Hamsters ! - Page 2

davo69 · 27-06-2007, 06:37

freddie star might eat them i meen take them

Mick · 27-06-2007, 07:51

He want them !

Not sure about a good home though

panther · 27-06-2007, 08:43

dont like the little rodents!, remind me of mice with no tale

and they stink!

davo69 · 27-06-2007, 08:51

dont tell sussiewong shes already got two rabbits off magpie she loves hamsters

lindsay ormerod · 27-06-2007, 18:06

Hopefully the hamster issue is resolved,it looks like we are having 1 and Blazey the other. Ours will be named Richard in honour of the gorgeous Richard Hammond

blazey · 27-06-2007, 18:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

That holds true for some hamsters blazey but the dwarf Russians actually get on better if they have company and we always kept two of the same sex in a cage together.

At one time we accidentally kept a male and female together and accidentally had a sudden increase in hamster population. We never had a problem with them fighting or attacking each other though. Occasionally we had demon hamsters which attacked us but on the whole they were friendly little chaps and chapesses.

I had two russians and one ate the other when I was about 10yr old.

I used to work in a pet shop and we get trained on this sort of thing and what we should and shouldn't sell. Most hamsters are potentially cannibalistic towards eachother once they reach maturity and any decent pet shop wont sell you two together unless you have a very large cage that gives them their own space and reduces the risk of dominant behaviour.

WillowTheWhisp · 27-06-2007, 20:21

We will have to agree to disagree about the Russian Dwarf Blazey. As I said, most hamsters are solitary creatures and will fight if housed together but I used to live next door to a breeder of Russian Dwarf hamsters and we've had many of them ourselves and they are not like the golden or Syrian hamsters. They are social creatures. Ours were always housed together and never fought. They snuggled up with each other to sleep, played games together and enjoyed each other's company.

Have a look at this website. Look at the section on Cambell's Russian Dwarf and Roborovski Dwarf, and Winter White Siberian in particular this statement:

Quote:

Russian hamsters should be brought in pairs or groups because they are a sociable group.

and this:

Quote:

Roborovski hamsters are very sociable and should be brought in pairs of the same sex although many pet shops cannot sex these hamsters confidently.

and this:

Quote:

Winter White hamsters are sociable and should be sold in pairs of the same sex to avoid breeding.

BLACKBURN RAVER · 27-06-2007, 22:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

We will have to agree to disagree about the Russian Dwarf Blazey. As I said, most hamsters are solitary creatures and will fight if housed together but I used to live next door to a breeder of Russian Dwarf hamsters and we've had many of them ourselves and they are not like the golden or Syrian hamsters. They are social creatures. Ours were always housed together and never fought. They snuggled up with each other to sleep, played games together and enjoyed each other's company.

Have a look at this website. Look at the section on Cambell's Russian Dwarf and Roborovski Dwarf, and Winter White Siberian in particular this statement:

and this:

and this:

i hate people who always have to be right...whats the point ffs

cant beleive you actually took the time to google a site then post a link AND then "qoute"...ffs you need a life..all he did was make an opinion and you had top go and shoot him down...its pathetic...

WillowTheWhisp · 27-06-2007, 23:09

And I dislike people insisting that I do not know what I'm talking about when I actually do.

If the hamsters in question in this thread are Russian Dwarfs and have been living together up to now it is actually cruel to separate them and they could end up pining for each other by hey ho I don't know anything do I? I've only kept them and bred them myself and had plenty of personal experience when living next door to a breeder.

I have never known one Russian Dwarf to attack another let alone eat it, and to illustrate my point I posted the link to the website - no doubt you're going to insist they don't know what they are talking about either.

MUMMIBOO · 28-06-2007, 12:49

I have to agree with you Willow dwarf hamsters are social and prefer to be together with company and syrian hamsters will fight each other they protect their own home we have a grey and white hamster called Katie she used to be black and white but she got old and graceful! lol she has a huge mansion of a house with 6 rooms and tube and alsorts shes spoilt!!

We did our homework before we got her because she was for my son and we decided not to get dwarf hammies coz they would be too quick for him to handle. I had hamsters when i was younger.

blazey · 30-06-2007, 14:59

Anyone want to explain people bringing in half eaten hamsters complaining about them being sold in pairs then by new staff?

Specifically got told NOT to do it, the same went for selling guinea pigs and rabbits together.

Two of my own hamsters once did it when i was younger and the pet shop there even said they should never have been sold in pairs. In my experience at the pet shop the hamsters generally hated eachother. As for them pining once seperated, thats ridiculous as hamsters are seperated in pet shops every day and nobody complains of having depressed hamsters!

WillowTheWhisp · 01-07-2007, 00:26

It's the different types of hamsters Blazey. The Syrians will attack each other and should be kept apart but the dwarf hamsters are totally different. Hamster breeders and hamster websites all say the same. We've had literally dozens of them and never had a case of one being attacked by another. Our cats fall out with each other more than any of our dwarf hamsters ever did. They are social creatures. We've had Campbells, Roborovskis and Winter White. One of the Cambells was a hamster from hell when it came to humans but she never attacked another hamster.

I totally agree with you when it comes to the Syrian or golden hamsters though. They should not be kept in pairs because they will fight.

Which pet shop did you work for?

WillowTheWhisp · 01-07-2007, 09:02

I've just thought of a possible reason why your dwarfs may have fought each other - if the cage they were in was rather small they may have felt claustrophobic and wanted more individual space. We had a couple of Roborovskis who played happily together during the day but one would sleep in the nest box and the other made a little nest for himself in the main part of the cage.

carl hurles · 01-07-2007, 09:18

we had 2 russian hamsters thay was suppost to be to male but when thay turned 12mnth thay had babies within a couple of mnth we had 100 babies it was crazy we couldnt get new homes quick enoughf so weve decided no more hamsters lol its tempting tho

WillowTheWhisp · 01-07-2007, 14:00

That was how we started breeding them Carl - by accident. We had one winter white and one which was a cross between a Roborovski and a Campbells but we thought both were male until one had babies. We didn't realise until the nesting fluff moved when the hamsters weren't near it.

Then we assumed that the one which didn't seem to have maternal instincts must be the male and the one trying to encourage them to eat solids must be the female so we put the 'male' in with another guy and she had more babies!

Both litters did really well and we ended up flooded out with the things but we did have some very interesting 'mongrels' of all colours and varieties. My favourite hamster of all time was a weird little brown haired chap we called Bruno. He looked like a punk. His fur just stuck straight up in peaks all over his body. He was great fun, very friendly. We got quite into hamster breeding after that, helped and assisted by our neighbour who'd bred the originals.

I miss them but don't think I could cope with any more at the mo because it was always me had to clean them out and it was a major operation.