Anyone Know about hamsters?

[stevenpensacola]

they taste just like chicken.



relax...it's just a joke.

 

[KLAIT]

Well, Thanks for all the info. I have pretty much decided that I will be only getting one of something that is not a hamster....either a gerbil or a guinea pig. Now just have to check into them.

Does anyone know, with a gerbil, is it better to get one of the solid plastic "habitrail type" cages or one that is more open on the top...a true cage? I thought that a solid one would get hot and icky with no air circulation for the poor thing, but then read somewhere that they don't like a draft and this type of cage is best???

 

[Barb D]

No no no no! Do not go Habitrail! They are cute, but the plastic is no match for rodent chewing. Those little rodents would much rather be on the outside than running through those lovely tubes, and they'll quickly figure out how to chew through the connectors to escape.

If you do go small rodent, go with a glass aquarium. They're not getting out of it. Our rat is in a glass aquarium, and we put a piece of PVC pipe in there (a T shape) for him to climb and hide in.

 

[BarryHom]

I had a gerbil named Caesar when I was in college. He was easy to take care of. All he needed was food and water and he was happy. The good thing about gerbils is that they don't pee. The only thing that they do is excrete solid poop as waste. That makes cleanup a lot easier. You can clean the cage every 1-2 weeks. A ten gallon aqarium holds a gerbil rather well.

I once had 3 mice (no, they were not blind ) and I had to clean the cage every few days. The pee smelled really nasty and gave me headaches if I didn't clean it every 2-3 days. Plus, one mouse always attacked another. The poor mouse ended up sleeping atop the water bottle, so I had to make him his own nest area in the cage.

 

[Tuffcookie]

I vote for hamsters! Our latest, is a cream-colored male, named "Rolf". We give all our hamsters German names. We've had a Hamlet, Wolfgang, Elise, and a Ludwig. It is extremely hard when they're quite young to tell the difference in sex...at least to humans, that is! It is much easier to take care of hamsters and they do not squeek or smell like a rodent. I would advise getting one hamster. They really don't mind being alone.

TC

Ditto what Barb said about the Habittrail or any such "cute" hamster cage. They will chew the plastic parts no matter what the manufacturer says! I bought one at Christmas and have already gone back to the aquarium with the screen top that latches!

 

[ripleysmom]

We have a gerbil who is extremely nasty.

We've also had very pleasant hamsters. Right now we have a hamster who is not very friendly though. Very jumpy and not affectionate. I miss the other 2 that we had, they were very sweet and affectionate until they got older and couldn't see.