# Dwarf hamsters??



## Emmiiee (Jan 3, 2010)

im looking into getting dwarf hamsters, but im abit confussed as to what types of dwarf hamsters there are, could someone tell me what types their are? and the temperment of them, and which type you would recommend for a first time dwarf hamster keeper, also is the habitate ovo cage, with extentions okay to house them, as theres no wires? x


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Which ovo cage is it, the new one (cant remember the name, but its the big one) is the only one I would put a hamster in.
the main dwarf varieties are the Campbells Russian the winter whites and the chinese dwarfs. I own three Campbells but they are actually more likely to be Campbells/Winter white hybrids they are uaually referred to as russian dwarfs, I can highly reccomend them mine are sweet natured with people and each other although they can become territorial and when they start fighting they usually need to be seperated permanently as they often fight to the death. I have also owned a pair of chinese dwarfs and they were gorgeous too, I loves the way they wrapped their legs round my finger and hung on. temperament wish I think the chinese are not good at living together and are more shy generally than the russians. If you are planning on getting more than 1 there are ways you can arrange the cage to make them less likely to fight but a cage like the smaller ovos would be terrible for that as they would start to become territorial over each seperate room, they are also not really suitable due to size, they are just too small.


----------



## Emmiiee (Jan 3, 2010)

this is the cage i have, tho havn't extended it yet




























any good? x


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Not at all, sorry.It would be ok for a cage to pop them in when you are cleaning them out but not permanently. Even for one hamster they are horrible cages but for more than one dwarf it would vastly increase the risk of fights breaking out as they become territorial over each little room and tube. hamsters love wheels and those cages just dont have room for a wheel for each hamster. With dwarfs you need to provide a wheel, food bowl, bottle and house for each hamster just to avoid them trying to get territorial over each thing. They are ok with barred cages when they are adults but if I was you I would look out for a fish tank for while they are small or even try to make a bin cage, they are excellent and comparatively cheap.


----------



## Emmiiee (Jan 3, 2010)

ooo what about one of the plastic base cages with the bars on the roof x


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Emmiiee said:


> ooo what about one of the plastic base cages with the bars on the roof x


It depends on the size of the actual cage, they need the biggest footprint you can get, the rabbit cages that are that style are exellent, I have one for the mice and I have meshed the top so the bars arent too wide. generally hamster cages in that style just arent big enough unfortunately.


----------



## srhdufe (Feb 11, 2009)

There are also Roborovskis. They are extremely fast and very entertaining to watch. They dont usually make great pets to handle due to them being so tiny and fast
If you were thinking about getting robos then i would recommend a glass tank for them, so they cant escape


----------



## srhdufe (Feb 11, 2009)

Here is a great site for you to see pictures of the hamsters and read more about the species

http://www.petwebsite.com/hamsters/hamster_species.htm


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

srhdufe said:


> There are also Roborovskis. They are extremely fast and very entertaining to watch. They dont usually make great pets to handle due to them being so tiny and fast
> If you were thinking about getting robos then i would recommend a glass tank for them, so they cant escape


Oooh robos are gorgeous, what are they like personality wise?


----------



## srhdufe (Feb 11, 2009)

thedogsmother said:


> Oooh robos are gorgeous, what are they like personality wise?


They are friendly usually 
Obviously if you get them from [email protected] i bet they would be evil  :lol:


----------



## Emmiiee (Jan 3, 2010)

hmm now im thinking maybe i won't get them :/ wot about this cage, tho i think they will get through the bars

Garden and Leisure - 7 Garden Centres Across the UK


----------



## srhdufe (Feb 11, 2009)

Emmiiee said:


> hmm now im thinking maybe i won't get them :/ wot about this cage, tho i think they will get through the bars
> 
> Garden and Leisure - 7 Garden Centres Across the UK


I have seen those cages and they are tiny. I rehomed Joey (RIP) who used to live in one of those and he hated it


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Emmiiee said:


> hmm now im thinking maybe i won't get them :/ wot about this cage, tho i think they will get through the bars
> 
> Garden and Leisure - 7 Garden Centres Across the UK


I remember thinking when I first saw those cages that they look pretty cool and a lotof people will go for them for that reason but for the animal living in them they are small, cramped and just not worth the money.


----------



## Emmiiee (Jan 3, 2010)

hmmm duno wot to do lol, might not get them cos cnt get a cage :/


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Emmiiee said:


> hmmm duno wot to do lol, might not get them cos cnt get a cage :/


How much have you got to spend? Is that the only thing limiting what cage you get? Have you tried asking for a tank on freecycle, that would be ok till they are older anyway.


----------



## Emmiiee (Jan 3, 2010)

thedogsmother said:


> How much have you got to spend? Is that the only thing limiting what cage you get? Have you tried asking for a tank on freecycle, that would be ok till they are older anyway.


ideally the smallest cage they could have, thts why i thought the habitate ovo would be good cos its a goodish size when its extended x


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Emmiiee said:


> ideally the smallest cage they could have, thts why i thought the habitate ovo would be good cos its a goodish size when its extended x


It isnt really hun, to make it a liveable size it would have to be extended an awful lot which would take up much more room than a standard cage. whats the biggest size you can have?


----------



## srhdufe (Feb 11, 2009)

Emmiiee said:


> ideally the smallest cage they could have, thts why i thought the habitate ovo would be good cos its a goodish size when its extended x


But the poor thing would be stuck in there for anything like 2-3 years, sometimes they can live even longer
Theres no room in the habitrail cages for toys to play with  Poor things would be bored stiff

Also, the tubes in those cages are upright and many dwarfs find them difficult to climb


----------



## Jazzy (Apr 15, 2009)

I have 2 Russian hamsters, in seperate cages, 1 Chinese in a large rotastak cage and a Roborovski in an habritrail loft cage with extensions. The loft is the biggest one. I would say that the Russians are the friendliest and the cage I would recommend for them is the Imac Fantasy cage which you can also get extensions for so you can give them more room if needed. I got mine from ebay, brand new for £26 + £7 postage and packing.

Here is one of my imacs









That's one of my Syrians in there though before I moved her to an hamster heaven cage.


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

If you are getting a single dwarf the Imac fantasy is a fantastic cage, keeping more than one in a fantasy might be risky though as they can get territorial over the different levels.


----------



## Emmiiee (Jan 3, 2010)

thedogsmother said:


> It isnt really hun, to make it a liveable size it would have to be extended an awful lot which would take up much more room than a standard cage. whats the biggest size you can have?


something like this, these cages are made for small hammys


----------



## srhdufe (Feb 11, 2009)

Emmiiee said:


> something like this, these cages are made for small hammys


To be honest thats too small also really. They need lots of room to run around and you wouldnt be able to put many toys in there


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Emmiiee said:


> something like this, these cages are made for small hammys


It might be acceptable for a single dwarf but its hardly roomy is it, the hamster is going to spend the majority of its life in there, with just that amount of space to occupy it so once you have toys etc in there it doesnt leave a lot of room for the hamster to walk about in does it, if you are linited to floor space the imac probably is your best bet, they have bars to climb which keeps them active, they can be extended so plenty of room, they have well ventilated tubes and a covered sleeping area so the hamster feels safe, they probably arent best for more than one hamster but they are much better than the duna (in your pic) is.


----------



## Emmiiee (Jan 3, 2010)

the bottom rad cage seems alot bigger than the top one tho, and im still waiting for an imac for my syrian, but mum won't buy it


----------



## Lady Sol (Aug 20, 2009)

The cage really depends on what breed of dwarf hamster you are getting. Russians/Cambells/Winter Whites would be fine in a barred cage as long as the bars aren't too spaced out.

Imac Fantasy -








An Imac fantasy would give you a good cage with a smallish footprint, which you could extend upwards. However an Imac Fantasy wouldn't work if you had more than one dwarf as they are territorial.

If you get a chinese or roborovski hamster though, most barred cages are unsuitable. Acorn and Marvin would breakout within seconds from an Imac Fantasy.

You can get a large tank to hold them in. Or a rabbit/guinea pig cage if you mesh the top.









Marvin my chinese lives in a plastic Homebase storge box with mesh on the top. He's 2 and a half though with a dodgy leg, so he can't do tubes to extend his space.









Scoobie lives in the Ferplast Olympia shown earlier in this post, but it's only big enough to house 1 robo and I had to modify it for him, he couldn't manage the wheel that came. You can get a sliightly larger version of the same cage, I'm just planning to extend it over time (Photo with old wheel)









I find by far the best cages for the robos are the Habitrails. However what you have got is not larger enough and if you get more than one hamster they can fight over the sections. Dwarfs can't climb the vertical tubes, so you need room to put them all at an angle or buy mouse tubes. The older barred Habitrail cages are also wide enough bar spacing for robos and chinese to escape. (Though no-one has told Himalaya this!).

This is Acorns Habitrail (several hundred pounds of plastic):









This is Himalaya's Habitrail (Not sure how much it'd cost new, about £200+ I think):









Oh and robos are adorable, but they don't make great pets if you like something that will play with you. I can now hold all of mine and they are really sweet when staying still. But they are absolutely mental and run a million miles an hour. It took 7 months until I could pick Acorn up.


----------



## Emmiiee (Jan 3, 2010)

200 quid on a hamster cage lol, I could never ever justify spending that much, that's if I even had that much lol x


----------



## Guest (May 7, 2010)

i hate habitral and ovos they have virtually no floor space and are so poorly ventilated.

if you do get a dwarf make sure you buy from a good breeder, a lot of pet shops sell 'hybrids' a cross between campbells and winter whites, do Not buy one these because they suffer from awful health problems, its cruel breeding them! and also if the mother is the smaller ww many die from birthing complications:frown:


----------



## Louise_81 (Mar 5, 2010)

I use the RSPCA guidelines for any hamster coming into rescue, as well as my pets.

It says that 3 sqft is an acceptable size for any hamster. Syrians to be kept alone in it and dwarf species to be kept in groups or single sexes.

I have a list of acceptable cages that I have put on my website, the link is in my signature.

Personally I would not recommend barred cages for dwarf hamsters (robo, russian or whinter white, and cambells) As babies can escape quite easily, if the bar spacing is too big. Chinese hamsters are not classified as dwarf, but are still a small species of hamster, so are often classed as such.

I have a preferance for bin cages personally and use the largest I can get my hands on which is a 130 ltr Samla from IKEA. It provides plenty of space, room for a large wheel, so hammy doesn't damage his back and they are really easy to stack if you have more than one animal. I have created a tutorial on how to make bin cages on website too.

I would suggest finding a local breeder who is registered with their local hamster club, to ensure healthy hamsters with a nice friendily temperament. Especially for a first time owner.

I do find that the majority of animals that come into my rescue are pet shop hamsters, who have not had enough handling, due to here petshops source their animals


----------

