Do you have any tips re: Hamsters as pets?

We are about to be given two female hamsters and I have never had them as pets before. Any tips for me? My daughters are so excited about this!

Do you have any tips re: Hamsters as pets?-Myspace pets www.myspace.com

First you need to identify what kind of hamsters they are. The person giving you the hamsters may not even know so it's up to you! Visit the Pet Website (link below) to identify the species. There is also general information about the different species and care.

If they are Syrian hamsters, they MUST be separated. They will fight to the point of death if housed together. This is not something you want your daughters to witness. If they are dwarf hamster they can be housed together if they get along. Most do, but some don't.

I'd also suggest joining the MSN Group Hamsters Galore to get additional information from other hamster owners.

-Janice

www.holmdenhillhaven.com

Do you have any tips re: Hamsters as pets?

-(Myspace.com)

Get a nice cage, some bedding, a water bottle, a food dish, food, and some treats. I always put a toilet paper roll, and some ripped up paper towel for snuggling.

Do you have any tips re: Hamsters as pets?

-(Myspace code myspace.com)

They are cute, but not very cuddly. They are nocturnal, so they become active at night. Plan on being lulled to sleep to the sound of their exercise wheel! Hopefully your daughters are old enough to change the bedding in the cage as needed, otherwise you're going to get stuck with it and it stinks! I had hamsters for many years during my childhood and early adolescents and I won't let my son have one! (He wants a snake instead!) No to that as well.

I wish you well - God bless!
Hamsters can be great pets, but if anyone in your house has allergies, it may be a bad decision to bring them into your home. No matter how clean you keep the cage, they produce excessive dander that gets everywhere. It is not harmful, and I am not talking "germo-phobe" here, just that I found out the hard way. Only applies if the you or kids have asthma or other allergies, then I would seek advise of an allergist first.
If they are young, they may not like to be handled right away. Introduce them to the children slowly and don't let them play with the hamsters unsupervised.

Hamsters LOVE running in the plastic balls. It's fun to watch, too.

Clean the cage about once a week. Hint - the ball is a nice place to put them while cleaning.

Remember that hamsters are nocturnal, so they will most likely be asleep most of the day. They WILL play at night, so keeping them in a bedroom is not always the best idea.

Female hamsters kept together, especially in a small cage have a tendency to fight. It's usually harmless.

Protect them from cold and drafts.

Hamsters are escape artists. If they can get out, they will.

Best of luck with them.
I do suggest getting them seperate cages if they start to fight or hog food. i've noticed that the female guinea pigs and hampsters do that quite a bit. they should be interesting for the kids to watch and learn about. They have been known to bite though if squeezed or treated inhumanely. Just be careful! Also dogs and cats might try and eat them if they get out or if the cage gets left open. might want to warn the kids about that. Good luck and have fun!
Hamsters make lovely pets - they are very sociable and like to be handled, in fact the more you handle them the more social they become. Not sure about keeping two though, I had two males once and they reached maturity and fought, sadly one of them died, so check that these two get on well together. Also be prepared to have to wake them up! They are nocturnal creatures and will eat and exercise at night - so to prevent sleep distrubance (by them scurrying around an exercise wheel all night!) make sure your girls play with them during the day. Be careful when waking them up - they may bite until they are used to being handled by you. They are friendly, fun animals, also be warned that, sadly, they only live for 2-3 years, so be prepared to explain this to your girls also. Fresh water daily, clean environment to store their food, so get the girls used to cleaning them out at least once a week - they can take turns, and one can entertain the creatures while the other cleans the cage. Good luck with your new family members! Oh and be careful letting them out for a run - they have been known to chew through power cables and furnishings!! So maybe build a secure run for them as allowing them to run free in a room could be hazardous for you and them!
Put them in a different room. They will run in the wheel all night.
THEY BITE WHEN PROVOKED! Have a wheel (I grease mine with peanut butter to prevent squeaking), non-cedar shavings, food where they can't pee in it, water bottle, and lots of tunnels. The best cages a durable plastic...wire cages get messy and chewed.
They tend to bite and they are noisy at night. Do not use cedar shavings as litter..it will kill them.
I love those little guys but be prepared. They are nocturnal and will make noise the whole night. Those little wheels can can never get enough oil. Also, they have kinda stinky pee and tend to go in the tubes they climb through. I bought a cage that was simple to clean after a month or so of work. To keep the smell down I was cleaning the cage at least every five days but with two you might be cleaning every couple days.
keep the male away while the young are small...... he will kill them
my son has 3 hamsters, so cute they are. Female hamsters should be in separate cages, they don楹搕 get on well with each other. they will fight . But they are so nice as pets , we spend hour楹搒 of fun with them , okay they do come out at night , but they don楹搕 make that much noise, after all they are only little . They like run around I suggest you buy a ball for them to run about , like that they get plenty exercise, they can also have a wheel inside there cage, they like fresh lettuce , apple %26amp; carotts cut them up small, along with there normal hamster food %26amp; water , also to keep there teeth nice and trim give them some small cut up apple branches, they have to be cleaned every 2 day楹搒 , we put cotton wool in there little bed楹搒 ,%26amp; you find they get a bit upset when you change it. but they get used to that %26amp; sawdust for the bottom tray put some news paper first then the sawdust on top %26amp; don楹搕 worry if you see them ripping it up they will add it to there bed楹搒 Oh yes, when feeding them at first best let them feed alone for the first few day楹搒 then you can feed them by hand . I hope I have helped a little ,hope your daughter楹搒 have fun with there new pets.
keep them seperate, unless they are dwarfs. get them each a crittertrail from petsmart. bedding is aspen or supershavin's. otherwise they get respiratory problems. keep food in b owl fresh. fresh water. exercise ball for outside the cage.
What breed are they? The large breed hamsters are OK for a while (like few months) to be kept together, but buy two cages to start with. The females are territorial and can fight to the death. We have 4 female Syrians (large breed) and none are in cages together. They'd kill each other if they were. Nor can we put the boys together and 4 are related (dad %26amp; 3 sons) they too will kill each other. There's also Dwarfs and usually the females can be housed together if their siblings or just raised in same cage, but be prepared in case they start to fight with an extra cage. Here's some items you'll need to start with 2 cages, litter-no pine or cedar, only use aspen or Carefresh. Both bought at WalMart. Baking soda for odor in cage and use for cleaning cage along with detergent. Get 2 water bottles and food dishs, 2 exercise wheels for the floor and a solid wheel if the cage has none or it's slatted or wire. Quality food, treats, chew sticks, salt/mineral block, and vitamins. Wet tail treatment (hope you never need it, but good to have). A cat brush or comb if long haired, and a book or good internet sites to refer with. A good site is listed below, I keep it in my favorites list. Check out their foods list for feeding fresh foods, it's great.