Owning a hamster can be a very rewarding experience and lead to countless hours of enjoyment; but with it, comes responsibility in the way of proper maintenance and husbandry. In this comprehensive guide, you can read about topics ranging from picking the right pet, finding an appropriately sized cage, selecting safe bedding materials, choosing healthy food options, treating illness and injuries, breeding and carrying for babies and much much more.
Learn how to take care of a hamster by following the information and advice bellow:
Picking the Right Hamster
There are several breeds and number of colors and coats to choose from these days. But beyond the pure esthetics or the appearance of the hamster, one needs to select a hamster that they can can manage to take care of. Different breeds have different dispositions and different tendencies. If you are a beginner, choose a Syrian or Golden hamster breed; they are probably the most friendly and curious of all the breeds. Some Dwarf species are harder to keep due to their small stature and their skittish and shy behavior. Find out if you are allowed to own small pets in your state.
Selecting a Cage Habitat
There are several options for selecting a cage. Each options has its pros and its cons. The best habitats however, are large and spacious. Whether they are made of plastic, metal wire or glass, they key here is to buy the largest home for your pet that you can afford at the time. Get one that you can add on to over time. This will make your hamsters happy and not stir crazy or bored.
Choosing Your Bedding
Choose your hamster bedding carefully. Some bedding preforms better than others. You can make your own bedding but its better to buy packaged hamster bedding form a local pet store. These usually stand up well to wear and tear and absorb waste rather well. Avoid using cedar chips because of the the combination of urine and cedar wood can be toxic. Pine chips can be toxic too if the wood has been treated with chemicals.
Feeding Your Hamsters Food and Water
Hamsters like a diet that consists of both plants and protein. Like most small rodents, they do mostly eat plants, fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts but they also occasional like to eat a bug or two. This is the diet they would have in their natural habitat. There are several types of diets that should be considered based on the age and health of your hamster. some older ones can’t handle all the protein and thus should be fed a lower ratio of protein to greens. Additionally, if a hamster has too much greens, fruits or vegetables, it can lead to diarrhea. This would then require a reduction in the amount of these types of foods in their diet.
Accessories for Exercise and Fun
Hamsters need a lot of space to be happy and several options for exercise. You could never give your pet a cage as large as its natural habitat, so it’s important to provide good care in the way of an exercise wheel, ball, ladders, tubes and tunnels. With a wide range of accessories to keep it occupied and fit, the hamster won’t become stressed from a lack of exercise or stimulation. Other accessories like a sleeping house will also reduce stress as it give them a safe place to hide. Read more about accessories…
Observing Behaviors
A happy and healthy hamster will poke it’s head up and look curiously at you when you open its cage. If it seems to have no interest or cowers in fear, this could be a sign of an illness or a lack of trust. If it’s sleeping, it’s best to slowly wake it up if you want to handle it. Startling a hamster while it slumbers can be very stressful on it. This could lead to getting bitten. However, the most important behavior to be concerned about is any unhealthy repetitive habit. if it keeps running in circles of constantly gnaws on the cage bars, this could be a sign that it doesn’t ave enough stimulation or space to roam around in.
Treating illnesses
Hamster get sick just like any other living creature. Many of the illnesses are similar to that of what humans can contract. These include things as common as the cold or flu. Treating a sick hamster can require some quality care and potentially a trip to the vet. if you notice a change in behavior of your hamster or notice a change in its physical appearance, there’s a good change your little guy has an illness or injury. Find out more about what might be troubling your hamster.
Author: Tim Winter
hey my hamster looks like it really wants to get out of the cage, it keeps squishing its face in between the bars so i’m worried that it might hurt itself when i’m no looking can you please help?? Btw it keeps pooping in its food
All of these sound like normal hamster behaviors. If you are concerned about it hurting itself, you can opt for on of those plastic cages that doesn’t have wire bars. It should be okay though.
Hello, I have hopefully an easy question. My girlfriend has a (large) hamster, possibly a golden syrian. Any way she keeps the hamster in her room, and she is afraid it gets too hot in there for it (81 degrees). Is that excessive. She said also once the hamster had a bloody nose when she got home. Also it has been acting kind of lethargic, she put it outside one evening and the thing was stoked.
Any info, help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks. Chris
That’s a bit hot for a hamster. Usually a comfortable range is 59-77*f. A bloody nose might not be too much to be concerned about. It could have been just an injury from playing too hard. The lethargic behavior could be the heat but also note that hamsters sleep a lot during the day and are more active at night. Try to provide the hamster with plenty of exercise options.
My hamster bagel got out of his pen by climbimg a smaller pen in side his pen he got beheid it and climed (his pen is a big fish tank) and he ran into a hole in the wall how can I get him back?
See this post on catching a runaway hamster
My hamster keeps staying in his tube in his cage, but i really want to take it out to handle and tame. What do i do?
He is probably nervous and not yet comfortable with its cage. Try to get it to come out by offering it some treats.
After your hamster dies, will you think you spent enough time with it while it lived and will you be sad?
Thanks to my sister my pregenent Hamster escaped and failed to survive. A week later we finally found her dead under wood. Thanks sis. Anyway I’m getting a new Hamster (This time away from my sisters hands) and yeah.
I’m sure it was an accident and I bet she feels really bad about it; try not to be mean to her about it. Yes, be more cautious and make sure you watch your sister if she plays with your hamster and make sure the doors are securely shut.
My hamster just runs around biting the cage and he got stuck in between the cage bars he started screaming but I didn’t know what to do but then he freed himself and he got really hurt I don’t know what to do? I only know that he’s really hurt
ahhh, poor little guy. Hopefully it’s not to serious. Other than taking it to the vet to see if it has internal injuries or broken bones, there isn’t much you can do. Try to make it comfortable by keeping soft bedding and perhaps take some of the toys out so it can concentrate on healing. Even if the vet finds something wrong, it’s not likely they will be able to do much. You might want to call one to see what advice they might have.
my sister killed my other sisters hamster(p.s.i have 3 sisters)
Hey so could you even use a zhu zhu pets maze thing insted of the actual tubey things that hamsters use?
Thanks – Melanie :p
I’m not sure what these are made out of and if they are safe for hamsters. Plus a hamster can likely get out of this maze and if you are not watching, it can escape.
Hey again. so you don’t know if it is a good idea and i certantly don’t want my hamster to escape. could you recomend me a cage plastic or glass. Also what is the absolute best place to get a teddy bear hamster.
I do like the plastic ones that have all the places to add tubes. you can buy one of these and then add as many tubes as you want. Then you can even add another module if you wanted (critter trail seems to be pretty good). Sometimes you need to add some tape or clips to add extra security. a ten gallon aquarium is a good option when you add a wire cage topper for even more space. However, they might not look as nice. As for the teddy bear hamsters, I’m not entirely sure what the best place to get a teddy bear. You can check the pet stores but supplies might be limited. You can look up all the pet stores in your area and give them a call and ask them if the have any teddy bear hamsters.
Hi, I thought hamster lovers would like to hear the story of an ordeal that our little hamster smurf went through recently. Imagine my surprise when I got home last Thursday to find smurf attached to the outside of her cage by her cheek. I was completely stunned at first as to how she’d got out and also what was holding her there. I rushed to get something to wrap her in to spare my fingers and set about trying to free her. Her cheek was all twisted round where she’d been trying to free herself, I untwisted her and had a closer look to find what she was attached to, thinking that somehow she’d pierced her cheek with the bar. It was then that I noticed a circular outline and realised that she had a small magnet in her cheek. It must have been on her bars and popped in her cheek when chewing the bars! She seemed fine, we put her in a plastic box, with her bed, food and water, to recover. We thought that maybe when she next filled her cheeks with food she’d manage to get the magnet out herself. We checked on smurf regularly over the next couple of days to see if the magnet had gone. Then on Saturday morning when checking her overthe magnet looked like it was on the outside of her cheek, then I realised that her body was treating it as a foreign body and was pushing it out through her skin. It was just held there by a thin layer of skin and hair!! Grim!! By the evening the magnet was gone, leaving smurf with a small tender area which has now healed. Smurf is now back in her cage looking none the worse for wear for her ordeal. Shows that hamsters are tougher than they look, and made the children realise not to go near her cage with magnets.
Hi,i really want a hamster and feel responsible but my parents dont feel the same,how could i make them feel the same?URGENT
I don’t think I could give you any advice on how to convince your parents. With a hamster you need to feed it, make sure it has water, gets exercise and has a clean cage. if you think you can clean the cage when needed and make sure the food and water dishes are full, you will have to prove to your parents that you can take on the responsibility. Again though, I can’t give you any real advice. When I was young, I would make deals with my parents to show them that I am responsible. like if I got a good grade in school or kept my room clean, these help show parents you are serious about the responsibility.
Well my advice would be to show responsibility by doing chores without being told, or doing research and talking to one of your parents first getting them to agree and having talk to the other parent. but once one parent says no dont go to the other parent just wait till ur bday or Christmas
What breed should I get? What is the easiest to take care of?
Do you have to spend a lot of time with your hamster? I’m really busy, so what breed is happy even by itself?
All the Syrian breeds (golden hamsters) are the best for being in a cage alone. You should try to bond with it while it’s young though so you can handle it when you have the time. If you can’t let it out to play in a ball or maze everyday, make sure the cage is large and has exercise equipment.
That is good advice but how do you tell how young a hamster is?
It’s hard to tell the age of a hamster if the hamster looks full grown. They get to maturity pretty quick too. For the most part, if you look at the other hamsters of the same breed at the pet store, the smaller will obviously be younger.