First time poster!
Hey there everyone - I just found this community. ^^ I was wondering if I could ask a few questions?
I have three hamsters, a 10 month old male russian dwarf (Rasputin), and two 8 month old male Roborovskis (Gizmo and Gadget). All three are housed seperately, by the way.
Cut for ridiculous length. o_o;;
Now Rasputin is perhaps the tamest, sweetest hamster I've ever met. He's never bitten anyone (the occassional nips don't concern me, I know he's not being aggressive), he loves being played with, etc etc. A few months ago I noticed that he was drinking far more than I'd have expected from something so small, and after monitoring his water intake for a week or so, decided to take him to the vet with what I suspected was diabetes. Sure enough, he was diagnosed with it, and I've been trying incredibly hard to keep him healthy.
He's fed strictly on fresh veg (lettuce isn't part of that, since I've been told it's like hamster junkfood), brown bread and occassionally a bit of chicken, ham, a little drop of milk etc. Am I giving him everything right? I've heard so many different stories about what they can and can't have, and even my vet was unsure what to do. He was on a supplement to help with dehydration, but since he licks his hands, he ended up covering himself in the yellow dye and got all sticky. >_<
Other than that, he's perfectly healthy - he's cracking away on a dog biscuit as I'm typing this. My other question on him, is about noises. I've read that russian dwarfs are rather vocal, but Rasputin has only ever made a sound on one occassion - I let him walk down out of his cage onto the table while I was cleaning out one of his many sandpits (he pees EVERYWHERE) when he walked over to sit beside where my head was level with the surface, and started making the noise that I make when I try to call him out (sort of a soft chuff chuff/kissing noise). Is it normal that he's so quiet? Why did he suddenly start chattering away to me that time?
I knew what I was getting into when I bought Gadget and Gizmo. I knew the breed was prone to nervousness, and was a hell of a lot faster than other hamsters. Since I also knew they'd get through the gaps in most wire cages, I took the recommendation of the pet shop and bought a large tank for them. Big mistake. First of all, Gadget and Gizmo didn't get on. (I suspect now they weren't littermates to begin with). I seperated them on the first day, mostly because I couldn't stand the idea of them hurting each other. (And also because they're identical, and I'd like to be able to tell the difference). On top of that, they were terrified of being in the tank - they hid the entire time, and since I couldn't see them, couldn't tell if they were attacking each other. So really, had to be seperated.
The next week, I went out and purchased two clear plastic storage boxes. I made sure they were jump-out-proof, and cut a large hole in the center of the lid before securing it down. (During that week, I put a barrier down the middle of the tank so that they were apart.) They're both fine now, housing-wise.
Alas, during that time, I encountered a new problem. These two were scared rotten of people. In retrospect, the only reason the guy in the shop was able to handle them was because they were immobile with fear. I tried for months to socialise them, offering them food from my hands, letting them get used to me being around. This wasn't helped by the fact that I needed to clean them out - this was always incredibly traumatic for both of them, no matter how gentle and quiet I tried to be. Nothing's worked. Neither of them enjoy being handled at all, even entering their cages causes absolute hysteria. I swear, it's like hamster pinball everytime you walk by, since they throw themselves around the box that hard.
(For the record, on top of everything else, they're both speed demons. They've destroyed two wheels each already, since they run them that hard.)
Gadget's gotten gradually better now - he's realised that I represent food, and will sit out waiting for me to return with fresh stuff, so long as I don't move too quickly. Gizmo's always been much more shy, and still spends all his time hiding. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm being cruel - they seem so scared all the time, and that can't be any fun for such a little thing. ;_; It breaks my heart, seeing them both like that.
Oh, and I bought all my hammies from the same place. Seems odd how different they are when it comes to people. :\
Sorry for the length! ^^"
I have three hamsters, a 10 month old male russian dwarf (Rasputin), and two 8 month old male Roborovskis (Gizmo and Gadget). All three are housed seperately, by the way.
Cut for ridiculous length. o_o;;
Now Rasputin is perhaps the tamest, sweetest hamster I've ever met. He's never bitten anyone (the occassional nips don't concern me, I know he's not being aggressive), he loves being played with, etc etc. A few months ago I noticed that he was drinking far more than I'd have expected from something so small, and after monitoring his water intake for a week or so, decided to take him to the vet with what I suspected was diabetes. Sure enough, he was diagnosed with it, and I've been trying incredibly hard to keep him healthy.
He's fed strictly on fresh veg (lettuce isn't part of that, since I've been told it's like hamster junkfood), brown bread and occassionally a bit of chicken, ham, a little drop of milk etc. Am I giving him everything right? I've heard so many different stories about what they can and can't have, and even my vet was unsure what to do. He was on a supplement to help with dehydration, but since he licks his hands, he ended up covering himself in the yellow dye and got all sticky. >_<
Other than that, he's perfectly healthy - he's cracking away on a dog biscuit as I'm typing this. My other question on him, is about noises. I've read that russian dwarfs are rather vocal, but Rasputin has only ever made a sound on one occassion - I let him walk down out of his cage onto the table while I was cleaning out one of his many sandpits (he pees EVERYWHERE) when he walked over to sit beside where my head was level with the surface, and started making the noise that I make when I try to call him out (sort of a soft chuff chuff/kissing noise). Is it normal that he's so quiet? Why did he suddenly start chattering away to me that time?
I knew what I was getting into when I bought Gadget and Gizmo. I knew the breed was prone to nervousness, and was a hell of a lot faster than other hamsters. Since I also knew they'd get through the gaps in most wire cages, I took the recommendation of the pet shop and bought a large tank for them. Big mistake. First of all, Gadget and Gizmo didn't get on. (I suspect now they weren't littermates to begin with). I seperated them on the first day, mostly because I couldn't stand the idea of them hurting each other. (And also because they're identical, and I'd like to be able to tell the difference). On top of that, they were terrified of being in the tank - they hid the entire time, and since I couldn't see them, couldn't tell if they were attacking each other. So really, had to be seperated.
The next week, I went out and purchased two clear plastic storage boxes. I made sure they were jump-out-proof, and cut a large hole in the center of the lid before securing it down. (During that week, I put a barrier down the middle of the tank so that they were apart.) They're both fine now, housing-wise.
Alas, during that time, I encountered a new problem. These two were scared rotten of people. In retrospect, the only reason the guy in the shop was able to handle them was because they were immobile with fear. I tried for months to socialise them, offering them food from my hands, letting them get used to me being around. This wasn't helped by the fact that I needed to clean them out - this was always incredibly traumatic for both of them, no matter how gentle and quiet I tried to be. Nothing's worked. Neither of them enjoy being handled at all, even entering their cages causes absolute hysteria. I swear, it's like hamster pinball everytime you walk by, since they throw themselves around the box that hard.
(For the record, on top of everything else, they're both speed demons. They've destroyed two wheels each already, since they run them that hard.)
Gadget's gotten gradually better now - he's realised that I represent food, and will sit out waiting for me to return with fresh stuff, so long as I don't move too quickly. Gizmo's always been much more shy, and still spends all his time hiding. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm being cruel - they seem so scared all the time, and that can't be any fun for such a little thing. ;_; It breaks my heart, seeing them both like that.
Oh, and I bought all my hammies from the same place. Seems odd how different they are when it comes to people. :\
Sorry for the length! ^^"