Hamsters - Fuzzy Balls Of Fun

As a child, most of us grew up with hamsters or friends who had hamsters. Even our children are fascinated with the small fuzzy creatures. There are many types of hamsters, dwarf, Syrian, Russian, Chinese, and hybrid. The hamster is a burrower so they prefer to have lots of bedding to hide under as well as tubes to create little nests in. The most difficult aspect of hamsters is telling if they are female or male and being wrong. Who has bought two hamsters thinking they were the same gender and ending up with ten hamsters? I certainly have.

Pocket Hamster by Jane Cockman

A lot of biologists and geneticists use hamsters and other rodents to show genetic possibilities. In genetics, we often discuss the genome and how genes are dispersed in relation to eye color, hair color, and other traits. When you have hamsters as pets you are seeing this first hand. I had one gold hamster and one white hamster. When they bred I ended up with several color traits from gold, white, black, white and black to many more. Half the fun for kids is seeing the baby hamsters grow up with different colors. It can be a great science project for school as well as having a wonderful pet.

Hamsters are relatively easy to take care of. You can feed them hamster food, vegetables, and little hamster treats to give them a good life. The bedding should be changed weekly or twice a week depending upon how many hamsters you have. The downside to hamsters is their short lives. Most live only a year or two making it difficult on the younger children.

There are lots of hamster accessories from tubes to wheels. Hamsters like other pets need to have exercise so giving them wheels to run on or having a hamster ball to run around the house in is good for them. The tubing and cages come in a variety of colors to add to a child’s fun. You can create straight pathways to other larger home areas or curve them around to reenter the same cage. Most of the caging is plastic and your hamster will try to chew or claw there way free. You will want to monitor their activity when you clean the cage to make sure they are not producing a hole. Some hamster owners go with a metal wire cage with tiny slits to avoid the chewing escape. Your preference will determine the type of accessories you purchase.

Handling hamsters should be kept to a minimum and you should always wash your hand before and after. Hamsters can have a tendency to bite if they are not handled at least once a day or if they become scared. Be cautious with little children.

Hamsters are a lot of fun for all ages whether you have a budding scientist or just want an easy pet your child can care for. You will want to make sure you feed your hamster properly by not over feeding them while maintaining proper exercise. When your hamsters procreate, you will want to separate out the mother and children from the rest of the crew. A cautionary note before concluding this article: Dwarf hamsters are very susceptible to infections with cedar chips because it can tear holes in their tiny mouths.

Author Resource: Written by David Peterson
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Hamster Care - How to Assure Good Hamster Health

Hamster by cdrussorusso

Hamsters are adorable, small creatures which create a smile on the face of nearly everyone who sees or owns one. They are in fact one of the original "pocket pets" and there are very few people who have not owned one or wanted one.

Dwarf hamster care is relatively easy, but there are a few things that are necessary in order to assure that they are healthy and well-nourished.

Your dwarf hamster needs adequate room in his or her cage. They need room to spread out, to exercise and to move around. A cage with one room will suffice unless you're breeding hamsters, in which case you really need to give the mom hamster somewhere to hide.

Keeping your cage clean is imperative. At least twice a week you will need to change the bedding and nesting materials in order to assure that your hamster stays healthy and your cage stays odor free.

Hamsters are gnawing animals. They are a member of the rodent family. One thing that is very uncommon about hamsters is that they need to chew, very literally, in order to stay healthy. Provide them with chew sticks or tough wood that can grind their teeth down to size. They will grow continuously over their lifespan and if you don't provide a way to grind them off, the teeth of your hamster can actually grow down through their lip and cause severe problems for the hamster.

The hamster normally lives in desert conditions. This means that they sleep most of the day and will be awake most of the night time. They like warmer climates and really depend on their warmth. Keeping your hamster in a cage that is too close to a cooling area or an air conditioning vent may result in a cold for your hamster that they won't recover from.

Photo Credit: cdrussorusso

Hamsters normally live in burrows when they are in the wild. This means that you need to give your hamster some cover area in order to permit them to feel safe when they are sleeping. Add some extra bedding materials in order that they can cover themselves up and get beneath the bedding.

Feed your hamster a good diet of hamster food that is rated for small rodents. Typically you can supplement it with vegetables and other items but pay attention to anything that may cause a loose stool in your hamster. When hamsters have loose stools it can cause great problems because they dehydrate very rapidly being so small.

Keep an ample supply of fresh water for your hamster and don't use a bowl to supply it. You need to use a hanging water bottle in order to assure that the bowl doesn't tip and wet your small friend.

If you pay attention to what your hamster is telling you and watch to be sure that you are offering him a healthy clean environment in which to live, your hamster will live to a ripe old age of about 2 to 3 years and you will have provided great dwarf hamster care.

About the Author
Written by Robert Sands
These are just a few tips but if you want to learn more about what is proper hamster care then you need to Click the blue link to learn more about dwarf hamster care. If you want the healthiest, happiest, and best behaved little Hamster around then click the blue link hamster pets info
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