New hamster, perhaps?

[sumbirdy]

Either tomorrow or Thursday I will be getting a dwarf hamster. I've wanted one for a long time but have always gone with the more familiar (and supposedly friendlier) teddy bear hamsters. It's been about a year since my hammy boy, PeeDee, passed away and I have now decided that I'm ready for a new one. And I have a few questions on dwarf hamsters for anyone who knows.

* Are they friendly, like to be handled, petted, ect?
* Since they are so small can they easily squeeze through cages with bars? We already have a two story hamster cage that I am planning on using and the bars are about an inch or a little under an inch apart. Do I need to buy a cage that doesn't have bars?
* Is the care of them basically the same as any other hamsters? (as in food they eat, bedding, ect?)

Also any other bits of information you have would be helpful.

I have boy names picked out already (Pyro or Calypso) but if I get a girl I would like some naming help please. I saw a beautiful silver/gray one that I loved and am hoping to get one with that coloring.

[IRescue452]

As far as handling goes, its luck of the draw with any hamster. I had a very sweet dwarf when I was about 10 years old. It loved to be handled. Handling before you buy is the best way to find a nice one. Don't settle for a feisty one if its all you can find at the moment, you'll be much happier if you wait for a friendly one.

The cage bars should be under 1cm or about .45 inches apart. I don't know how you'd keep anything in a cage with 1 inch bars. I hope this was a typo.

The care is the same as the other hamster varieties.

[sumbirdy]

I hope this was a typo.

.

It was...I'm so used to saying everything is in inches.

[sumbirdy]

I saw these dwarf hamsters in a pet store. They have live animals but all of their animals are well taken care of and live in roomy, clean cages. I've been in here a few years before where that was not the case but it has changed owners since and they no longer sell anything bigger than a chinchilla. And they don't sell kittens or puppies. Also on every cage or below or above it (except for on the hammies and fishes) they have proper care, requirements, and handling of the animals which I think is really good to have. The only thing I didn't like was that they kept male and female hamsters together.

[Christmas_Hamster]

What are the measurements of the cage? Do you have a picture of the cage or do you know what the rband name is? What shavings are you using? What brand of food are you using? What breed of dwarf are you getting?

Pine, Cedar and other soft woods shavings contain pheonals which can and will harm hamsters (and other small animals).

Dwarfs are prone to diabetes so you will have to pick out any corn or peas that are in the food mix. They cannot have any corn, peas, carrots, fruit or store bought treats because these foods are high in sugar.

For future reference Teddy Bear hamsters are actually syrian hamsters

[sumbirdy]

What are the measurements of the cage? Do you have a picture of the cage or do you know what the rband name is? What shavings are you using? What brand of food are you using? What breed of dwarf are you getting?

Pine, Cedar and other soft woods shavings contain pheonals which can and will harm hamsters (and other small animals).

Dwarfs are prone to diabetes so you will have to pick out any corn or peas that are in the food mix. They cannot have any corn, peas, carrots, fruit or store bought treats because these foods are high in sugar.

For future reference Teddy Bear hamsters are actually syrian hamsters

I didn't know dwarf hamsters had breeds. I thought they were a breed themselves . What kind of bedding and brand of food should I get?
I couldn't find a pic on the internet that looks exactly like our cage but this is as close as I could get:

http://www.vitavet.com/Merchant2/mer...ct_Code=275257

The difference is that ours is longer (almost twice so) The ramp and second story are bigger and the bowl is set in more. And ours didn't come with a wheel we went and bought one. (Not one of those with the bars.)
Our wheel looks something like this:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/images...24242PZ_24.jpg

[Hellow]

Pine, Cedar and other soft woods shavings contain pheonals which can and will harm hamsters (and other small animals).

I dont know about hamsters but i always use Cedar shavings in Little Bit's cage and he has never had any problems. I have heard that Pine shavings have bad affects on small animals but cedar dosen't.