Dwarf Hamster [Information Needed?]

Razorfish

My little 4 yr old girl has set her mind on a dwarf hamster she saw. Tried to distract but to no avail. Will take care of it with her.

What pitfalls am I not seeing? What problems can occur with these pets? Do they smell badly?

Planning to clean out cage twice a week and the petshop recommended getting only one dwarf hamster as they can fight.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
K

Knine

They are not really suitable for a 4 year old. Dwarfs can be very nippy & move far too fast. A fall from even a small distance would prove fatal.

Also try a different petshop as dwarfs are very sociable & should be kept in same sex pairs.

Syrians are much larger, less likely to bite & are solitary but again not really suitable for a child.

Hamsters are nocturnal & your child will be asleep when they wake up.

An alternative might be a pair of guinea pigs but they are a lot more work & more expensive to keep.

Zapperzy

Hamsters are far too nippy for young kids, even tame ones mistake fingers for food and give a nasty bite. I had two dwarfs that regularly chewed my fingers, not too bad for an adult when your expecting it but when they got me in sensitive areas when I wasn't paying attention it's quite sore. Had a syrian hamster that gave me many deep nasty bleeding puncture wounds. My edjit of a mum had too many glasses of wine and stuck her finger in between the bars of her cage once, hamster thought it was food being poked in and bit down hard and held on, she never stuck her finger in again! :rolleyes:

There not very smelly but not odourless either, they tend to stick to toileting in one particular corner so it can be easy to scoop out the soiled bedding every day. Clean out twice a week is fine. Avoid the wood shavings type bedding as the dust in it can irritate their little respiratory systems, avoid cotton wool type bedding also as when swallowed it can clog up their insides. I used to use a mix of torn up kitchen/toilet paper and stuff called carefresh (expensive but a bag goes a long way when mixed with the torn up paper).

As Knine said dwarfs are social and prefer same sex groups but be careful to go to a reputable shop that are experienced with sexing them. They can fight over territory so it's best to keep an eye on them and avoid layered or compartmentalised type cages in case one decides a certain part is his. Keep in mind that if a fight does occur you may have to separate them in separate cages.

Syrian (or the bigger standard hamsters) are a little slower to handle and have to be kept on their own. Apart from a slightly different diet (dwarfs should be fed less sugary foods as prone to diabetes) much the same applies to them.

Most small pets are too fragile for young kids. A drop from even adult waist height could kill a hamster. Rabbits have very fragile spines that easily break if dropped. Don't have much experience with guinea pigs but would imagine much the same. A cat or dog would be a much sturdier pet at that age. Don't get me wrong hamsters are lovely pets, really funny to watch them reorganising a cage, used to love watching my two dwarf brothers interacting and how both had such different personalities. I just don't think there very suited to young children, more suitable for older kids and teens.

baby and crumble

I don't have much actual experience with dwarves but did a lot of research before getting my first Syrian. Dwarves are sociable and should be kept in pairs where possible, but thy can get territorial. But anyone who knows rodents will know that so I doubt you're getting the best advice from the shop.

Dwarves are also very small and very fast- way too fast for a 4 year old to handle.

I've never had a problem with nippy hamsters, but I do spend a considerable amount of time at the start slowly building up confidence with me, etc. the temptation to try and speed that process up is strong, especially for a youngster. If you rush a hammie, they'll get defensive and bite.

I'd actually recommend cleaning out less than twice a week tbh. Hammie's are territorial and have poor eyesight so rely hugely on scent marks to navigate their cages. If you clean out the entire cage twice a week and remove their scent markings that's actually really stressful. Like someone else said, you can easily train hammies to go in one spot, so I just have a small box of sand I replace twice a week, and I change the bedding once a fortnight and wash and disinfect the cage and toys once a month.

In all honesty I'd think again about a dwarf hamster for a young child. Hamsters are traditional kids pets but they're not active when kids are and they can bite if thy feel threatened or hemmed in, which a child can do if thy hold them
Wrong or anything, through no fault of theirs.

dudara

I've kept dwarf hamsters for about 10 years now. They are sociable so I'd generally always recommend shame sex pairs. This doesn't stop them from scrapping at times, but it's usually just narkiness. I've only rarely had to separate a pair. But it has happened, which is why I have two cages.

They are fast and agile little creatures, and can nip. It doesn't break skin, but it can cause a jump which could send the little fella flying. I don't think a 4 year old would have the dexterity & possession to handle them.

I've loved each and every one of my pairs. They develop different characteristics and are entertaining pets for apartment dwellers.

boomerang

A major bugbear of mine is petshops selling "starter kits" with cages that are waaaaaaaay too small. No way should these creatures be kept in a 12" or 18" cage - they are completely unsuitable.