We all know what these crazy little things are, these
loveable rodents with cute furry faces. Thousands upon thousands of hamsters
die every year, probably every day, due to
improper care by new owners,
neglect, and
stupidity in general. I'm no hamster
expert, but at times in my life I've cared for as many as
50 at once, and I didn't even breed to sell them.. actually most of them were bred
accidentally (
it happens..). Below is a list of some things I've picked up on my own that most
books fail to mention:
-
Your hamster needs sleep. You can't keep the poor thing awake all day long just because you want to play with it! I shouldn't say that, you can, but you'll be
cutting its life in half. The best times to play with them is when you come upon them
already awake, and they do wake up sometimes,
believe it or not. As they age, you'll want to play with them a little bit less, because they need
more sleep. The longest I've had a hamster live is
5 or 6 years, and I'm told that's far
above average.
- If you take your hamster to the vet when it's sick, 9 out of 10 times they'll tell you
there is nothing you can do, mostly because
they don't care. At least, this has been my experience, though I'm sure it
may vary drastically from place to place. There are some common pretty successfully
treatable diseases (like
wet-tail) found in hamsters that you can look up in various books, on websites, etc., etc.. make sure you keep an eye on the little thing,
they can't tell you when they're sick. If you look for them, you'll likely be able to
recognize behavioural changes that may
indicate illness, like increased irritability,
lethargy, and some other important stuff.
- Make sure you know what your hamster can and cannot
eat. They get bloated easily from foods that aren't appropriate for them..
cabbage is one thing you shouldn't give to the poor little guys. Again,
research is the key.
-
DO NOT breed your hamster just so you can have cute little babies. One, most people haven't the slightest idea how to care for a
pregnant hamster and don't bother to do anything differently. Secondly, most people also don't know what to do
after the babies are born. It's also important to note that you will not be the only one with the idea to
breed and sell hamsters, so you'll likely end up with a bunch of little
critters that you don't know what to do with, because you surely can't keep them all. (Actually,
you can keep an awful lot, but it might get
costly and VERY
time consuming as far as cleaning goes). Think before you breed them, and research!
If that last part came too late, and you've already got a pregnant hamster.. I'm going to
compile some
tips for taking care of hamster
babies and their
mommy.
Well, that was kind of long-winded. Any way.. for more hamster information, try: http://www.hamsters.co.uk/
It's helped me dozens of times during my hamster raising years. Tee-hee.
Remember, just 'cause they're rodents doesn't mean you can
abuse them, hamsters are
living things too. Oh.. and don't give them to tiny kids so that they can get their
eyeballs squeezed out of their tiny little heads. Use
common sense.