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Lumi posted:Hey guys, I'm currently looking into getting a hamster for my girlfriend. We did some mild research and basically she wants two hamsters, and seems to be partial to dwarfs at the moment. Couple of initial concerns and questions: One question I have to ask is, what type of dwarf hamster do you want to go for? There's various different breeds, the three most common being Chinese, Russian and Roborovski hamsters. All three have different traits, likes and dislikes, life spans etc. Choosing a breed first will help with choosing a habitat as well. For example: Chinese hamsters LOVE to climb. So putting them in an aquarium would be a bad idea. But putting them in a wired cage would be great, as they can climb up and over the top at their pleasure. There's a lot more info online about the different breeds, so check it out. The UK store, pets at home, gives some good advice here. quote:Googling around seems to indicate that there are no breeders in the Vancouver area. Is there some other method of finding breeders? How big of a deal is it compared to getting one from the pet store? I can't give you any advice about buying from a pet store. Being from the UK, pet stores are decent, reputable sellers, often selling better animals than independents. quote:What sort of habitat is good? Initially we looked at the Habitrail Ovo Suite for Dwarfs and it seems kind of fun, but there seems to be a bunch of bad reviews in addition to good ones, so I'm rather wary, and it seems to be pointed out that it's not that great since there isn't a lot of open space for them to run around. We want some fun accessories for it too since it's fun for us and also these are supposedly pretty curious little guys. The frustrating thing is that there seems to be no universally agreed on best 'fun' habitat. Personally, my two male Chinese dwarf hamsters live in the old Rotastak system. Originally, they lived together, with two tall stacks and tubes running between the two (and around the leg of our tv stand). They had more than enough space between them, including two of everything... two feeding areas, both with water. Two wheels, two different bedding areas. (Although they took to sleeping in the tubes!) Unfortunately... and this is a warning here... they started fighting. Lots of chasing each other and squeaking going on. We kept an eye on them, but they still seemed to get along at other times. Then one day we noticed a large tuft of fur missing off one hamster's bottom. There were two options here: they'd caught mites, in which case we had to separate them to stop the spreading, or the fighting had gotten too far, again meaning separation. Thankfully, all we had to do was make sure there was one hamster in each stack, remove the connecting tubes, and plug up the holes. Sorted! (Thankfully it wasn't mites, otherwise my gerbils would've been at risk as well) So in short, I think I'm trying to say, make sure you have provisions to separate them if things get nasty. On to more advice about habitat: If you choose to go down the wired cage route, don't buy one meant for Syrian hamsters. The wires are far enough apart that dwarfs can easily escape. There should be specialised cages where the wires are close enough together for dwarfs and mice. It might be labeled as a mouse cage for this reason. If you opt for the habitrail or rotastak systems, make sure you get the ladders to go up the straight tubes. Syrians are big enough to go up without (as are gerbils and other rodents) but dwarfs need a helping hand. And one last, obvious, point (but I still have to say it.) Make sure you get a same sex pair. The gonads on males are quite obvious, so check before taking them home. The last thing you want is to be overrun with hamsters. (This was how I got my first two gerbils. A work colleague of my dad's had a "same sex" pair that had babies. 40 gerbils later, and they finally worked out how to sex them!) P.S. Apologies for such a lengthy reply. Once I start typing, I can't stop!
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Jan 12, 2010 17:46
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RumbleFish posted:Yeah, one of the worst parts about the plastic cages is how drat expensive they are. All the attachments and expansions are fun to play with, I won't lie; I sometimes go through that section of the pet store and reminisce about the setups I used to have. But paying $35+ for the privilege of building a clunky plastic contraption that my hamster can easily get out of is a little steep. I wasn't worried about stimulation in the slightest. I always wanted the rotastak stuff as a kid but as you say, they're pricey. So of course mum said no. The only reason I have the rotastak now is because I got a HUGE batch load second hand for £40 (Roughly $65) By huge I mean about £250 worth (just under $400). To be totally honest, I wouldn't have bought my gerbils if I didn't have the Rotastak stuff. Half of it was still boxed anyway, and the gerbils came with one of the triangle pods (something we didn't have). Well, the cost was basically for the triangle pod and the gerbils were free. The only thing I will say with the rotastak systems, and this probably applies to the Habitrail stuff as well, is that they can take up a LOT of room. Our 3 cages (2 hamster ones and one for the 2 gerbils) probably take up about 1m x 2.5m of floor space. It's also about 1.5m high in places. It's actually changed a little since this photo (it gets minor re-modeling when washed), but this is the set up before we separated the hamsters from each other:  You can clearly see the two stacks on the left (one for each hamster now) and the triangle pod and other stuff on the right for the gerbils.
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Jan 13, 2010 00:26
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RumbleFish posted:My bad, SubbyMinx; I confused you for the poster who originally asked about the Habitrails/plastic cages. Easily done, no biggie.  This way I got to show off my critters homes, even if I haven't shown them off yet. Although saying that, you can see both gerbils and one hamster in that photo... if you know what you're looking for of course!
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Jan 13, 2010 02:16
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Lumi posted:Having been to the pet store, I think we're not crazy about the Chinese ones. There were two that were just labelled dwarf (this one had a black and white coat) and a winter white. What are some of the main differences between robos and Russians? I think I can go without the habitrail stuff, but might install some tubes anyway somehow. There is always the option of buying some of the separate tube extension kits and just placing those inside the aquarium, give the little critters something to run through. Reminds them of their natural habitat after all.
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Jan 13, 2010 16:40
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robotsinmyhead posted:Well it turns out that our 2 gerbils are not capable of being nice to each other. We got a 2nd about 10 days after the first (it's been 2 weeks since then) and set them in different cages, though the cages butted against each other so they can see each other. I think this is why I'd never try to introduce a second gerbil/hamster/rodent. Any pairs that I've ever had have either been together since birth (multiple broods being put together) or have actually been siblings (my gerbils have almost identical markings). Perhaps this is just my own laziness at even trying to get an unknown pair to live together. I'll go with Garfield on this though: "Some call it laziness, I call it deep thought" I'll just wish good luck to anyone who does try.
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Jan 15, 2010 03:33
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kazmeyer posted:Is the pine bedding kiln-dried? If it's the brand that Petco carries with the black label, it should be, otherwise you should check. Raw pine can be harmful, and I'd recommend switching to either aspen shavings or Carefresh if you can. My piggie used to LOVE eating dandelion leaves. Our lawn was covered in them and I used to go round and pick all the biggest ones for him and pop them in his hutch.
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Jan 24, 2010 14:04
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kazmeyer posted:Grass and fresh greens are awesome, but it goes without saying that you should make sure the grass you're using isn't treated. If you own your home, of course you've got control of the situation, but if you rent be VERY careful about letting your pigs out for playtime outside/harvesting fresh greens for them to eat. This was when I was living with my parents. I was still a kid. But yea, no treatment to that lawn!
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Jan 24, 2010 17:55
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drat you all with your cute pig pictures. I want a guinea-pig again now. drat my flat for not allowing anything bigger than a gerbil.  One day I'll have a house and a garden and piggies and my cat. One day. 
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Jan 26, 2010 23:31
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Talking of chewing, I really need to expand my gerbil cage. My boyfriend came home from a night shift last week to see one gerbil sat in the middle of the floor... she'd chewed her way out of the bottom of one section. Thankfully, the other gerbil was still inside the cage, and he did manage to catch her (eventually), but still. The hassle of getting in, when sleepy, and having to catch a gerbil is not a fun one. If I had the money, I might consider going down the aquarium route. We'll see. They at least have a cage, for now.
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Mar 8, 2010 15:55
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Same thing happened with my Chinese Hamsters. Both male (Simon and Trevor), used to live in one big cage. Unfortunately, they started fighting, and (same as you) we spotted a tuft of fur missing from one's butt (don't ask which - they're identical!) A quick separation of cages, and they're both happy as Larry since! So long as you have enough caging for each little guy to have enough space (which it looks like you do) I'd separate them before any further damage is done! We kept our two hamster cages next to each other though, so for the few (and it's been very few) moments that they get lonely, they can poke noses at each other through the bars! Only seen that happen about twice in the 5 or so months they've been separate. SubbyMinx fucked around with this message at 11:42 on May 14, 2010 |
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May 14, 2010 11:39
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alucinor posted:Are you getting them from a rescue? If so, that will help make sure they aren't pregnant, sick, mis-sexed, or mite-infested, like most pigs from craigslist/pet stores tend to be. I get the distinct impression that guinea-pig culture in the US is *very* different to here in the UK. I've never been advised to weigh my pig (when I had one), most vets will see pigs, and pets stores always sell healthy animals. (private sales are different, obviously)
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May 14, 2010 20:28
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alucinor posted:Incredibly different. If kungfu_hammer is in the UK, the vet and pet store thing probably don't apply (although there's still lots of UK pigs in rescue who need homes!) I shall remember this when I get myself a piggie again! My last one just suddenly went. I popped in one morning before school to feed and water him, and he was a cold lump. I was a very sad little girlie. I should really dig out some pictures of him.
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May 14, 2010 20:57
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Foxes are kind of the only major predator because they'll actually dig under and into a pig's run. Cats are a pain and will sometimes scare a pig, but never have the effort to dig to one. Getting loose can come from poorly made cages as much as anything else. Cats toying with a hutch can open a door, then the pig can escape later (this happened to my first pig, 2 weeks after I got him). The secret is to make sure your hutch is cat-proof... sliding bolts work very nicely. My pig always used to go into the greenhouse over winter, and had the shade of his hutch during the summer (as well as lots of open run space). You say that heat is the problem, so what would you say is too hot for a piggie? (you seem to be the expert here) Bare in mind that British weather is mostly rain, and the temperature only ever hits about 25 Celcius, if that. I think it's mostly just a cultural difference. House guinea-pigs and house rabbits are very rare over here. Possibly because if you have a house big enough for one, you usually have the garden space too? I think we Brits also have a strange sense that it's "cruel" to keep an "outdoors" pet indoors. For example, house cats are a massive rarity over here!
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May 15, 2010 16:52
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If it makes you feel any better, I think you've converted one UK goon, at least. Any future pigs/rabbits I have will have access to the garden (for grassy noms!), but will be free to run around inside as well 
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May 15, 2010 17:46
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