Fatty boom-boom (Hamsters)

Member Name: LucyAnnabel

Product:	Hamsters
Date:	16/09/07 (512 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cute, funny companions . Cheap !

Disadvantages: Can bite, smelly if not cleaned out for a long time.

I have been a hamster owner since the tender age of 8 (it would've been earlier if I'd got my way) and I will never forget the day my parents drove me to Pets Mart and waited while I changed my mind 10 times about which one I wanted. Eventually I chose a little golden syrian male who I later christened Toffee. 2 years later came Ruby, then Charlie, and last September I bought Fatty Boom Boom from a little pet shop near uni. All of my hamsters have been Syrians as they seem to be the biggest (and therefore cuddliest) breed available to buy in England, and I prefer them to Russian hamsters as Russians seem to run and flit about like mice. I am a simple creature and can't stand animals moving faster than my eyes can follow.


GETTING A CAGE:
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In the past when I wasn't old enough to afford a cage and therefore could order my parents to get the best one available, my Hamsters would live in a 'Rotastak'. These are available from most large pet stores, but they are not your average cage. Rotastaks consist of connecting tubes leading to compartments, penthouses and external wheels! You can construct a cage however you want, as long as it all fits together and your hamster cannot escape. Never underestimate the intelligence or strength of a hamster...I have had many escape despite precautions. A bit like Brio wooden train sets, you buy each piece seperately and can add as much as you like.
Unfortunately, on a student budget I bought Fatty the cheapest cage available which was about a foot long and 17cm and 20cm tall. This cost me just £13 with a wheel, bottle and feeding bowl. Fortunately my housemate is extremely generous and donated us her old rat cage which is much bigger.

POTTY TRAINING:
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Yes, it is possible and very easy! I simply got an empty jam jar with no label and put a little bit of sawdust in the bottom of it. Place a few of the hamsters poos in it and wet the sawdust with water to make it think that this is where it goes to the toilet all the time. If you want this to work then it's best to do this as soon as (if not before) you put the hamster in the cage for the first time. Soon enough your hammy should be doing his/her business in the jar rather than in the corner of the cage which you then have to wash out.


FOOD:
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Feeding hamsters is not a difficult task. Simply buy a bag of dried food from a pet store or supermarket. Standard foods contain:
-Dried peas
-Peanuts
-Alfalfa
-Sunflower seeds
-Maize
-Sweetcorn
-Banana Chips

Simply fill a little bowl or jam jar lid with it and make sure your hamster doesn't run out. A Hamster will only eat as much as they want to so there's no worry about over-feeding. If their food is dissappearing at an astonishing rate then they're probably just storing it in their bed and you will need to make sure it doesn't go mouldy.
Hamsters also need fresh food (fruit and veg).

Never EVER feed hamsters the following fresh foods:
-Any citrus fruit (lemon, orange, lime)
-Onions
-Hot peppers/chilli's
-Lots of chocolate (they can handle a tiny piece...otherwise it gets stuck in their cheek pouches)
-Possibly radishes...not sure how they'd get on with them.
-Loads of lettuce...they can get diahorrhea

Good fresh foods:
-Cucumber (lots of water)
-Apple
-A little lettuce
-Tomato
-Carrot
-Green beans (haricot, runner)
-Grapes.
You can feed your hamster a TINY bit of meat (ham, chicken etc.) but don't do this often or give them too much because they can get the taste for it and may start thinking your fingers are meat and trying to eat them too.

P.S- Don't be alarmed when your hamster eats his poo. They don't always digest their food properly the first time round so they recycle. This won't make them ill and will probably infact do the opposite.


WATER:
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This is also easy. First, buy a water bottle. Fill it up with normal drinking tap water, screw on the lid and attatch to the cage. If you notice your hamster seems to be at the bottle constantly and there are no water bubble rising in it or the level never goes down then it isn't working and you will need to buy a new and more reliable one.


GETTING IT HOME:
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It can be a little distressing when you've just bought a Hamster and it's put in a cardboard box just about big enough for it to turn around in. I personally always try and get it home and into its new cage as soon as possible.
When you get home, make sure the cage is in a quiet room and is fully kitted out with a lining of newspaper on the base, covered with a layer of wood shavings i.e. sawdust (not hay!), food, water and bedding (NOT the stuff that looks like cotton wool...this can KILL them as they get stuck and are strangled! Get the one that is jay-cloths cut up). Carefully open the box and place it gently inside the cage. Close the cage and either leave the room or sit very quietly.
Hamsters are friggin terrified when they are brought home so leave them to work out their surroundings. If you dive right in and start picking them up you're likely to get a panicky Hamster who will bite your finger, jump right out of your hands, run down your leg, under the sofa and never been seen again.


ZZZZZZZzzZZzzz.....
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Hamsters are nocturnal so it's probably best to just leave the hamster inside the cage to run about for a night before being held. If you're going to wake it up the next day then do so GENTLY! Sticking your hand in to pick it up will only get you a nasty bite, and shaking the house around will scare the crap out of it, only teaching it to resent being woken up. I find the best way is to get a piece of toast or juicy lettuce and wave it about infront of Fattys nose. As he tries to eat it I just move it further away from him bed and closer to me. When he's near enough to pick up I hold him in my hand and reward him with the food. It's almost breakfast in bed but he's not that lucky.


ZZZzzZZzzzzz.... FOR YOU!
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I am quite a light sleeper and therefore can't stand to have my hamster cage in the same room as I sleep in. At night they do their prison act and try their best to escape; seemingly no matter how big their cage is. Sometimes their exercise wheel can make a noise too. But by all means try it out...I know a lot of people who have their hamster cages in their bedrooms and have no toruble sleeping. At uni I keep fatty outside my bedroom door in the hallway and sometimes I can still hear him gnawing away!



ESCAPE ARTISTS
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Don't forget that hamsters can be fast and very clever. Make sure you have no holes in the floorboards or doors open to outside just incase it jumps out of your hands. I lost a hamster once when he escaped from his cage and got under the floorboards of the house. He was gone for 4 days and although we left a couple of floorboards up, we thought he had died. Just as my Dad was placing the last floorboard back, I saw little Charlie all covered in dust with one eye stuck together and blistered feet hobbling down the hallway! Poor little guy was in a real state but he got a lot of TLC after that.



TEMPERATURE
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I have had two hamsters die from pneumonia. It seems to me that they are quite sensitive to the heat of the room where their cage is. I could not tell that the room they were in was too hot or too cold so just bear it in mind that a draft or hot area will not be suitable. Also, pneumonia is caused by being too hot, getting sweaty and then being cold and getting a nasty chill swo moving them from one place to another with a different temperature is also a bad idea.
Watching my hammies die of pneumonia was heartbreaking. They would open their mouths as wide as possible to try and be able to breathe, and began to shiver. Don't take any risks with temperature- it's not worth it!


HARBOURING LITTLE 'UNS
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Finding out the gender of a hamster is not the easiest thing so do some research as to how this is found out, then ask the pet shop assistant to check and see at the same time what sex you think it is. I went to a pet shop and chose the fattest, fluffiest, blackest hamster from the 'MALE' cage. We got home and named him Reuben. 10 days later my new hamster sprouted 5 baby Reubens, and we renamed 'him' Ruby. I was about 12 at the time and obviously over the moon. However, if this happened now while I'm at uni it would be a different story. I know they're only baby hamsters but they are a lot of work!
Ruby got Mastitis (sp?) which basically means that when one of the babies was feeding, it bit her nipple which then got infected. This then meant that she refused to feed them and we had to wean them early.
There was also a runt of the litter who died early as a result of her undeveloped digestive system. I cried a lot when she went.
So the moral of the story is: If you don't want to have to look after hamster babies and can't be bothered with the responsibility then make sure you get a male! Just because your female comes from a female cage, doesn't mean a cheeky little lad didn't get in there.


BALLS
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The plastic kind. It is sometimes hard to let such a little animal get exercise outside of its cage, yet keep an eye on them at the same time. This is where balls come in handy. They are about the size of a small football, are made of plastic and have two lids which click into place when the hamster is put inside to complete the sphere and they can run around without getting out. If you've ever seen a Zorb it's the same idea. WARNING: If you get one, don't let your hamster run around in it upstairs incase they fall down them. If you have to do this, put a barrier on the top of the stairs. I'd highly recommend a ball as a change of scenery for them, and also for the laughs you get when they run full pelt into a table leg but don't seem to care.
Wheels are an alternative if you haven't got any space to let a hamster out in a ball. Wheels are a circle of plastic with a rim around the edge which the hamster stands on. A pivot in the centre of the wheel is clipped to the side of the cage and they seem to love running around in them so fast their feet are a blur.


CLEANING
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Hamsters themselves need no cleaning, apart from when they've been in their ball for a long time and wee'd in it and carried on running so they get soaked and poos get stuck in their fur (nice). If this happens I usually fill up a sink with warm water and put a tiny bit of rodent shampoo in there (I think it's sold from most pet stores) and just rinse them off a bit. Make sure you have a warm towel handy afterwards to wrap them up in...don't want them getting a cold. They don't like to be washed but once they are towel dried they will dry themselves off properly. NEVER use a hairdryer, the poor thing will get burnt!!



CAGE CLEANING
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I always always clean my hamster's cage once a week. I put down a layer of newspaper before I put down the sawdust so that when it comes to cleaning out day I can just lift up the newspaper, fold it into a parcel, put in a bag and throw away ready for some fresh newspaper. Sometimes they hoard fresh food in their beds and this can go a little mouldy so you may need to give that a rinse.
The potty (jam jar) is the worst part. To make it easier it might be a good idea to clean it out every couple of days but I don't have time for that so I do it each week. Try and get as much wet sawdust out as you can by banging it on the newspaper. This never gets all of it out so I fill it up with hot water and leave to soak for about 10 minutes. Then I pour the water into the toilet (if you pour it in the sink you'll clog up the plughole with sawdust). Then rinse with some disinfectant/soap et voila, a clean hamster potty. It's stinky but necessary.
I usually give the water bottle a quick rinse each time I fill it but the food bowl that has the dry food in it is usually fine to just keep filling up without cleaning.


HANDLING
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You will pick up the knack of handling a hamster with practice. I usually just slide my fingers under the hamsters belly from the side when it's running around and hold over its back with my thumb until I can put his in my arms or sit him on my palm. They will rarely stay still so be prepared to keep both hands available to stop him jumping off you or running away. Hamsters love to get into trouser legs or arm sleeves and run up and down them. This tickles quite a lot so if you're one of those people who goes crazy when they get tickled either don't let them go there or try your best not to squash them.
Hamsters VERY rarely wee on people. They will usually try and find a sheltered corner and sometime even running about making a quiet squeaking/beeping noise which is usually code for "you have about 10 seconds to put me in my cage or I'll wee right here!". They do sometimes poo while they on the go which isn't very nice but their poos are completely non-smelly and go hard very quickly so you can just pick them up and throw them away. Wash your hands afterwards tough obviously.
Poking your fingers through the cage is not advised...hamster's will bite anything that comes through the cage as they think it will be food or it will disappear quickly so they need to grab hold of it! If I get bitten I usually blow very quickly and sharply in their face...this is a punishment that doesn't hurt the hamster- but they don't like it. However, I haven't been bitten in a good 6 years as I know not to put my fingers through the bars!
Also, as I said before- if you go right in and grab your hamster while he is sleeping, then 90% of the time he's gonna bite you. Wake them up slowly with some food or gently rocking their bed until they get up.


OVERALL
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I have been keeping hamsters since the age of 8 and 12 years later I still love them to pieces. They are so cheap, cuddly, cute, funny and easy to keep that I think they are very worthwhile. They don't need injections like cats and dogs, special lights and live food like reptiles, or a massive run like guinea pigs and rabbits. They are incredibly versatile, not really a problem if you need to travel as you can buy travel cages and they can live off of your leftovers for fresh food!
At the age of 8 I had never had any responsibility before and had never experience anyone or anything close to me die. When my first hamster died when I was 10 I was very upset but quickly learnt to accept that things like this happen, and I felt somewhat prepared for the death of a family member/friend if that was to happen. I also felt I was more than capable of looking after my own pet. I learnt the value of keeping a clean environment for those who depend on you and making sure they have food, water and exercise. So not only are they REALLY cute, funny, and good companions but small children can learn from them too.

Summary: A not very taxing, short lived cute pet