# Chinese Hamster



## Nico0laGouldsmith (Apr 23, 2011)

Hi we just bought my boyfriend's sister a Chinese hamster (she's 15 and has mild aspergers sydrome but the hamster is also my boyfriend's and his mum and dad's responsibility). . .and for anyone that is wondering responsibility wise she has owned a rabbit which unfortunately died of "natural causes" - according to the vet. . . last year and she loved that rabbit and looked after it so very well, getting it out every evening for as long as the rabbit wanted to exercise in the lounge and then allowing it to make its way back to her room, then staying in her room with it until she went to bed and then shut it back into its very large home. She even had a calender when all of its boosters and things needed to be given and ensured it was taken to the vets, fed and watered it every day and even spent long periods of time grooming it. . .so we were not at all worried about getting her a hamster as she cared for the rabbit so well and her parents and my boyfriend always checked it had everything it needed too. 

aaaaaaaaaaanyway now you know how well she will care for the little guy. . .back to the point.

We bought the hamster as a surprise birthday gift (early. . .her birthday is on thursday) and we told her that the hamster was mine to take home and that we were just nipping in on the way back to mine to show her. . . 

So I carefully opened the box and let her have a little look in and said obviously we can't really handle him until he's settled into his home so she'd have to have a look at him properly another day. . . 

this was all just to see how she would react to him and if she wasn't interested I would have brought him home with me

so she absolutely loved him!!!!! she went crazy she couldn't believe how enormous his eyes were and she was so happy just to look at him in the box. . . so my boyfriend told her he was for her really and she almost cried!

So we set him all up in a big zoozone with a tiny wheel light enough for him, a little house (which we put the bedding he had been transferred with inside too so it smelled right) and put the box in to let him come out of his own volition. He soon settled in and she spent ages just silently watching him eating and exploring his new home.

but
we were just wondering

do we need another one?

I've read very contradictory advice on this. . .when researching it before we got him but some said they need to be with hamsters of the same sex and others said they should be solitary 

we got the little one today because it's the only day off my boyfriend had before her birthday and when we went to look at them he was sitting completely away from the other hamsters in the enclosure and didn't seem interested in them at all so we chose him because we felt a little sorry for him haha and we figured we could easily get another one of the same age if it is seen necessary. . . 

so yes thanks for reading my ridiculously long post but basically do we need another little boy for him or will he be happy alone? we have no problem getting another one but I didn't want to risk fighting by getting one because obviously that would be very stressful for everyone involved


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

I wouldnt get another hun, chinese hams can be a bit hit or miss when kept together, as the mother of a child with aspergers I can easily imagine how disturbing it would be if they fought and anything nasty happened. I kept two boys together with no problems but they were litter mates who had never been parted wheras you would have to bond two strangers. If you do choose to get one though you do have the ideal cage to have more than one in, the trick is to have two of everything and have a large cage on one level.


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

no dont get another one, chinese hamsters are kept very much like syrians nowadays, and its not advisable to keep them together any more, unless you have a LOT of experiance in dealing with them, and know the slightest signs of aggression to look out for, they can turn on each other in moments, and when they do, they can kill in seconds.

the little one will be fine on his own


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## Nico0laGouldsmith (Apr 23, 2011)

thedogsmother said:


> I wouldnt get another hun, chinese hams can be a bit hit or miss when kept together, as the mother of a child with aspergers I can easily imagine how disturbing it would be if they fought and anything nasty happened. I kept two boys together with no problems but they were litter mates who had never been parted wheras you would have to bond two strangers. If you do choose to get one though you do have the ideal cage to have more than one in, the trick is to have two of everything and have a large cage on one level.


awesome thanks I don't think we'll risk it then. . .if the little guy shows any signs of being depressed or anything then we'll consider it. . . maybe even by getting one myself and seeing if we can bond them and letting her have that one too  but we did choose that one because he didn't seem to be interested in the others. . .the others were having a cuddle in the corner and he was asleep on his own. . .and we went away and came back and he was eating and then he went back to sleep away from them all he wasn't interested at all  so I think he'll be happy alone. . .he does seem happy exploring his cage and he definitely appears to be exploring rather than looking for company or anything 

thanks for the advice
the person in the shop tried to sell us 2 and said they should be together but we said we had read contradictory things and would prefer to get just one for the time being and he accepted that  I hate it when the people you buy from don't know what they're talking about 

we had to get him from a pet shop too because we couldn't find any in rescues or anything and didn't really know where else to go. . .also we wanted a young one in the hopes it lives as long as it can for her because she really didn't know how to react when her rabbit died. ..it was such a strange time.. she tried to completely ignore it had happened. .then tried to joke about getting a new one but you could tell she was upset and didn't know what to do with herself. . .she acted so differently for so long and it just seemed like the right time now to get her another pet . . .I know it sounds silly but she hasn't mentioned getting a new rabbit for a long time and that's what made us think it was the right time. . .because wanting a new one appeared to be her coping mechanism and she now seems to be over the worst of it . . .we didn't want to get her another rabbit in case it made her think of her old one or resent it in some way so we opted for a hamster  plus it will be easy for her to clean out. ..a lot easier than the rabbit . . .especially with its poos that are like poppy seeds they're so tiny!

I personally think she will bond and care more for just the one so I am quite pleased you've advised against another  but obviously if you'd have said to get one we would definitely have just for the little guy's sake


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## Nico0laGouldsmith (Apr 23, 2011)

Lil Miss said:


> no dont get another one, chinese hamsters are kept very much like syrians nowadays, and its not advisable to keep them together any more, unless you have a LOT of experiance in dealing with them, and know the slightest signs of aggression to look out for, they can turn on each other in moments, and when they do, they can kill in seconds.
> 
> the little one will be fine on his own


brilliant thanks
my boyfriend has had hamsters in the past but I haven't and I just wanted to check with some knowledgeable people like yourselves that we were doing the right thing


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## Jazzy (Apr 15, 2009)

No I wouldn't get another one either - I've tried to keep Chinese hamsters in a group and it's never worked. I have a Chinese female at the moment and she's happy enough on her own. They are very shy hamsters and you might find him a bit hard to tame. Russians are the best in my opinion for being outgoing and friendly.


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## Nico0laGouldsmith (Apr 23, 2011)

Jazzy said:


> No I wouldn't get another one either - I've tried to keep Chinese hamsters in a group and it's never worked. I have a Chinese female at the moment and she's happy enough on her own. They are very shy hamsters and you might find him a bit hard to tame. Russians are the best in my opinion for being outgoing and friendly.


awww yeah he seems okay at the moment she has picked him up once to put him in his house because he didn't seem to understand it was his and he didn't seem too bad but he might have not done anything because he was scared. . .she has left him again though since (she's been up since early hours because she's jet lagged) and she will be handling him later on to see how he is. ..she's sensible though she wont freak out if he bites her or anything so we'll just see how it goes. . .I think with the speed of them she'll be happy to just be able to get him into his ball and then watch him in that rather than handle him too much because I've seen them before and they run out of your hands very quickly don't they haha


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## Jazzy (Apr 15, 2009)

This is my Chinese hamster, Twinkle.










Her cage - minus her little house as I was trying to get a photo of her and she would have hid in the house, although she hid in the car anyway. :laugh:


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## PrincessGingy (May 27, 2011)

> I've seen them before and they run out of your hands very quickly don't they haha


Yeh they do and I think they must have good memorys about traumatic experiences. Mine was in Pets at Home adoption because he'd fallen out of the cage and got all the wat across the retail park to Poundland where he was cornered and caught. So now he hates being handled. I've had him since April and he only now takes a treat from my hand. But he's still cute to watch go round in his wheel and play in his play pen. 
If you want something to make her laugh get the hamster a silent spinner. They are so funny to watch when they are first getting the hang of them, they go spinning around. But I prefer them to normal wheels anyway because my Russian Dwarf caught his back on the middle bit of a dwarf sized wheel and squeaked so he must of hurt himself, and he found the bigger ones difficult to get going. They get used to the silent spinners after a few goes and then they run on them like crazy.


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## Nico0laGouldsmith (Apr 23, 2011)

PrincessGingy said:


> Yeh they do and I think they must have good memorys about traumatic experiences. Mine was in Pets at Home adoption because he'd fallen out of the cage and got all the wat across the retail park to Poundland where he was cornered and caught. So now he hates being handled. I've had him since April and he only now takes a treat from my hand. But he's still cute to watch go round in his wheel and play in his play pen.
> If you want something to make her laugh get the hamster a silent spinner. They are so funny to watch when they are first getting the hang of them, they go spinning around. But I prefer them to normal wheels anyway because my Russian Dwarf caught his back on the middle bit of a dwarf sized wheel and squeaked so he must of hurt himself, and he found the bigger ones difficult to get going. They get used to the silent spinners after a few goes and then they run on them like crazy.


haha awwww he's got a little wheel at the moment because it was the only light weight one we could find but we'd happily replace it with something more appropriate if a silent spinner is safer for him 
he seems to have settled in really well. . . she had a little hold of him this evening and he bit her but not hard. . .but he was nibbling her sleeve and then bit her hand so he didn't do it in an aggressive way it was just more of a "I'm having a taste of everything" way  but yes he seems to have settled in really well and looks really comfortable in his cage. . .he doesn't use his house much though he prefers to sleep in the corner of the cage. . . which we found a bit odd but he's not showing any of the signs of being scared like excessively cleaning himself and he wanders over to his food every so often

she is a little concerned about how much he is drinking. . . but I have reassured her that the water bottle had gone down and that he can't possibly drink very much because he's so teeny weeny.

I was just wondering roughly if you had any way of making sure he was drinking enough. . . as far as I'm concerned he is but I was also wondering if we needed a different type of bottle because as I said he is from pets at home and they're not good for advice. . .they said the bottle was fine for him and had the same sized end as the bottle in the tank they're in when you view them but I was just wondering if there were any smaller ones or any reason to get one with a thinner drinking part?

I have seen him drink it not long after he went into the cage for the first time so I know he can use it but obviously with her worrying it made me worry haha


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## Nico0laGouldsmith (Apr 23, 2011)

Jazzy said:


> This is my Chinese hamster, Twinkle.
> 
> Her cage - minus her little house as I was trying to get a photo of her and she would have hid in the house, although she hid in the car anyway. :laugh:


so cute!!!!!


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