Any1 have hamsters?

I was staying with a friend last night, and she has a hamster. It was her and her boyf's, but thy split up and he moved out. While Im not saying she doesnt care for it, it had loads of bedding, food, water and some toys and a wheel, she doesnt like touching her and won't take her out of cage part from occasionally to give her a little while in her ball. Ive said that if she wants, Ill take her home with me next week. I went over and was speaking to her and I put my hand up to the cage, bless her she squeezed herself out through 2 wide spaced bars in2 my hand and a was playing with her for ages. She's a friendly little thing, having being used to being handled by the ex-boyf.

Anyways, the thing is I had hamsters when I was a lot younger, but is thr anything I need to know like vaccinations or anything before I take her on? Like, if it was another rabbit, there's no way I could afford that, but am I right in thinking that hamsters are not so costly as dont need vaccs or nails clipped or that?

no vaccinations needed, but their nails can get a bit long. Noodles never got clipped as she used to run around on the floor so much so it filed them down,

there are relativly cheap to keep, if you have the cage already with it, a bag of food only costs a few pounds and then toys etc on top if you want to spoil them!

Do you know what sort of hamster it is?
Syrians (golden) hamsters are the big ones, and then there are the dwarf breeds- russian and roborovski which are really small.

No, I dont think there are any vaccinations etc for hamsters, but I suppose you need to bear in mind any possible treatment needed if it gets ill.

I guess you may wish to get another cage too, depending on how big it is/style etc. I think in general they are quite inexpensive to keep.

There is a lovely syrian hamster at Kirkby I would like to adopt but BF has said no. I may smuggle her in anyway :lol:

There is a lovely syrian hamster at Kirkby I would like to adopt but BF has said no. I may smuggle her in anyway

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hmmm looks like i may be in the same situ, the boyf has jst caught me lookin at hamster care guides on the internet and has absolutly veto'd the idea, no way no how, and its his house so not much I can do. Like I say she wasnt bad cared for, had lots food toys water and her cage was big enough I would say,jst lacking in human interaction but its not like she's being starved or neglected so i guess ill just have 2 let this 1 go...................................................

They are indeed pretty cheap to keep, my Manny's only expense was when he got sick towards the end and had to have vet treatment but even that wasn't that bad.

One bit of advice is to stay away from synthetic nesting materials though, like that fluffy bedding which has been known to cause internal blockages and get caught around limbs etc.
The best thing to use is cheap white unscented toilet paper. My ham preferred it anyway and it's so cheap.

Happy hamstering!

Edit: just seen your new post. Interaction is important, if hammies aren't handled regularly they can lose their tameness.

aww bless her!! i'm not a huge fan of hamsters but I'd snap her up - she sounds lovely...

best of luck

We've got a little golden hamster called Millie and she's really tame. We have a chat to her as soon as she's awake and she comes out into her ball for a while, then she has a run around on us and we feed her all her favourite foods.

They are very cheap to keep, but if you're like my OH, you'll totally spoil it and end up spending a fortune!!!

My OH said I couldn't have one but I took the opportunity when he was away. Now I don't get a look in with her!!! :lol:

Gemma

We've had 2 hamsters over the years.. The 1st one pickles was really tame he'd always be coming out to play,our 2nd hamster pickles 2 hated being picked up & taken out of his cage..He would get in such a state I choose in the end to leave him be.. They weren't expensive to keep at all.. I was devastated when they both passed away though I cried & cried..

I have an ancient hamster who I adopted at 2 and a half... over a year ago now! He has yellow teeth and started going bald before we gave him a vitamin supplement in his water.

They are lovely as well as being cheap to keep. We had one trip to the vet because I thought his teeth were getting long but they were actually ok.

You can spend a fortune on cages and toys though! Even though he came with his cage, wheel etc. I invested in a bigger wheel (the 6" ones are too small really, get a bigger one if possible so they don't have to curve their backs so much), a climbing frame which attaches to the top of the cage and a hammy toilet!!

He is a mad little fella and squeaks at us if we wake him up when he's tired - a bit of a grumpy old man really, lol.

I 'hinted' to my o/h for ages and had given up, but came home from my hen night to find the cage and hamster installed in the corner!

Edit: just seen your new post. Interaction is important, if hammies aren't handled regularly they can lose their tameness.

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I know and I feel bad but thr's really not much I can do - he's jst not the type of person for having animals in the house (unless it's a dog, thy'r different :roll: ). Although he likes my boys, he doesnt love them like I do. Will feed them and stuff if Im away overnight, and doesnt mind them coming in some nights for a little while, but doesnt like them living inside, when Harly got ill at first he said he had 4 days inside to start getting better, which he stretched 2 4 weeks so I really dont want to pushing the issue at the moment. I was jst told categorically that there was no room for any more animals here (I know it's a small cage but what can I do, it's not my house.........). Ill jst have to make sure I go and visit the friend in question more often and spend some time with hammy when Im there.

I did have 1 before that lived for 4 years, and I too broke my ehart when he passed away. there was not a lot of expense with him, but I jst wanted to check that I shouldnt have been gettin vaccs etc, i was not so clued up re pets when I was younger as what I am since I got the boys.

Like I didnt know that fluffy bedding could be bad til last night til I found a care advice leaflet on the internet, nor did I now that those exercise balls were bad either. Said not to use them as the hamster can quickly become exhausted with ne way of escaping, I always had 1 for my other hamster

Oh the ex-boyf moved out about 6 months ago, and she stil lseems pretty tame to me so far[/quote]

Edit: just seen your new post. Interaction is important, if hammies aren't handled regularly they can lose their tameness.

Click to expand...

I know and I feel bad but thr's really not much I can do - he's jst not the type of person for having animals in the house (unless it's a dog, thy'r different :roll: ). Although he likes my boys, he doesnt love them like I do. Will feed them and stuff if Im away overnight, and doesnt mind them coming in some nights for a little while, but doesnt like them living inside, when Harly got ill at first he said he had 4 days inside to start getting better, which he stretched 2 4 weeks so I really dont want to pushing the issue at the moment. I was jst told categorically that there was no room for any more animals here (I know it's a small cage but what can I do, it's not my house.........). Ill jst have to make sure I go and visit the friend in question more often and spend some time with hammy when Im there.

I did have 1 before that lived for 4 years, and I too broke my ehart when he passed away. there was not a lot of expense with him, but I jst wanted to check that I shouldnt have been gettin vaccs etc, i was not so clued up re pets when I was younger as what I am since I got the boys.

Like I didnt know that fluffy bedding could be bad til last night til I found a care advice leaflet on the internet, nor did I now that those exercise balls were bad either. Said not to use them as the hamster can quickly become exhausted with ne way of escaping, I always had 1 for my other hamster

Oh the ex-boyf moved out about 6 months ago, and she stil lseems pretty tame to me so far

I wasn't trying to make you feel bad, sorry if I did. But maybe you can try and get that point across to your friend.

As for exercise balls, they're are differing views on them.
I think they're fine for short periods and depending on the hamster.
Only one hamster I've had hated the ball and so she didn't go in one, one didn't mind it but just used to roll into a dark corner and fall asleep (he was the laziest hamster I have ever known) and the other two had a great time.
If you can set up a safe free running area for them that's better though.

4 years is a great age for a ham though, you can't have been that bad an owner!
Losing my Manny was heart breaking too, he was the first pet I got when I left home. Part of me would like another but it hurts so much when they go...

No no , was jst explaining that Im between a rock and a hard place. Yeah he was my baby, he was huge and dark brown, looked like a bear. Did stress the point to her but even after me sitting handling her for 30mins she couldnt take her from my hand, says she's scared she'll drop her or hurt her or she'll escape, explained that she wouldnt but she jst cant handle her. Im sure there are others in worse situs tho, like i say ill jst have 2 visit more.