So I Now Have a Hamster......

I seem to have inherited a hamster, at least for the time being. My cousin passed away over Labor Day weekend, and he had a hamster that nobody in the family seems to want, so I said I would take him (or her?). I really had no desire for a hamster, so had found a home for him in my friend's classroom (she's a teacher). Then I saw my other cousin (the little sister of the cousin who died) at his funeral. She is in foster care (long story) and seemed to want the hamster. I spoke to her case worker who seemed to think that she would benefit from the hamster (she is special needs), but they have to clear things with the foster family, so I told her I would hang on to the hamster and gave her my contact info.

Nobody seemed to know the hamster's name, so we named him Billy. We think Billy is a dwarf hamster, and he's grey and white. He's very friendly and active. We got him a Crittertrail cage and he loves the wheel, he runs on it for hours at a time.

I have to admit that I like having the little guy around!

Hamsters are cool, fun little guys If I was to have a small pet again, it would probably be a hamster or two

How old is your cousin? Dwarf hamsters (really any hamsters, but especially dwarves) tend to make horrible pets for kids, as they tend to bite, and hard

Remember to get some meat protein into him, as well! (Either in the way of ham, or a hard boiled egg would even do it)

She is in her early teens, the hamster doesn't seem to be much of a bitter though. The protein thing is a good tip. I've been giving him this food called Hazel Hamster food.

Every person I know has always said that, but my dwarves were always the sweetest things and the syrians were the nasty biters! :lol-sign:

I really enjoy having a dwarf hamster around. I've had Cid since the beginning of summer now (I inherited him from a friend after he peed on her...) and he is just the cutest little thing! ^^

I don't see that anyone else has mentioned it so I thought I would, crittertrails are way too small for a dwarf hamster. They need at least 360 square inches of floor space. If you can, you can build a bin cage, they are easy to make, light, and easy to clean. And another thing, dwarf hamsters are great for kids imo. We have two winter white dwarf hamsters and my brother handles them quite a bit. They will just sit in my hands when I handle them too, and walk around but they aren't too quick. As long as a hamster is tame it will do fine with kids.

What about if I got a second habitat and connected them? Would that be enough space? My concern with a bin enclosure is that I have 2 dogs and 2 cats, and one of the dogs will eat the hamster if given the chance, and there is no lid on the bins.

I think the CritterTrail will be alright as long as he has enough stimulation. I kept two in a large Crittertrail quite successfully and they never seemed unhappy. Not a lot of floor room, but plenty of space to explore (in the tubes), sleep (in the cubby area), and run (in the wheel). I ended up getting a different cage just because I despise cleaning CritterTrails and they always fell apart on me.

Connecting two cages together would work, or you could just pick up a ten or twenty gallon aquarium with a screen lid. That would be extra sturdy and dog/cat proof!

He was in a 10 gallon, which I still have, but it had no lid and I thought the critter trail looked more interesting for a hamster. Is there a way to connect the tank and the crittertrail do you think?

One of my cats was the same way and we bought a bin, drilled some holes on the top and I had mice and hamsters (in different bins of course) in them. It's easily possible to connect a cage to a tank, I'm sure of it. You can just have a tunnel going into the tank and you can build a mesh top for the tank so he won't climb out. They become much more interesting to watch and are much more active when they have more space.