Looking for a new member of my family :)

fend

So I'm off into town to see if I can get perhaps a hamster or a gerbal to bring home this evening. I'v given it a lot of thought, and I think I could really give one a good home.


Just wondering if someone could give me an inkling as to how much the set-up costs are? [ie. Cage, Wheel, Drippers etc?] A ballpark figure would be great:)

Also, if anyone has any advice, tips, or suggestions for me? Or any cons I should be aware of?

Thanks all

boomerang

The pets themselves are inexpensive - it's getting the proper equipment for them that racks up the bill! Aside from finding a pet that's healthy, free from injury, properly-sexed and NOT pregnant, your other priority should be to buy the biggest cage you can afford. Unfortunately most of the cages sold in pet shops are way too small for a small pet to live in happily all their lives. They should be 12" wide x 24" long at an absolute minimum. My own cage is the Savic Hamster Heaven, which is about a metre long. It cost about 100euro in Maxi Zoo and it's the best thing I ever bought for my hamsters.

Also, most of the running wheels sold in the petshops are too way small and cause the hamster to hunch their back when running. You'd be better off buying a Wodent Wheel off ebay. As a guide my Syrian hamster has a 17" wodent wheel and I think it cost about 20 euro.

Avoid buying the cheap petshop hamster food that comes in clear plastic bags and Harry Hamster food. Prestige is a much better brand.

If you buy a corner toilet and some chinchilla sand or corncob material, it'll encourage your pet to use one corner of the cage for peeing in and will make it easier to keep the cage clean. You also need a bottle of pet-safe cage cleaner.

Don't buy the bedding material that looks like candy floss as it gets caught in their cheek pouches and can be lethal. Strips of kitchen towel or loo roll does just fine.

Also avoid buying the bags of loose shavings as they tend to be very dusty - I find the vacuum-packed shavings such as Plosplan or paper-based products like Carefresh or Megazorb are much better.

Your pet will also appreciate some shop-bought meadow hay for fibre and avoid the sugary treats as many of these small pets are prone to diabetes.

That's all I can think of for now!

Irishchick

Whatever rodent you get make sure to offer it plenty of fibre and veg. Also buy a Vitamin C suppliment that can be added to the water as the tend to be deficient.

Also pick up some wooden rodent toys. They need to chew alot and you dont want them destroying the cage.

Zapperzy

Irishchick wrote: »

Whatever rodent you get make sure to offer it plenty of fibre and veg. Also buy a Vitamin C suppliment that can be added to the water as the tend to be deficient.

Also pick up some wooden rodent toys. They need to chew alot and you dont want them destroying the cage.

I think it's just guinea pigs that can be deficient in vit C, never heard of a hamster or gerbil being deficient in vit C.

There are 2 types of hamster, syrian hamsters are the bigger ones and dwarf hamsters are the small ones. Syrian hamsters MUST be kept on their own as they will fight to the death if kept in pairs or groups once they mature, they can be easier to handle as they move more slowly than dwarfs.
Dwarf hamsters are usually happier in groups and tend to move a little faster and can be harder to handle for this reason. Watch giving them too much sweet things like fruit as they are prone to diabetes. They tend not to live as long as syrians.
Personally I prefer dwarfs as I have had bad experiences with syrians, syrians have bigger teeth so when they bite they bite right down, dwarfs tickle when they bite! Don't let that put you off as it's only my personal preference, Iv known loads of very friendly syrians that never bite I just had a bad experience with a pet shop and ended up getting a very aggressive one that I have since never been able to tame!

Gerbils shouldn't be kept on their own they are much happier in pairs or trios. They are fast little things so can be hard to handle for kids. It's best not to keep these in wire or plastic cages as they love to dig and chew and will spend most of their time chewing wire bars or worse chewing holes through plastic cages. Buy a large glass fish tank at least 12" (width) x 15" (height) x 24"-36" (length), which will be big enough for 2-3 gerbils. If you nail 4 lats together and put wire on it, it will suffice for a lid with plenty of ventilation. The tank can then be filled up at least 8" for them to dig tunnels and bury things.

For both hamsters and gerbils I would avoid the crittertrail/rotastack type cages with all the compartments and tubes unless you have a large budget and plenty of patience for cleaning them. One on it's own is not big enough for any animal so you would need to spend a lot of money connecting up 3 or 4 sets to create a massive interconnecting maze of tubes. Then there is always the danger of one determined hamster (syrians especially because they have large powerful jaws) chewing their way out. They are definetely not suited to gerbils because of their love of chewing plastic.

After you have chosen your housing fill it with loads of safe things for it to chew, rodents teeth never stop growing so they constantly need to chew to keep them worn down. You can buy loads of different types of wooden chews for them, avoid nice pretty plastic houses and toys as they will just chew them and the dye in the plastic can be poisonous.
For bedding I use a mixture of carefresh, wooden shavings and toilet roll. To use just carefresh is quite expensive especially if you have multiple cages or large ones, and to use just shavings I find gives them respiratory problems so I use a mixture of the two. For their bed I rip up big wads of plain white toilet paper, it's cheap, safe, warm and they love spending ages chewing it up and shaping it into a nice nest.

As said already the animal is quite cheap (usually €10-€20) but it's the set up that is expensive. Expect to pay altogether about €150. €100 for cage, €20 for hamster(s)/gerbils and then €30+ for all the accesories. Avoid buying a small cage as you will just need to buy a bigger one as they grow to their full size, most cages sold in pet shops are way too tiny. Put your money into buying a big cage now (like the savic hamster heaven) and you will have it for life, whereas you buy a smaller one now for €40 and you'l need to buy a bigger one in the future if you want them to be happy.

Any questions ask away, Iv probably left loads out! And it goes without saying post pictures when you get the little guy(s)!