New hamster, perhaps?

[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.

[Genny]

HI, I've never had a dwarf, but I think if you spend lots of time with it then normally it's gonna be a sweet hamster I've heard from people that dwarfs are a little more nippy, but I'm sure there are some exceptions.

The care and feeding is the same for all kinds of hamsters. The names you've picked out are cute--I don't know of any girl names--good luck~

[IRescue452]

Reggie-you've got that backwards, cedar has the worst effects. But if it doesn't cause problems with your hammie...

I have a mousery and I also have rats. Mice and rats contain a bacteria in their bodies that makes them more prone to respiratory infections than hamsters. This means they are more sensitive to bedding. I find kiln-dried pine to be the best option after soil. Even carefresh is bad because of all the tiny dust particles. The problem is finding a pine bedding that is actually rinsed and kiln-dried. I buy huge packages of America's choice at the hardware store that are meant for horse stalls. The stuff from pet stores seems to bring out the worst in my mice. Kaytee and the walmart brands (names evade me) are bad- they say kiln-dried but they still smell of hydrocarbons and give my mice red noses. Anyway, I talk to tons of mousery owners who raise show mice, and many agree that pine is a good bedding, you just have to watch your rodents and get a decent brand.

Here is a very good site to look at (though phenols are blamed instead of hydrocarbons)
http://members.tripod.com/~antigonemeans/phenols.html

This one's a little more sciency, but it backs up my belief that phenols aren't the problem (hydrocarbons, cedrene oils, and general bacteria associated with untreated beddings are the problem)
http://www.geocities.com/heavyhitter1.geo/Pine.html

[Christmas_Hamster]

Cedar and Pine are both bad.

I suggest Harry/Hazel hamster food. Carefresh, yesterdays new cat litter, aspen shavings are all great. Some kiln dried shavings still have alot of phenols in them so you have to be careful.

Can you measure the cage?

There are four different breeds of fwarfs. Russian Campbell Dwarfs, Winter White Dwarfs, Chinese Dwarfs and Roborovski Dwarfs.

[Jessika]

My only suggestion is NOT to handle him a lot right after you bring him home because you're more likely to be bit because he's stressed out. Just put him in his home in a quiet room and let him adjust to the change, then I recommend handling him