Vital Pet Health

Caring for your Hamster

Hamsters are one of our most popular small pets, they are

entertaining, fairly easy to look after and you don’t have to take

them for a walk. They come in a variety of sizes, colours and coat

lengths including the Syrian or Golden hamster; the Dwarf Campbell

Russian hamster; the Chinese and Roborovskil hamsters; and the

Winter White Russian hamster. There are hundreds more species still

living in the wild.

Housing

Most species of hamster are solitary and will fight to the death if

you introduce another hamster in to their cage. Dwarf hamsters are

the exception. Provided they have sufficient space they can normally

live as a pair or a group but males living together will still

squabble whilst female dwarves kept together are less likely to.

Always buy one cage per hamster and never put a male and female

together unless you want to have lots of little hamsters running

around in a months’ time.

Larger hamsters such as the Golden hamster need strong cages with

strong bases and preferably with more than one level. Hamsters are

very good at escaping so the stronger the cage the better and if you

don’t want your hamster to go walkabout make sure the cage is secure.

Hamsters have a short life span – two to three years. During this

short period, however, they are very active and even if they are let

out of their cages on a regular basis an exercise wheel is a

necessity. When choosing a wheel make sure it has solid treads and

fits properly to the side of the cage so the hamster does not hurt

himself.

The smaller variety of hamster such as the Chinese and Campbell need

smaller cages to stop them escaping through the bars. For these

smaller species however a converted aquarium or similar type of tank

makes a good secure home as long as they have plenty of toys to play

with including a solidly constructed exercise wheel.

Hamster’s teeth grow continually throughout their lives so it is

important to ensure they always have plenty to gnaw on or they will

start on the cage.