I read was good. Also I'm seeing there is another kind called Campbells that is very, very similar to Winter Whites, and that is what most pet stores have and they CALL them Winter Whites but true Winter Whites are more rare. The Campbells are NOT good.

 

I am going insane googling all this and there is so much conflicting info! He thinks he is just going to get the cage, and we'll go out with her after Christmas and we'll just pick the one that seems to have a good temperment and go with that.

 

I am kind of backing off and letting dh be in charge of this. I'm getting too confused (now I'm thinking we should try gerbils), and he is seeming pretty confident.

Edited December 21, 2009 by HappyGrace

[nandmsmom]

I've had lots of hamsters over the years and have only had problems with the dwarves. We've had the best luck with the teddy bears.

[hornblower]

I think it's definitely best to wait till after Christmas. This isn't a decision to rush into if you're feeling unsure.

 

If you are absolutely sure which type of animal you will want, then go ahead & buy the cage & buy the largest you can afford. (the reason you need to be sure about the animal is that wire spacing requirements and absolute cage size requirements are different for each animal). Young dwarfs can sometimes squeeze through even small bars. Beware of the small cages being sold in pet shops now - there are ones which are just barely larger than a shoebox. They're not suitable for anything except transporting a hammie, or perphaps being used as a safe place to park the hammie while you clean out the big living cage.

 

The cages with the plastic tubing etc are a total PITA to clean. Hammies pee as they run around and all the tubing will need to be washed in soapy water and scrubbed weekly. IME it's better to have a really good quality large plain cage & then use cardboard tubes, scrap fabric hammocks, old small boxes (kleenex boxes are great - just remove all the plastic film from the kleenex opening). Then throw things out when they get stinky.

 

Martin's cages are the preferred cages for rats. I see they have some hamster/gerbil cages on their site; I'd be sure to check the spacing before ordering if you want it for a dwarf because they are so small. http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/hamster/

 

Consider rescue or shelters after Christmas. There's usually an influx of animals being surrendered - gifts which end up being 'boring' or 'stinky' or nobody really wanted :sad: www.petfinder.com

 

We had the campbells dwarfs (& then later a big teddy bear). Our dwarfs were fun but skittish even with tons of handling. I'd say they tolerated handling rather than seeking it out. We had two females and tried to keep them together but they fought & we had to set up a second cage. I liked them but I like teddy bear hamsters more & I love rats waay more!

[AlmiraGulch]

I have had several hamsters, all Winter Whites.

 

The one thing I would say is absolutely do not buy one without handling it first. They can have VERY different personalities. The ones I've brought home have been fantastic. Every single one, male or female. They loved to play, loved to be handled, never ever nipped anyone.

 

However, my friend that has had even more of them than I has not always had great luck. Some of hers have bitten A LOT, with the robos being the worst. I think the key is to make sure you handle them as much as possible before you buy them to be sure. And, like previous posters have said, don't smell like food when you pick them up, although that has never made a difference for me, honestly.

 

Good luck! If you find good ones, they are fantastic pets! Very, very sweet.

[AngieW in Texas]

We've had several different kinds of dwarf hamsters. The first hamsters we got were both labeled as Campbell's, but then one started turning white in November. We thought something was actually wrong until we googled it and found out that he was actually a Winter White. He never did get as dark as he was originally, but he did darken up some in the spring. Those two hamsters were fantastic.

 

When they died, my youngest got another hamster labeled as a Winter White, but she never whitened up in the winter, so she was probably a Campbell's.

 

My middle got a Campbell's dwarf who was brown with maroon eyes. He was nice in the shop, but turned mean about one week later. He was evil. My dd had to wear thick gloves to be able to handle him at all. She ended up handling him only to clean out his cage. It was a relief when he died.

 

We got guinea pigs after that. They're much nicer and a lot more fun.

[helena]

My best advice is make sure the pet store knows what they're talking about when they say they're selling you two females. :) We bought two, and had babies a month later. Eight babies...

 

It was an awesome experience to watch them grow, but I really had to hustle to find a pet store to take them. When the kids asked why we couldn't keep them I drew a big picture of how many babies we could have in 6 months. I told them to imagine what our house would smell like. Between the picture of 70 hamsters, and the thought of stench, they quickly let it go. :D

 

We now have two cages:

http://www.petco.com/product/15483/Super-Pet-CritterTrail-Z.aspx?CoreCat=certona-_-productdetail_2-_-Super%20Pet%20CritterTrail%20Z-15483

http://www.petco.com/product/11499/Super-Pet-CritterTrail-Two.aspx?CoreCat=certona-_-productdetail_3-_-Super%20Pet%20CritterTrail%20Two-11499

which are a pain to clean, but totally worth it.

The mom bites, but she did just have babies, I think she'll come around. The male is a doll.

 

My cats like them too, they stare and plot hours on end.