# Chinese ham info?



## HazelandDan (Apr 22, 2012)

Hey,

As some of you may know, we have a couple of lovely little gerbils, who recently got a major upgrade to a massive ikea detolf tank.

Their old aquarium has been sitting around, empty, messing up the spare room for a while now. It's a 60x30x30 cm glass tank with close fitting wooden lid (with vent hole).

We never go to [email protected] (usually we go to our independent pet shop), but we needed a glass water bottle for our plastic hungry gerbs (2 water bottles destroyed in 2 days!!! grrr) and we saw a delightful little chinese ham named bubbles in the adoption section... having done some preliminary research, our glass tank would probably be quite a suitable house for the little fella...

What is the ideal habitat for a chinese hamster?

I really don't want to support [email protected] by buying animals from them... what are your opinions of the adption section?

Thanks for your help 
Hazel

UPDATE: this is the tank in question








There's still a bit of silicone sealant stuck to it from when it was used as a split cage for the gerbs.


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## LittlePaws AnimalRescue (Sep 11, 2012)

I would never shop (for accessories or animals) at [email protected] just because I dont want to support the company.
However the adoption bit is a little different because any money they get for the animals goes to a charity and not them 
So if there was a little chinese ham in the adoption bit then I say go for it!

All I really know about chinese hamsters is that they are solitary like syrians are. And they quite like hidey holes as they can be very shy. So houses and tunnels and logs for them to hide in and play in would be perfect.
I believe they are also diabetes prone so need a no/low sugar diet.

Oh, do you have any pictures of your detolf set up for your gerbils?
I have a detolf for a group of hamsters and will be putting them in next week.


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## HazelandDan (Apr 22, 2012)

Oh thanks! I didn't know that about the adoption section, that's brilliant news! We never shop there, i completely agree, i don't want to fund them, but unfortunately, it was the only way to get a glass water bottle on the day... 

Thanks for the basic info... I need to do a lot more research before we take the plunge. Also, we're away this weekend, so wouldn't be able to get the hammie til next week, but may go enquire tomorrow.

I love the detolf, it's a brilliant idea  we managed to get ours from ebay for just £15 too!!! very happy with it 

This is what it looked like when we first set it up, the right hand side is full of chinchilla sand:









This is what it looks like now, they made their nest in the sand pit, so it's full of chewed up tissue:

















This is Lily rearranging everything! there's loads of cardboard boxes, jars and wood huts buried under the shavings/aspen/hay!









Hope your hammies enjoy theirs!!


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## LittlePaws AnimalRescue (Sep 11, 2012)

That looks amazing, I cant wait to get mine all set up.
What are those tables you have yours on?
I'm having trouble finding someone that looks good but is fairly priced for my tank to go on.

Ah I wish I'd got mine for that cheap!
I paid £40 for the tank and then £35 for delivery....stupid ikea!


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## HazelandDan (Apr 22, 2012)

Thanks  the girls absolutely love it in there!

They're the ikea expedit shelves... they were £20 each, but you could probabbly find some going cheap on ebay or gumtree etc.


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## HazelandDan (Apr 22, 2012)

well, we had to go back to [email protected] to return the water bottle, which doesn't actually dispense water... 

I had a chat to the staff about the little chinese ham.... they were pretty unhelpful, the guy didn't even know they had a chinese hamster in the adoption section, said it must have come in while he was 'on holiday'... he then asked another member of staff... she also knew nothing about the poor little thing, saying she must also have been on holiday when (s)he turned up. after a night of reading up on the internet, i knew much more about how to care for the ham than the staff member... he chased it around the tiny tank, trying to sex it before pulling a blank face and guessing at boy... thank goodness they're solitary creatures....

the poor little thing was so upset from being grabbed at, that he proceeded to climb his water bottle, sit on top of it and scowl at us  I shall be going in tomorrow to try and reserve him, if i can't reserve him for next week (we're away at the weekend) then he will be coming with us there and then.

can't wait to get him/her out of there and into a loving caring home.

been researching what to feed chinese hams... they're best on a low sugar/no sugar feed... can you get any of these in shops? otherwise i will be making my first purchase on ratRations... Silvers dwarf ham mix (first on the page) is low in sugar, yes???


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## HazelandDan (Apr 22, 2012)

Well we got the little fellow! Meet Noodle!!!!!!










He was up for adoption because he'd been fighting with his brother, they'd had him in for a few months, bless him. He's SO shy, and quite nippy... but we've only had him a week and a bit... there's plenty more time for taming.

It was love at first sight... look at those silly bulgy eyes!!  <3 <3 <3
xxxx


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## dancemagicdance (Sep 27, 2012)

Awww  We have 2 of them, my boyfriend bought them at [email protected] without my knowledge, I would never have bought 2 hamsters together but he didn't know any better and they were being sold in pairs  of course on the first night they were fighting and one ended up with a nasty cut on his face so they had to be separated. I didn't want to send one back because who knows what would have happened to him 

That aside, they have lovely temperaments, they are very fast but will stop for a cuddle! We have also never been bitten yet, only a couple of warning nibbles at first. The only thing I would advise is that it looks like he is in sawdust, as I do with any wee furry I avoid it because it can cause respiratory problems, I'm sure I read about Chinese Hamsters being susceptible to this as well as guinea pigs(my main reason for avoiding the bedding) 

Good luck with your new wee friend


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## HazelandDan (Apr 22, 2012)

Thanks for the advice dancemagicdance  (loveing the labyrinth inspired name!!) they're such beautiful little animals, i'm hoping he'll be more friendly with us soon... he does bite quite a bit at the mo.

Thanks for the heads up, yeah, we've got him on shavings... we're aware of possible respiratory problems, but these kiln dried dust extracted shavings have been fine with our gerbils for the last two years, so thought we'd try him on them to start with (easier fr us to just buy in one type of bedding) but will move him over to megazorb or something else if we notice he's having any troubles. 

what do you use with yours??


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## dancemagicdance (Sep 27, 2012)

I'm sure he'll warm up in time  My favourite thing about them is their fur, I didn't know it was possible for something to be so soft!! :001_wub:

Mine are on carefresh(don't have room for a big bag of megazorb...yet! I will when my 'animal room' is finished though  ) but they have cut up squares of kitchen roll and other tissue paper-type beddings for in their houses, they get quite a lot of that though so inevitably it ends up all over their cages as well... 

I would experiment with the treats that you're giving him too, I have discovered that their tastes really vary, one of mine loves dried mealworms and will hardly touch seeds, the other adores seeds and won't touch the mealworms


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## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

Aww he's lovely Just a tip, if he is a boy you won't be able to mistake it - seriously:w00t:


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## Louiseandfriends (Aug 21, 2011)

Noodle looks lovely! :001_wub:


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