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Dwarf/Russian
Hamster Minisite |
Frequently Asked Questions – and our advice as
answers Q. Is my hamster likely to bite? A. Baby and young adult
hamsters ‘nibble’ things as a way of exploring their world around them,
sometimes this may be your fingers. This behaviour disappears with age and
can be trained out of the hamster: Don’t get your hamster out to play without
washing your hands first to remove food smells and when playing with your new
hamster, if they bite just pop them back in their cage each time and they
will soon learn it is not acceptable behaviour. Adult hamsters will normally
only bite when scared, although it may not seem a very attractive option the
best way to get a hamster to stop biting you is to play with it lots, then
when it is more used to human company it is less likely to be scared. It is
with this in mind that we make sure all our hamster babies are used to
handling from the time they are separated from their mother. Q. How can I tell what sex my hamster is? A. See here
for our simple guide to ‘sexing’ your hamsters Q. How can I encourage my hamster to be better
behaved? A. The best way to get a
hamster to behave “better” is to reward it with treats like you would with any
other animals for good behaviour.
There are many specialist hamster treats available from every good pet
store, our hamsters Mavis and Snowy have a particular liking for yoghurt
drops and also fresh salad and vegetables.
It is important that you do not feed your hamster chocolate made for
humans as this contains toxins that are harmful to them. Q. My hamster only seems to come out at night A. This is because
hamsters are naturally nocturnal, most will only be seen out of bed during the
day when they are going to the toilet, they usually start to come out from
about Q. My hamster(Snowball) keeps chewing on her
cage bar, and many other hamster
websites say it is bad for there brains. Is this true?? A. In our experience there are no problems
associated with hamsters chewing on the bars of their cages. All ours do it
and show no symptoms of brain damage.
A fact that you may not be aware of is that hamster teeth grow
constantly and if they are not worn down this can cause problems in the mouth
(see our tips page for a picture). By chewing
on the bars of their cages hamsters help to wear down their teeth. I would not worry about this, but if you
are still concerned you could try buying some hard dog biscuits for your
hamster to gnaw. We do this for our hamsters and they love them, especially
the gravy soaked ones Q. Why does my hamster pile all his bedding up
against his house/where they sleep? A. This is normally their
way of telling you they are too cold and need more bedding for when they
sleep. Q. Is it safe to give my hamster treats? A. Basically yes,
although there are some things that are best avoided – see out list of foods for help.
Any treats you give your hamster should be in small quantities so as
not to mess up the nutritional balance of their diet. In the worse case scenario you make find
your hamster refuses to eat their regular food if you give them too many treats,
although this is more common in larger animals such as cats. Q. Is it
ok to house two hamsters together? A. In the wild hamsters normally live on their
own and can become very territorial.
They might be alright to share unfortunately however there is a slim
chance you might find you have a dead hamster one morning. |
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