How to care for a hamster. Caring for hamsters and keeping them at home photo, video

Choice when purchasing

When buying a hamster, it is quite difficult to settle on just one individual, since each of them will cause affection. To understand the true nature and type of higher nervous activity of a rodent before purchasing, you need to start purchasing it in the afternoon, when the animal is in wakefulness mode. In this case, the potential owner will be able to see all the advantages and disadvantages of his pet.

Hamsters are solitary animals and never live in packs; when buying an animal, you should not look for a mate. If you plan to keep more than one individual, it is advisable to take rodents from the same litter, or young ones. This is especially important if the decision is made to purchase two males.

An important point is to study the hamster for diseases. A sick individual is distinguished by the following signs:

dull, tousled fur;
noticeably sunken sides;
paw tremor;
red eyes and signs of runny nose;
traces of smeared feces in the anus;
hoarse breathing;
general body trembling.

A healthy hamster is always cheerful and cheerful, its body is symmetrical without bumps or depressions, its coat is smooth and shiny, its eyes are clear, and its nose is without signs of a runny nose.

Is it worth waking up the home?

If the hamster stops playing and sleeps all day, then he has gone into hibernation. There are two options here: either wake him up or let him sleep. What is the right thing to do? And here it all depends on the physiology of the hamster.

It is recommended to wake up your pet if he is numb from the cold. But this must be done according to the rules. You need to immediately warm the animal well; to do this, take it in your hands. Heating devices cannot be used for this.

Hold it in your hands and stroke it gently. You will notice how over a period of time his body will become warmer and his breathing will become more frequent. After which your pet will begin to slowly move, which means that he is waking up.

If the rodent fell into hibernation due to severe stress, then it is better to let it sleep well. How long his sleep will last depends on the degree of stress and the pet’s health.

Housing issue

Before buying a hamster, you need to prepare a place for its future keeping. Purchasing glass jars or aquariums for these purposes is a common mistake. Such housing will not be comfortable for a rodent, and also interferes with normal air circulation.

The best option for living a furry pet is a cage, the dimensions of which will be at least 50 cm long and 30 cm wide for one individual. The rods must be positioned horizontally with a minimum distance between them.

Eating food with a funny hamster

The cage must be equipped with the following accessories:

Feeder. Preference should be given to ceramic options, but you can also opt for plastic models. It is advisable that in one cage there are two feeders at once: one for dry food, the second for wet food.
Drinking bowl. It is a special design for rodents. Hamsters easily adapt to hanging drinkers with a special rod, which allows them to always have access to clean water. There is no point in pouring water into a bowl, since the hamster will quickly contaminate it with filler and pieces of food during its vigorous activity.
Filler. The use of sawdust or special wood filler is a prerequisite for comfortable keeping a hamster. The granules can easily cope with unpleasant odors by absorbing animal urine.
Mineral stone. Necessary for sharpening cutters.
Running wheel. This accessory is necessary for hamsters due to their increased activity. The surface of the treadmill must be solid to avoid injury to the animal.

It is necessary to change the litter in the cage regularly, since it is useless to train a hamster to go to the toilet in one place in the tray. Constantly replacing the bedding will avoid the appearance of an unpleasant odor and help keep the animal’s home clean.

It is advisable to locate the cage away from drafts, beds and children’s play areas. It is important to determine once and for all a place for the animal to live, since hamsters tolerate any changes very painfully.

If desired, you can equip the animal’s cage with a wooden house, which will serve as a shelter for it from the outside world and become a place to sleep.

Preparing the cage for newborns

Preparing the cage for the babies begins a few weeks after mating. Most often, they start with putting things in order - the bars of the cage are cleaned, the bedding is replaced with new ones, and all drinking bowls are disinfected. It is important to remember that as the due date approaches, the female may become very nervous and your intervention may cause stress. Experienced breeders also categorically do not recommend cleaning the cage in the first two weeks after the birth of the offspring - in a state of stress, the female can harm the babies and even eat them.

Did you know? Hamsters need voluminous cheeks not only for storing food. These rodents are good swimmers - they take air into their cheeks and thus float well on the water.

Do not forget that all toys of adult hamsters, for example, a wheel, can pose a danger to newborns, because by the end of the first week of life, little hamsters already begin to show curiosity. Don't forget to throw some clean napkins or pieces of paper so that the expectant mother can build a nest. These materials are soft, and they retain heat well, so the hamsters will be comfortable and safe in such a nest.

How to properly care at home?

The lifespan of a hamster directly depends on how care and maintenance are organized for it. Like other animals, rodents are easily exposed to stress, which negatively affects their health. The main causes of negative emotional stress in hamsters:

introduction of other animals;
change of diet;
lack of water;
changing your daily routine;
loud noises near the cage and sudden movements;
the presence of excess light during sleep.

A hamster gnaws on sunflower seeds.
To avoid stressful situations, it is important to follow the rules of caring for animals. The main ones:

The cage is cleaned several times a week; during this period, the hamster should be carefully removed from the cage into a prepared jar or aquarium. The bedding must be changed after washing the home with safe detergents.
You should constantly pay attention to your hamster's constantly growing teeth. If your pet doesn't get enough solid food, his teeth will cause him discomfort.
The claws also require close attention; starting from the age of one year, they should be constantly trimmed using special pliers, or contact a veterinary clinic for this action.
The hamster should be walked regularly, transferring it to a specially equipped play area, which can be equipped with labyrinths and obstacles. All dangerous items must be removed.

Relationships during maintenance

You should not consider a hamster as an animal that simply lives in its cage and causes affection. Furry pets are quite intelligent; even training is applicable to them, the success of which depends on the hard work of the animal and the patience of the owner.

If you are going to teach your hamster any tricks, you should not demand the impossible from him. He is not capable of giving a paw and fetching toys like a dog, but teaching him to respond to his name and, on command, to climb onto the palm of his owner is quite possible.

It is important that the beginning of a relationship with any animal should begin with alleviating the animal’s fear of humans. Hamsters are no exception. You can try to teach a small animal simple commands only after he gets used to your hands. Otherwise, all attempts to establish contact will become very stressful for the rodent.

Hamster eats cucumber

What to do if your pet bites you?

For the purpose of self-defense, wild hamsters use their teeth - out of fear they can bite their owner. You should not overreact, scream or hit your pet. These actions only aggravate the situation; the animal may get sick or harbor a grudge, not understanding the reasons for this behavior of the owner.

Immediately after the bite, you should put your pet back in the cage, and wash the wound with an antibacterial agent and apply brilliant green. The process of disinfection after a bite is a very important point.

Should hamsters be washed?

Every potential owner of a furry rodent, when learning how to care for a hamster, is faced with the problem of the need to wash. Hamsters do not like water, so bathing them unnecessarily is not recommended. If washing is necessary, during the process it is important to prevent water from getting into the animal’s ears and eyes.

It is recommended to bathe hamsters only if they are heavily soiled, using rabbit shampoo. When washing, you should not let the rodent out of your hands so that it does not bite the owner.

After bathing, the hamster should be held in your hands for a while, then wrapped in a soft towel until dry.

When can you give away hamsters after birth?

Hamsters cannot be given away immediately after weaning. They are divided into two groups by gender and placed in separate cages. This should be a full-fledged home with a drinking bowl, a house, a wheel and other toys. The cage for dwarf hamsters should be no smaller in size than for Syrian hamsters.

When the female relinquishes her responsibility for caring for the children, the owner’s troubles increase. It is not surprising that people are interested in at what age young animals can be given away. Moving to a new home is a lot of stress for Djungarian babies. It is optimal to distribute them at the age of 1.5-2 months, i.e. 6-8 weeks.

As a rule, breeders try to give away animals early. After all, at 7-8 weeks fights for territory may begin, and each young hamster will need to be provided with an individual cage. In a good nursery, the grown rodents are resistant to disease and are accustomed to handling. Along with the hamster, you should give some used litter and food for several days. A familiar smell and familiar diet reduce the stress of moving.

Feeding

The diet of hamsters provides for 3-4 meals a day during the day, and the second feeding of the day should be as high in calories as possible. The basic component in the diet of rodents is ready-made grain food, which can be purchased at a pet store.

In addition to the main dry food, the rodent's menu should contain food with a protein component and juicy components. When creating a diet for a hamster, it is important to consider that the following list of foods is strictly prohibited for rodents:

Almonds, acorns, Brazil nuts, cherry and apricot pits, watermelon seeds.
White and black bread, breakfast cereals and sweet muesli.
Beans and bean sprouts.
Dried fruits and candied fruits.
Vegetables such as cabbage, potatoes, garlic and onions.
Coniferous branches.
Spicy herbs, wild garlic and spices.
Any exotic fruits.
Sausages, sausages.
Cheese, sour cream and butter.

Sausages
Animal protein should be given to the hamster no more than 3 times a week; allowed foods include boiled chicken, eggs, natural low-fat yogurt, and boiled low-fat fish.

Ensuring activity

Keeping hamsters in tiny cages or a three-liter jar is cruel to the animal, which in nature runs several kilometers every day. It’s not for nothing that their home is equipped with a running wheel. Caring for hamsters may include providing them with leisure time. The owners set up entire playgrounds, labyrinths and tunnels for curious rodents.

Despite the need for movement and variety, you can only let your pet out for a walk around the apartment in a walking ball. Otherwise, the hamster at home is in mortal danger - it can get stuck, be crushed/pinched by a door, fall, fall into a pan, eat a poisonous plant, or chew through an electric wire. Catching a pet can be very difficult.

You cannot organize a walk on high surfaces (table, sofa). All hamsters come from the lowland steppes; they do not understand and are not afraid of heights. There is a high risk that the pet will fall.

Is it possible to walk a hamster outside?

With the best of intentions, some owners strive to let their pet spend time in nature. But the pet hamster will not receive pleasure from such a walk, but extreme stress. Not many people think about the fact that a pet can become seriously ill.

In nature, the animal is in wait for predators: dogs, cats, rats, crows. A nimble baby can easily run away and get lost forever. The outdoor environment is more aggressive and unstable: the hamster can become hypothermic, especially if the grass is wet, or overheat in the sun. The soil and grass are often infested with parasites and are a source of infection due to wild rodents.

Reproduction

Breeding enthusiasts are breeding hamsters at home. The fertility of these representatives of rodents is quite high, which allows them to bear numerous offspring regardless of the time of year.

A female hamster can become pregnant again the very next day after giving birth, and the ability to reproduce develops in young individuals as early as one and a half months. Optimally, the first mating of a female should be carried out during her age from 4 to 6 months, and the second mating should be carried out at 8 months.

Males reach reproductive age from 5 weeks and maintain it throughout their lives. The mating process takes no more than half an hour, and the duration of gestation for the female is from 15 to 20 days.

Habitat

The hamster will delight with its presence and will not cause problems for the owners if you make sure that the habitat is completely suitable for the animal.

Caring for a hamster at home is easy if you immediately buy a house for it and equip it with everything you need.

The cage should be spacious enough. When purchasing, pay attention to the location of the rods. They should be placed horizontally so that the hamster feels free at home and can climb the walls to any height.

The minimum dimensions are 30x50 cm, height 25 cm. If the cage is larger, the pet will only be happy with it.

Instructions for caring for hamsters include the correct choice of location for the cage:

comfortable room temperature for the animal is from 20 to 24 degrees;
direct sunlight should not fall on the cage;
It is unacceptable to place the animal near heating boilers and radiators;
it is dangerous to place the house in a draft;
noise from TV and other devices should not disturb the pet;
the cage must be positioned so that small children and pets cannot reach it;
the room should be easily ventilated.

When choosing a place for the animal, you need to take into account that younger family members can also care for the hamster. Another feature: the rodent likes to sleep during the day, and at night it becomes active and makes noise.

Sometimes they get out of the situation and place the hamster in an aquarium or a three-liter jar. An aquarium (without water) can be adapted if it is spacious, which cannot be said about a jar. For a rodent, such housing can only be used while the cage is being cleaned.

How to care for newborn hamsters?

The baby hamsters that are born are very small in size, but they are under the reliable protection of their mother. The main task of the owner in this case is not to harm the emerging offspring.

Basic rules for caring for newborn hamsters:

A soft straw should be placed at the bottom of the cage with the babies and the female; any other filler can damage the delicate skin of newborns.
The cage should have a drinking bowl and feeder for the female, and toys should be removed for a while.
Under no circumstances should you touch newborn hamsters, but it is important to monitor the female’s nutrition, adding special vitamins to her food each time.
Complementary feeding should be introduced when small hamsters grow a little and begin to become covered with fur. Cabbage leaves serve as the basis for complementary feeding, and from one month on, boiled chicken can be introduced into the baby’s diet.

You can move a mother and her children when they reach the age of one and a half months.

Hamsters in a cage

What do hamsters eat and what do they eat?

In the wild, these animals are rodents, which means that hamsters eat mainly grains. They are also always not averse to eating tender young shoots of plants, such as bamboo. In addition to cereals, the animal loves vegetables (potatoes, pumpkin, beets, carrots) and can even harm garden plantings. In order not to lack protein, the animals also periodically eat small creatures - insects, worms and even snakes. The rice hamster happily eats fish, the remains of which are left over from the dinner of other animals. Membranaceous often feasts on mollusks and crustaceans. Sleepy - Can't resist avocados and figs.