Hi all

I am looking to some hamsters for my little boy this Thursday. I want to get one of those fancy cages with lots of tunnels and pipes etc.

Can anyone recommend a really good place to buy the gear from, along with the hamsters themselves? I want a place that will give me good information about the best breeds to buy and all that kind of information.

Cheers:)

I get all my stuff from Pets At Home, Crystal Peaks retail park.

I'f you get a big one with fancy tunnels, bear in mind it will take you a long time to clean them and this can become a bind after a year or so. They WILL need cleaning every week.

What sort of hamster are you looking to get him?

Cheers

So you recommend a simpler cage then? Thats worth thinking about, ta

Well, I saw from going in that place in the retail park on Chesterfield Road that there are certain types that can live in groups happily, and others that have to be bought individually. I was guessing this was due to temperament?

I am thinking of getting a pair of them, I feel its a bit unfair on the little things to have them on their own. Not really sure what type to get? Any ideas would be welcome!

VERY IMPORTANT

Please, please, please, DO NOT house 2 hamsters together, male OR female, OR mixed!!!!!!!!!

THEY WILL FIGHT TO THE DEATH!!!

this is very very important to know.

if you want a hammie, house them singly they are not at all social/ sociable animals. If you desperately want to have a pair of hammy -type animals get a couple of gerbils, they'll live together fairly well. similar size similar care needs, similar personalities.

I kept hammies for years. Even roborovski dwarves (russian dwarves), which are supposed to be social, can fight, I needed to separate my last two, eric and ernie, (on account of their short, fat, hairy legs, lol) because they were fighting.

trust me, it's not a pretty sight when one hammy has ripped the other to shreds.

ok the equipment:-

there's a stall downstairs in the castle market that sells hammy cages, both ordinary, and rotastak. try them or alternatively middletons pet store at the bottom of the moor does them (but they're a gnat's dearer)

there are hamster-aficionado sites alll over the 'net, have a look at them for care advice.

be warned, they are "gnaw-ers" and noisy and nocturnal ( active at night ) so your little-'un might not get the enjoyment you want him to have, from them. hammies and gerbils are also not very long-lived pets, either, a couple of years, ish.

PT

Cheers

So you recommend a simpler cage then? Thats worth thinking about, ta

Well, I saw from going in that place in the retail park on Chesterfield Road that there are certain types that can live in groups happily, and others that have to be bought individually. I was guessing this was due to temperament?

I am thinking of getting a pair of them, I feel its a bit unfair on the little things to have them on their own. Not really sure what type to get? Any ideas would be welcome!

this is further to the post I made above....

Syrian hammies (the big hammies) may look as if they can live together, but this is because they are under about eight weeks old. once they mature, they fight to the death.

please be careful which you get, and how you mix them together.

PT

My advice on breeds:

Syrian: They are the bigger hamsters that are commenly kept. They must be kept alone. They can be quite tame once used to humans but need a bigger cage and wheel to keep going.

Chinese Dwarf: They can be kept in groups, although i recently had to split my 2 female ones apart. They are only small and grow to about 3" in length. They are very nice animals and good climbers, its fun to watch them climb the cage like superman.

Roborovskii: Smaller than the above, very fast and can jump a foot in the air. Therefore i would not advise these for a small child as they will escape when he tries to handle them.

It is always best to buy the biggest cage you can afford. For bedding try the recycled material they sell in shops along with cotton woll for bedding, DO NOT USE SAWDUST as it will get caught in their eyes and irritate the little critters. You need to provide a house for them (they cost £2.50 max) just so they have somewhere to shy away when they get frightened.

Try and feed them the mix what pet shops sell and give them additional treats (they LOVE sweetcorn and sunflower seeds) but not too much. You also need to provide them with a mineral stone to keep their teeth nice and sharp but not too long.

Provide them with toys and keep swapping them weekly to keep the hamster on its toes and occupied.

A ball is good to but them in so they can have a run around while you clean the cage out, but not all hamsters take to them - some try and dig their way out and are not happy at all.

You can also buy chinchilla (sp??) dust and a dish for it, the hamsters clean their fine fur in this and it is fun to watch them rolling around and doing backflips (chinese dwarfs anyway!!) while they clean themselves.

Avoid feeding them anything high in salt or garlic as this will kill them. They can have tomato, grapes and cucumber (although mine dont like any of them).

Thats all i can think of atm, might add more tomorrow..

contact these for advice

British Hamster Association PO Box 825 Sheffield S17 3RU

here's a website with advice on care
http://www.britishhamsterassociation.org.uk/get_article.php?fname=journal/StartingOut.htm

hope this helps?

PT

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=109716

Check out that thread, its an example of the responsibility and health problems that can crop up at any time

:)

Thanks Plain Talker, useful advice.

I am beggining to think I may have made a wrong choice now. Its his birthday you see, and I was going to surprise him. He loves animals, and I was going to use this as an opportunity for him to be able to care for one. Obviously I would be doing all of the cleaning and caring - he is only three !

But I was going to put the cage in his room, if they are quite noisy it may keep him awake. Do they make a lot of noise even in the plastic cages?

sorry, posting again.

important:- bedding:-

Never never ever use that cotton wool type bedding that you can buy from pet shops, for your hammy because it can kill, it's nasty nylon, vile stuff.

tear up WHITE Toilet roll (NOT kitchen roll as it doesn't dissolve the same way)into small strips, and the hammy will use it for nesting.

PT

Mine do make some noise, especially when they used to squabble (but thats normal social behaviour - its only when they come out with injuries you need to split them up) but apart from that i can only ever hear the wheel occasionally when they decide to bang it at the side of the cage endlessly for an hour or so (lol).

To be honest i wouldnt get one for a 3 year old, by the time he's old enough to appriciate it they hamster will probably be on its last legs anyway.

Perhaps some fish would be better?

Thanks Navigator too, you guys are being really helpful !

sorry, posting again.

important:- bedding:-

Never never ever use that cotton wool type bedding that you can buy from pet shops, for your hammy because it can kill, it's nasty nylon, vile stuff.

tear up WHITE Toilet roll (NOT kitchen roll as it doesn't dissolve the same way)into small strips, and the hammy will use it for nesting.

PT

I never knew that, i've used it for years and never had a problem?

Infact my current two wont sleep on anything else?

Thanks Plain Talker, useful advice.

I am beggining to think I may have made a wrong choice now. Its his birthday you see, and I was going to surprise him. He loves animals, and I was going to use this as an opportunity for him to be able to care for one. Obviously I would be doing all of the cleaning and caring - he is only three !

But I was going to put the cage in his room, if they are quite noisy it may keep him awake. Do they make a lot of noise even in the plastic cages?
do they make a noise?

my GOODNESS do they EVER make a racket!!!!!!!

they chew their cage bars / plastic like mad, gnawing, gnawing trying to get out.

if they are on their wheel, it's noisy.

they are lovely, but not the best pet for teeny tinies.

PT

Mine do make some noise, especially when they used to squabble (but thats normal social behaviour - its only when they come out with injuries you need to split them up) but apart from that i can only ever hear the wheel occasionally when they decide to bang it at the side of the cage endlessly for an hour or so (lol).

To be honest i wouldnt get one for a 3 year old, by the time he's old enough to appriciate it they hamster will probably be on its last legs anyway.

Perhaps some fish would be better?

yeah, you may be right there. I did consider a rabbit, with a hutch in the garden, but we have a lot of foxes around here and they may get scared to death.

I never knew that, i've used it for years and never had a problem?

Infact my current two wont sleep on anything else?

trust me navigator, it's nasty stuff, it can wrap round their innards, and/ or cause an obstruction in a way t'p doesn't.

PT

Fair enough, when i clean the cages out i'll try some TP instead see how they go with that...

I've a feeling i might get them banging the wheel against the side of the cage all night in protest though...lol

yeah, you may be right there. I did consider a rabbit, with a hutch in the garden, but we have a lot of foxes around here and they may get scared to death.

we had a bunny, donkey's years ago when i was a kid.

It went missing.

turned up in the freezer of next door but one!!!

edit to ask
nav.. isn't it your little ham that's been badly? how's s/he doing? any improvement?

PT

yeah, you may be right there. I did consider a rabbit, with a hutch in the garden, but we have a lot of foxes around here and they may get scared to death.

The only animals you can get what are low maintenance and will provide him with something to look at/feed are Fish by the sounds of it.

A goldfish or two need minimal upkeep, it will teach him that he has to be nice to animals and remember to feed them while also giving him something to look at?

I wouldnt buy those from Pets At Home though, i always use Birley Moor Garden Centre for all my fish...tropical or coldwater!!

we had a bunny, donkey's years ago when i was a kid.

It went missing.

turned up in the freezer of next door but one!!!

edit to ask
nav.. isn't it your little ham that's been badly? how's s/he doing? any improvement?

PT

Yeah i updated in the chit chat room - it was an abcess and it burst yesterday. Seems to be on an upward recovery curve thankfully :)

Cheers for asking!

glad to hear s/he's doing better.

I've not got any, (but would in a heartbeat if I could lol) but I know lots of people recommend rats as good kiddies' pets, over hamsters. Less likely to bite, much friendlier and people-oriented, and bigger, so more robust when it comes to kids handling them (though obviously still have to be careful). Still gonna have noise issues if kept in his room, but think you'll get that with all animals, my gerbils drive me mad at night lol

I got all three of mine from Middletons at the bottom of The Moor. I'm not keen on places like Pets At Home.

I got my hamster, 'elephant' is his name, from Middletons on the 26th january 2005. Hes still fighing fit and is incredible social.
He enjoys eating with me. We often share meals but i try to limit his intake of anything spicy, or sugary.
He was born early December 2004, and was a few weeks old when i got him. He's had 2 cage upgrades since then, and hes gone through 3 exercise balls! He had a crash in three of the exercise balls.

Initially he was very scared and wanted to bite, but within a few days (2 weeks actually before i felt confident) he got used to me. I first placed my hand in the cage wearing a glove so he could sniff me, and then after i put my bare hand in, eventually until he moved onto it when i could remove him from the cage.

Hes very hardy and likes to jump from alot of things, worktops, tables, chairs.
I've never really had any major problems, apart from the time when he went exploring behind the kitchen cupboard for a few hours, i thought he was a gonna.

in short...Get a hamster from middletons!

Turpz is right, I'd recommend rats as a great pet for children. I have two at the moment!

They are extremely intelligent, sturdy for little hands and more easy to cuddle. They also don't mind being woken up and played with whereas a hamster would.

I think that they're really good pets for children as you can experiment with foods (there are loads of things they love) and you can teach them to sit on your shoulder etc.

Drawbacks are that you have to buy a pair, males tend to be a bit lazier and of course larger. Also their cage needs to be fairly large too and they need plently of stimulation (Toys etc.). There generally isn't an issue with forgetting to feed or cuddle them because they'll make sure they remind you trust me!:)

Don't know if they still do this, but going back a couple of years the pet store at Wentworth Garden Centre used to give you the hamster if you bought a cage from them. :thumbsup:

Turpz is right, I'd recommend rats as a great pet for children. I have two at the moment!

Absolutely, ratties make better pets for kids in my opinion. I got my two (sisters) from Middletons on the moor and once I'd got them off the sawdust they stopped sneezing and cheered up no end. I got them a fancy cage with tubes from there as well which (now I've perfected the art) I can clean in 20 minutes including a completely dismantle and wash down of tubes and shelves (whilst the little darlings examine my sofa for anything edible). The initial cost of a nice cage is worth it - keeps them occupied and happy. Avoid sawdust at all costs as it aggrevates their respiratory systems - I found biocatlet cat litter to be pretty good for them and what ever bills / non glossy junk mail you can shred for them to poop on / nest with :thumbsup: Also avoid wheels for rats for two reasons, they are far too intelligent for such stupid antics and they can easily get their tails trapped if they are inquisitive to try it once!

Rats do need lots of handling as they are very social creatures, so they must be cuddled and let out for a run around (within reason obviously) build a play pen etc and it should be said - don't leave them unsupervised type thing (stating the obvious). They never bite (mine never have anyhow) as well which makes them perfect little buddies :D

Good luck on finding the right pet - ultimately it's up to you, if you need any more rattie adivce, please PM me and I'll try to help!

I've got one!!

On the advice given here, I went to Middletons today and bought Betty, a 6 week old Syrian hamster. She has moved into a nice new Rotostack (?) cage with tubes and different levels.

My little boy was overjoyed when he saw her after opening the rest of his birthday presents today. She was in here cage upstairs in his room, so I took him up there telling him there was another 'small' present for him to unwrap. I had loosely placed some wrapping paper over the cage so it could be lifted off. His little face was a picture when he saw her. He came up with the name Betty three days ago when I casually asked him what he would call a Hamster if he ever had one, and he said Betty. Where the name came from I have no idea!
She is lovely. Very tame, no biting so far. The staff at Middletons were very good, picking her out as one that wasnt jumpy or likely to be ill tempered.

So, thanks for all the advice everyone!

Scratch that!! sorry

middletons on the moor sell lots of small animals - i got my pet mouse from there - he's a cheeky fellow.... good luck

I've got one!!

On the advice given here, I went to Middletons today and bought Betty, a 6 week old Syrian hamster. She has moved into a nice new Rotostack (?) cage with tubes and different levels.

My little boy was overjoyed when he saw her after opening the rest of his birthday presents today. She was in here cage upstairs in his room, so I took him up there telling him there was another 'small' present for him to unwrap. I had loosely placed some wrapping paper over the cage so it could be lifted off. His little face was a picture when he saw her. He came up with the name Betty three days ago when I casually asked him what he would call a Hamster if he ever had one, and he said Betty. Where the name came from I have no idea!
She is lovely. Very tame, no biting so far. The staff at Middletons were very good, picking her out as one that wasnt jumpy or likely to be ill tempered.

So, thanks for all the advice everyone!

Nice one, i hope you have fun :thumbsup:

All these posts about hamsters and not a single mention of Richard Gere.......:confused:

I think this is possibily the only thread i have read where someone has asked for advice and not been mocked - as seems to be the usual thing with this forum.

Well done everyone who contributed in an adult and non-cliquey/playground fashion..

Hi Bibble,
I have a syrian Hammy and a Roborovski (they live separately of course!) and I found out all I needed to know at www.petwebsite.com, if you have any questions there is always someone on the forum there who can advise.
Claire x

yaay, welcome, little Betty.

you'll have to post some links to photographs of her!

PT

If you've got one of those plastic tubey things with a plastic cage, you might consider supergluing some of the joints. Not so you can't clean properly of course!

We found that the tubes were very easy to dislodge if they were accidentally knocked, and it takes forever to find an escaped hamster....

:)

I got our hamster from Wentworth garden centre. Sorry if someone else has put this, i haven't bothered reading all the thread.

[and it takes forever to find an escaped hamster....
====
I'll second that. We had a very sad incident with our hamster a few weeks ago, our cat (Who isn't normally allowed in with the furries and who must have sneaked in) knocked the hamster cage over, it took my husband and me ages to finally catch the hamster and when we did the poor thing keeled over and died, presumably with the shock of the whole thing :sad:

i have baby hamsters ready for a new home,am near the university,sheffield

Having had a bad experience with a Pets at Home hamster that lasted only a few weeks, does anyone know a local breeder, or good pet shop where the hamsters are healthy and reasonably tame?

I'm already missing the relentless sound of the wheel in the evenings!:)

When we got our hamster, we got it from Middleton's in Worksop, it was really healthy and lasted a good 4 years. We've always had bad experiences with guinea pigs from Pets at Home. We've had 6 of the things and the longest any of them survived was a year. :suspect:

Can we keep the pets at home grumbles to the pets at home grumble thread please? :thumbsup:

this thread is in danger of wandering off topic ;)

Is that a different Middletons to the Pet Shop at the bottom of the Moor? Or are they part of a chain?

I would be interested in that too as recently I was in the branch at Worksop and wasn't sure if it was just coinsidence that it was called the same or if it is a small chain - does anyone know of any other branches?

Have a look around the rescues like the RSPCA. No use buying a baby when theres one that will probably already be tame waiting for you there. :)

Indeed, go to the RSPCA, I think there are some right now at Bawtry.

If not then go to Paws here in Broomhill, they get their hamsters from a local Hamster breeder and Judge of the Hamster Society, they're always very tame, especially the winter whites - mine would just splat in my hand and where the sweetest hammies ever.

Is there anywhere in Sheffield that sells Roborovski hamsters? We're thinking of getting a dwarf hamster and these look so adorable!
Thanks

Think pets at home in crystal peaks have them.

they have them at pet shop at bottom of the moor

Hi, Wentworth Garden Centre sell them!:hihi:

No need to shout ;)

The pet shop in Hillsborough (Hillsborough Place) sell them too. Got mine from there and he is adorable:love:

Dems is da cootest wickle fings, aaaaah.

I have 2 new ones that I bought from Chesterfield. They are incredibly cute and small, but my god are they FAST! Don't let go of them if your holding them as it took me 30 minutes to catch one of mine that jumped off my hand and put it safely back in its cage!

Threads merged

My friend has got some Chinese Dwarfs today - so cute! - from Pets and Home, heeley retail park. Two boys. From what I've read it seems to be OK to keep two of the same breed if they come from the same litter, which these do - they seemed to like each other.
The shop also had some Russians and Roborovskis, which are even cuter in real life!! But I think I wouldn't want to get a Roborovski to play with because they are really fast?
Does anyone have any experience mixing Roborovskis with other Russians? - I've read that it's ok to mix them because they're both Russian breeds... But I don't want to use them as guinea pigs (ha ha).
Cheers

Our little boy really liked having rabbits and as you say there are a lot of foxes where you live why not keep them inside, you can even house train them or do as we did buy a big cages and keep them indoors if you have the room and get them out regularly to play.

I am going to buy my hamster from Middletons at the bottom of the moor as soon as i find my ideal cage!

this is further to the post I made above....

Syrian hammies (the big hammies) may look as if they can live together, but this is because they are under about eight weeks old. once they mature, they fight to the death.

please be careful which you get, and how you mix them together.

PT

I adopted (so to speak) of Monkeyness last week and her 2 male 9 month are in together and apparently have been from birth with no problems at all.:confused: