Size:

5-30 cm

Weight:

0.015-0.15 kg

Origin:

Syria

Lifespan:

2-3 years

Suitable as:

!-suitable-as-!

Character:

intelligent

FCI groups:

!-fci groups-!

Character

fragile, sensitive, busy

Nutrition

various cereals, flowers, dried flowers or herbs

Attitude

Cage keeping, terrarium, loner

Price

5-20€

Diurnal

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Attitude in the apartment

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Suitability for children

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With their small beady eyes and the cute appearance hamsters inspire as pets large and small. Gold hamster, dwarf hamster and Co. are however against all expectations no fastidious domestic animals.

The Hamster As A Pet

Differentiation is usually made in sizes: The field hamster is absolutely not intended for pet keeping and is the largest of its kind. The approximately 15cm large golden hamster (medium size) is the most popular pet among hamsters. It is closely followed by the dwarf hamster.

Origin And Wild

The Syrian Golden Hamster is usually the origin of our pet here. Its natural environment is the plateau of Aleppo in northern Syria. It belongs to the burrowing family. With strong front legs and weak hind legs, they are rather poor climbers. The hamster has completely adapted to the conditions. In summer it is incredibly warm in its home country, but at night it cools down and in winter it is even very cold. Thus, the small rodent can withstand many temperatures. Mostly he sleeps the day away in his burrow. Only at night he comes out and looks for food.

The winter months the wild hamster sleeps away completely. When the days become shorter and the temperatures lower, he retreats to his burrow. During hibernation, all bodily functions drop to a minimum. However, he does not sleep the entire winter. Sometimes he wakes up to feed from his stores.

Activities

Hamsters are solitary and nocturnal! They often don’t get up until 22:00 or later and go back to sleep around 04:00. So it can happen that you rarely get to see your pet. In itself, it is a very good sign if your pet has this rhythm in him. This shows that he feels comfortable in his new territory. If the hamster would be constantly active and try to squeeze through bars or climb up, the little fur balls do not feel comfortable.

Hamsters are little bundles of energy. So that they have enough movement at night and do not get bored, the cage should be equipped with enough toys.

Acquisition Of A Hamster

Before buying, you must be aware that hamsters are not animals for cuddling or playmates for children. They have a fragile build and tend to be nocturnal. If they are woken up to play during the day, they can bite.

Therefore, hamsters are more suitable for children 12 years and older and adults.

From The Animal Shelter

In animal shelters you often find lovely animals. They are only in exceptional cases sick or old. Here often babies of unwanted pregnancies or also pedigree animals are brought. In the animal shelters you get an extensive consultation about all needs of the animal species and often already information about the character of the animal.

Hamster Agencies & Breeders

Good breeders will advise you extensively and gladly. They should have only a few breeds and offer the animals large, clean enclosures. The animals are separated by sexes and appear healthy.

You can usually find regional providers on the Internet or in newspapers.

Pet Shop

Rarely do pet stores provide animals with species-appropriate housing. Make sure that the enclosures are large and the animals are separated by sex. They should also have plenty of space, water and hay with hiding places. Unfortunately, these criteria are often not met in pet shops. It is often unfortunately the case that there is mass breeding in the stores. Therefore, the animals are often sick.

Transport

When transporting the animals to their new home, it is best to use a suitable plastic transport box. This is ideally large enough for hamster, house and nest. Pay attention to a good ventilation. To calm the hamster you can darken the box. His nest, a cottage and litter provide the hamster a cozy and safe atmosphere.

It is not advisable to use transparent containers. Here the animals are quickly stressed. Cardboard boxes are also unsuitable, as hamsters gnaw their way out very quickly. The animal can also jump out of open containers without any problems. In closed plastic containers, of course, the hamster does not get enough breathing air, so this is also not recommended.

Take the hamster directly to its new home – without detours. Never leave the animal alone in the car, even for a few minutes. Animals overheat much faster than humans and in winter the hamster quickly gets too cold.

Proper Keeping In A Cage

Location

Choose the right location for the cage of your new pet. The cage is unsuitable in the bedroom, as they like to make a racket at night. During the day, however, the animals need their rest.

Once you have found the right location for your furry friend, you can find out about the suitable cage.

Cage

Since hamsters are very agile animals, they need a correspondingly large cage. In nature they cover several kilometers at night. In doing so, they build underground nesting chambers that are connected with tunnels. Unfortunately, commercial cages usually do not offer a suitable opportunity to satisfy their urge to move. Often the already too small cage is filled with a running wheel and the feeding place, so that the hamster has to live very cramped.

Therefore, a large cage with a floor area of at least 1m² and additional floors is recommended. This way several houses and caves can be built in the enclosure. High litter allows your animal to build passage systems and act out. As with almost any animal, the same applies here: The larger the cage, the happier your charge will be!

Lattice Climbing

If the cage is too small or the animal does not feel comfortable, the hamster will gnaw on the grid and display conspicuous behavior. The grid spacing should therefore be between 0.8 and 1.2cm. However, in almost all cages, there are places at the door or corners where the grid is spaced further apart. Smaller hamsters might try to squeeze through between the bars. This can create a risk of injury to the animals.

Cage For Young Animals

Lattice cages are not suitable for juveniles, as the small hamsters can easily slip between them. Aquariums can also help out here. There the animals cannot climb up at the panes. However, if the tank is quite low, it is recommended to attach an air-permeable lid.

Other Types Of Cages For Hamsters

Aquariums are not only suitable for breeding young hamsters. If you pay attention to sufficient air circulation, the basins offer much more space than standard cages. Also, the bedding can be higher and adapted to the needs of the hamster.

With all lattice cages or aviaries, care must be taken to ensure that under no circumstances can the animals fall lower than 25cm. Thus, intermediate floors would have to be installed.

With chipboard as a floor and a framework screwed to it, you can also easily build the appropriate cage yourself. Then only Plexiglas panes, back wall and if necessary lid must be attached.

Furnishing

If you now have the perfect accommodation, you can start to furnish it. What many do not know: Most furnishings from the pet store are not suitable for hamsters.

Basically you should avoid plastic. Since hamsters like to gnaw on these things, they can easily swallow splinters that can lead to serious injuries or poisoning in the intestines. In addition, plastic houses or tubes do not provide sufficient air circulation. Moisture cannot escape, so mold and fungi can grow.

Transparent objects, such as tubes and houses, for example, should also be avoided. They do not provide a retreat and do not resemble the natural hamster nest.

No hamster likes to walk over grates. Here the small animals can get stuck with limbs, crush them or break them. So avoid lattice floors and use wood or hardboard for another floor.

One of the most important furnishings is the house! Since the natural retreat would consist of several chambers, houses with several rooms are especially suitable. The exterior does not matter at all to the hamster. The animals like to dig through, so a thick layer of bedding belongs under the house, which should not have a floor.

Take a look at perfect hamster houses here:

Getzoo : Living Labyrinth

Rodipet: Multi-chamber house

Ceramic pots also serve wonderfully as a secondary house. These are easy to keep clean and provide a natural environment for the hamster. Also clay pots with appropriate openings (min. 7cm) can be used.

Leave the walls free in all enclosures. This allows the hamster to easily walk their territory. Since hamsters would avoid detours, pay attention to the placement of tubes and furnishings. A burrow corner with sand is ideal for recreation. Other digging options would be cleaned soil, leaves and leaf piles, and various bedding. To allow the hamster to easily get in and out of the digging fixtures, long, flexible willow bridges work very well.

Impellers

Impellers are one of the more controversial issues in hamster housing. With a cage floor space of 2m² or more, a running wheel is no longer absolutely necessary. However, the wheel offers the hamster a good opportunity to release excess energy and stress.

A hamster is a burrower. They would not run for hours straight in nature. In fact, they only travel short distances between their burrow and food sources. They do cover many miles in total, but not in one piece. It is best to have a running wheel on hand, but alternate it with another fixture weekly or daily. This way, the hamster has the opportunity to occupy itself in different ways and doesn’t fall into monotonous behaviors.

The ideal wheel for a golden hamster has a 30cm diameter. Gladly also somewhat larger. The wheel is closed on one side and is not made of mesh (the feet could get caught in it). The running surface is completely closed and has a structure. This can consist of grooves, for example. With cork the natural structure is enough.

Make sure it has a solid stand with heavy wooden legs and a high-quality ball bearing for easy running around.

Toys

Please refrain from using plastic running balls (jogging balls) and similar toys. Here the animal should be put into invisible devices to roll around the apartment with it. The veterinary association has classified these things as contrary to animal protection and harmful to health. The animals can’t maneuver in the companions, and they can’t apply full braking if they’re hurtling toward a wall. The hamsters can suffer trauma, sprains and injuries. Since the animals are usually nearsighted and the bullets make their vision even worse, they are barely aware of their surroundings.

The better alternative to bullets is a large enclosure with plenty of exercise!

Hamster & Child

At first, a hamster seems like the perfect pet for children. Small, easy to care for, inexpensive and cute to boot. But are the cute furry bunnies really suitable for children?

If a child is more of an “observer”, a hamster is a suitable pet. While the animal runs peacefully in the wheel or creates its food to the side and the child watches patiently, it is no problem. However, a hamster is not suitable for cuddling or petting. This tends to panic and stress the animals. Children often find it difficult to maintain a healthy petting level, making bites from the rodent unavoidable. Young children may also have immature motor skills, which can cause the hamster to escape or be injured.

In addition, hamsters tend to be nocturnal and should not be disturbed during the day. If the child does not feel like watching the hamster for a few days, this is absolutely no problem. The hamster is and remains a loner. However, the little animal makes a lot of noise at night. Therefore, the cage should not necessarily be in the children’s room.

The low life expectancy of 1-3 years is decisive for the bond with the child. So there can be an early, unexpected grief, although child and animal could not spend a particularly long time together.

So whether a hamster is suitable for your child varies from personality to personality and must be decided individually!

FAQ About The Hamster