When Hamsters attack

Captain Hill roars

When buying hamsters it should be known that there are some (Syrian, the orange and white hamsters like Captain Hill) that can be very territorial. So if you're buying more than one make sure you have plenty of space. They may attack each other. With no where to keep to themselves a hamster may not only get injured by the other but may actually die resulting in what may not be very pleasing to younger eyes.

A habitrail comes in handy here, for if you suspect one hamster is not getting along you can separate the hamsters by sticking them in different parts of the cage with no connecting tunnel.

How to keep your hamster from getting fat

Hamster fact

The average hamster will crawl two miles a day.

Pistachios, walnuts, and peanuts... Oh my.

Peppy gets into bag of pistachios

Hamsters like nuts. The shell provides a nice thing for the hamster to chew through.

Hamster Tip

It should be noted however that larger nuts (like walnuts) or nuts with an extremely hard shells (like pine nuts) should be partially cracked before giving them to the hamster. That is if you want the hamster to eat the inside. Otherwise it would be like you trying eat something the size of a soccer ball without a knife, fork, or pneumatic drill. The nut becomes more of an obstacle than food (which you may or may not want).


Captain Hill tries to bite into a chestnut


an uncracked walnut becomes an plaything to Peppy

The ideal nut then would be the peanut as it's shell is textured and can easily be broken by a hamster bite. It should also be noted that most hamsters like peanuts.


Captain Hill enjoys a peanut

Hamster Body Language

In this photo The Professor crawls around in 'normal' mode

It is an unfortunate truth that hamsters, while cute and fuzzy creatures, are also food for other animals. Because of this hamsters can be cautious animals, exploring carefully, attempting to not draw attention to themselves.

If a hamster had three modes (normal, caution, and high alert) these photos would represent the different hamster status.

condition: GREEN

In normal mode, a hamster will crawl around with it's ears perked up. It does feel threatened so it doesn't lower itself to the ground.

condition: YELLOW



Something is not quite right. The indicator is the hamster ears go back. This could be a sign of varying things from just waking up, to being petted, to irritability. If you're attempting to interact with a hamster with ears down be wary of getting bitten especially if the hamster doesn't know you.


Red Alert!

When it's in unfamiliar territory a hamster may squish down to be as low to the ground as possible. This could be considered the hamster stealth mode or red alert mode. The hamster is trying to be as low profile as possible so as not to be

Hamster Food

Hamster Fact:

Hamsters are omnivores

It came as a surprise to me to find that hamsters are omnivores. After all when going to the pet store usually the only food the hamster is seen eating are the pellets that come out of a bag (which the pet store conveniently sells).

Hamsters can be fed fruit, such as apples or pears. They can also be fed protein in the form of live crickets, small pieces of cooked chicken or beef, or even bits of dog food. Pork is considered too fatty for them.

In the wild some hamsters actually hunt in packs. Think of them as a group of furry, mini wolf pack or raptors and you might laugh.

Holding the Hamster

The right way to hold a hamster

When holding your hamster as with any living creature you should use extreme care. It's safety and comfort should be your number one concern. After all no one wants to be picked up squeezed around the gut (especially after eating).

To pick up, use both your hands as a scoop and lift the hamster from the bottom. With a bit of training you can get the hamster to walk onto your hand. If you have to grab them from above, gently pick up with one hand around the hamster's waist and have your other hand ready to put under the hamster for support.

With the hamster standing on one hand, use your other hand to cup over the hamster. Some hamsters are more fidgety than others and may try to jump or crawl off your hand only to fall and possibly injure itself.

Do not SQUISH

Hamsters can be squashed quite easily. Be gentle while holding them.

Lights, Camera, Action!

TIP: Photograph your pet

While you might be able to put a hamster in your pocket to show all your friends, they are referred to pocket pets after all, carrying a bunch of photos is easier. A live hamster might bite your friend with the new stink, and get hurt as your friend reacts by flinging the hamster in the air (purely unintentional). Also the hamster may try to escape by eating it's way out of your pocket.

Photos come in handy should your hamster escape from it's habitat and you need people to know what your hamster looks like. You can also use photos to show how your pet has the changed over time (eg. "Wow, I can't believe my hamster was sooo small. Look how freakishly fat it looks now!").

For added fun you can also take videos of your pet.  Just look at all the internet footage of cats and dogs.  Gads! (I encourage all you budding film makers out there to make your pet videos interesting, here's a small tip - good sound helps)

low res (mushy version) version

I took photos of Captain Hill during her lifetime and having photos is a way to remember her.  Hopefully she's somewhere still having adventures and snack foods.  Here's an Apple movie trailer I created using the iMovie app on the iPad using some of the photos.

high res (not as mushy?) version

Oddly enough this video does not show up in safari on my iPad.

Climbing and the Environment

A bored hamster is a fat hamster.  Imagine you were put in a cage and had to live there for the rest of your life.  It would be very nice if the owner allowed you to get out once in a while or allowed you to have a change of scenery every now and then.

A good time for a change of scenery is when the cage has to be cleaned. The hamsters have to be put somewhere, one place to use is the tub in the bathroom.  Make sure the water drain is plugged first as you don't want your hamster exploring the drain.  Also, if you're living with others make sure they know that you're putting hamster(s) in the tub. After all you don't want anyone turning on the water while they are in there.

An empty tub can be quite boring to a hamster, placing things in the tub can make things more interesting. A towel is a good start as most tubs are cold. It allows the hamster(s) to stand on something a bit cozier. Other things like modular climbing sets, flying saucers, and hamster wheels are good.

There are a few items on the market that will allow you to make the hamster's climbing life more interesting.

Puzzle Playgrounds


The professor showcases the Puzzle Playground

The puzzle playground by Super Pet is a plastic made modular system that has compatible connectors to the Critter Trail and the Habitrail systems.  This is an ideal addition to cages that don't have a lot of space.  You can also use this outside the cage in a more open environment (eg. bath tub) to make the existing environment more interesting.

There are different versions available and you can buy them at Amazon.com or click here for the larger Super Pet Puzzle Playground, 60 Piece version.


Build and Chew



Peppy and the Professor climb the Build and Climb

The Build and Chew by Burgham takes up more space and may not be ideal for small cages however the plus side is that it's made of wood.  This means that it's chewable and environmentally sound. Also the design allows for multiple levels of hamster fun.


Build and Chew packaging

I picked up the Build and Chew at a Petsmart but I don't see them being advertised on the Petsmart web site so here's a link to Mr. Pet's another pet store online that carries the Build and Chew.

In a day and age where we have plastic floating around killing off animals (eg. birds, fish) it's important to choose the items we buy more carefully, Avoid plastics if we can and if we do use plastics make sure it's for long term use.

Cleaning House

I once attempted to clean a part of the cage while Captain Hill was sleeping in another section. Whoops! She woke up and started exploring.

Hamster Tip

When cleaning the hamster cage, especially if you own a habitrail or other cage of modular design, a good place to temporarily place a hamster is the bathtub. Make sure the tub is dry and place a towel in the tub so the hamster isn't sitting on a cold surface. Also, very important, make sure the tub is plugged. You don't want the hamster trying to explore the drain.

If you own other pets make sure they are locked outside of the bathroom. A hamster in a tub is an easy mark for a cat.

What's that smell?

Hamster Fact:

The hamster has a keen sense of smell. They also have terrible vision. With this combined set of characteristics it makes sense that hamsters will mark their territory to figure their way around. It's equivalent to Hansel and Gretal leaving a breadcrumb trail to make their way through the forest.

Hamster Tip

If a hamster cage is stinky. Do not immediately clean the cage as the hamster will think it needs to pee more in order for it's scent to linger around resulting in more stink. Also when cleaning cages try to use scent free soaps as the soap scent can be over powering.

Chew chew cha boggie

Hamster Fact:

Hamster teeth constantly grow. Hamsters have to wear down their teeth by nibbling things.

It's important to allow your hamster to have access to things to nibble on. I bought a loofah for Captain Hill that looked like a miniature corn and a pumice stone in the form of a gray cube for Peppy and the Professor.

The Corn Loofah


What? A loofah?

At first I thought these things were for the hamster to use while taking mini showers.  They are actually meant for chewing.  Captain Hill crawled up to the loofah and gave me this look (see photo) and never went near the loofah again. I would say that the loofah was a poor choice for hamster chewing. There may be hamsters out there that like chewing on loofahs, Captain Hill didn't seem to go for it.

The Pumice Cube


The Professor treats the cube as an obstacle.

The item that looks like a mini Borg space ship made of pumice rock was introduced into the living quarters of Peppy and The Professor.  I haven't seen them grinding their teeth on it or even try to nibble on it.  It serves more as a thing to stand on or an obstacle that takes up space and gets in the way.  This is another product I would not recommend for hamsters.

The hamster chews these

As luck would have it hamsters (at least my hamsters) have been found to like a few things that are readily available from the store.

The Snak Shak Taking the form of a tiki hut, the Snak shak is made of edible material. If you don't have enough space in your cage for a tikihut, superpet also makes bridges of various sizes and logs out of the same material. Captain Hill demolished a small bridge by nibbling it until there was nothing there.


Captain Hill chewing on the snak shak.

Wood Chews these come in a variety of shapes and colors from rolling dinosaurs, to watermelons, and flat discs. Captain Hill loved the dinosaur and would chew on it on a regular basis. I also used the dinosaur as a peanut butter dispenser when serving a special treat was required.


Prepare for chewing


Captain Hill loves the wooden dinosaur



Links to items mentioned

The Hamster sees you... not really.

Hamster Fact:

Hamster eyesight is generally pretty poor.

Knowing this you should be careful where you put a hamster as it won't know the difference between being on a pillow resting on a bed from being on a pillow on a drawer a few meters off the ground.  This is also why you should cup your hamster with both hands while carrying it.  Just in case the hamster decides to jump.

Hamsters rely on their sense of smell and hearing in order to help figure out their surroundings.

Words to live by

Adventure is out there!

Nothing ever happened to people that stayed inside. Unless you were in a trailer during a tornado (and that would probably have been bad). With weather being so uninviting, especially if you live in the east coast getting pummelled by snow, it's difficult to even think about going outside. I say "Dress for the weather and get out there. There's so much to see." Be like a hamster and go out there and explore who cares what the weather is like? Have fun, be adventurous!

Spin it up

Ever since seeing this video of hamsters exercising on a spinning disc I've wanted to get one for Peppy and the Professor. It's hamster entertainment at it's finest.


The Hamster Exerciser

I attempted to find the spinning saucer model in the YouTube video online with unsuccessful results. The next step was to find out if any local stores carried them. Most stores, if they carried hamster goods, had the wheel but not many knew what I was talking about when I described the dish. After an exhaustive search in the pet stores around the Toronto area, the only two makes I could find were the Flying Saucer and the Hamster Exerciser (see photos). Neither model had a rim to hold the hamsters in which was a bit of a disappointment. I thought about making a spinning disc out of a used frisbee and then realized that would take some thought, time and building equipment. Buying a solution would be easier at this moment in time.

I purchased the Hamster Exerciser first from the friendly people at the Pet Emporium. Unfortunately the hamsters were too small and light at the time (only 16 grams each) that their weight wasn't enough to make the saucer section spin. As a result they got bored and quickly ignored the Hamster Exerciser altogether.


Cue up the crickets, The Hamster Exerciser is uninteresting to Dwarf Hamsters


The Flying Saucer

Next, I went out looking for the flying saucer. The only store to carry it was PetSmart and unfortunately they only had the 12" version in stock. While the 12" version would have worked with the hamsters functionally, the diameter was too wide to fit in the Habitrail cage/pod. It's about 2" inches too wide and that doesn't give any space for anything else. Because there's no rim on the saucer the hamsters would just fly off. They would need space to fall.

Fortunately the Flying Saucer comes in three sizes. The next size down was 6.5" and there's a third smaller size coming in at 5". All three sizes can be bought from Amazon.com (see below for links). While I recommend buying things locally first the URLs are included for convenience.


The Professor on the Flying Saucer

The 5" saucer seems to small even for a dwarf hamster and it's too bad ware doesn't make a saucer that's 8 inches in diameter which would fit in the cage and be large enough for two hamsters to run on at the same time. I ended up purchasing the 6.5 inch version. While the hamsters don't really fit on the saucer so they can run on one side at the same time that doesn't stop them from trying. This in itself is funny to watch.


Two out of two hamsters approve of the Flying Saucer by Ware

Since the introduction of the Flying Saucer in the cage the hamsters have been running on it steadily. While the spinning is quiet the base on the bedding wobbles a bit making a thumping sound. I will readjust this and see if I can make it quieter. The hamsters love it though.

Stay tuned for future articles and updates.

Boat Full of Hamsters

Life will put you in situations that might be unexpected. You just have to adapt and go with it.

I took some photos of the hamsters in an origami boat. Why? Seemed like a good idea at the time. Also the boat is the only thing I remembered how to fold.

Professor

The Professor

This photo of the Professor (or just Professor) was taken the day after coming home from the pet store. (Critters Castle)

Peppy

Peppy Dufresne

This is one of the first photos I took of this little guy. Peppy is about 3 weeks old and weighs 16 grams.

Captain Hill

Captain Hill escapes

When I got my hamster from the pet store (P.J.'s Pets) they put the hamster in a small cardboard box to make it easier to transport back home

On the way home the hamster had found a small opening. The hamster expanded the hole by nibbling the surrounding cardboard. It was because of this that I decided to call the hamster "Captain Hilts" after the Steve McQueen character in "The Great Escape".

Later on, shortly after arriving at home, I realized the hamster was female. Not that it really matters as Hilts is a last name but I altered the name (possibly for copyright reasons and) as a nod to my friend Hillary Martin who, like the hamster, seems to go off on the odd exciting adventures. And so Captain Hill was the official name.

In an internet world of a lot of cat and dog photos, this blog is dedicated to my pet hamsters, sharing knowledge about owning a hamster, and sharing photos and stories. I will attempt post once each week on Monday at 9:00am (Eastern Standard time). Stay tuned.

Let the adventures begin...