Hamster advice wanted!

[lute]

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been around a ot the last year. It's been a lil crazy round here. Anyway, my bf and I adopted 2 hamsters from the humane society yesterday. They are tame once you get them out of the cage, but when we go to put our hands in their cage to do anything one of our babies, Grippo lunges and tries to bite us. We are kinda letting them be to get adjusted, but we want to nip this problem in the bud as best we can. The other little girl's name is Cheeze-it and she is very hand tame and friendly. I'll post pics in a bit. I want to know what you all think about what breed they are. The people at the shelter and my bf swear they are Robos, but I don't know if they are or not. I do think they are some sort of dwarf hammie tho.

Also, I wanna see those hamster habitats! My bf and I want to spoil our new little girls the best we can as they came from a hoarder that gave up over 20 hamsters. We like watching and interacting with the girls. What are the best ways to watch the girls while they are in their cage? Any translucent bedding? What about tanks? Are they good for the hammies? We have them in a wire cage right now, but want something bigger and better soon.

OH YEAH! I've already discovered the Hamster Hideout website. Any other cool hammie websites? I'd like cool roomy cage ideas too!

Thanks and sorry for all the rambling.

[Christmas_Hamster]

I was just about to link you to Hamster Hideout, lol. It's got to be the best hamster website out there. No others compare. Have you signed up on the forum yet?

You could try looking up some German forums, even if you can't speak the language their cages are amazing! Here's a thread on a German-based forum, with pictures of their cages: http://www.das-hamsterforum.de/threa...threadid=61187

As for taming have you checked out the taming guide on HH?:
http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/inde...showtopic=5988

It honestly sounds like Grippo is cage territorial, it is common in dwarf hamsters (usually Russian Campbell dwarf hams) to become territorial. Usually a large cage solves any cage territorial problems, but if they've grown up in small cages they may not get over it quickly and it will take a lot of patience. In the end you need to respect their space and if they don't want you picking them in their cage then you shouldn't do so. Letting them climb into a run-around ball, tube or something that you can lift them out with works well.

The best way to watch hamsters....? Sit there and enjoy, lol. The more you give them to do, the more there is to watch. Wheels, toys, deep bedding to burrow in, sand baths to bath in, food to store, etc. Make it interesting for them and it will be interesting for you guys.

I don't believe there is any transparent bedding, but make sure that the substrate you use is safe. Pine, cedar and other softwood shavings contain phenols that harm the respiratory system. Aspen shavings are safe as aspen is a hardwood. Other safe substrates are paper or paper pulp based. Some brands are Care Fresh, Boxo bedding, Eco bedding, Critter Care, Total Comfort, non-scented Soft Sorbent, etc.

Tanks are awesome for hamsters! I use a 20 gallon long (not high) myself. As long as you have a mesh lid there shouldn't an issue as hamsters don't have enough ammonia in their urine to create a problem in the tank so long as you guys clean it out regularly. With cages the minimum floorspace that I would ever give a hamsters is 360 square inches. Hamsters prefer floor space over height so keep that into consideration when choosing your cage.

I'm assuming that you have your girls housed together, so I would check out this link too: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/inde...howtopic=24143
It talks about the best ways to house multiple hamsters.

I can't wait for pictures!

[lute]

Thanks for all the advice! I haven't had a chance to reply sooner. I did sign up for the forums, but haven't posted yet. I'm getting all my questions answered by reading previous posts. It's a VERY cool site and a VERY informative forum!

Grippo is very cage territorial. We are looking or a nice big affordable tank for them. The cage we have for them now is just that. A small cage. I have a big tub I put them in for a few hours a day and play with them while thy are in the tub. The cage is far too small for the both of them. So until we can get a nice big tank for them we are giving them plenty of outside the cage time. The more time outside of their cage the less they fight when they are in their cage.

Another thing we've found is that we will need 2 wheels when we get the bigger cage. Why they gotta be on the wheel at the exact same time is beyond me!lol The cage their in now isn't big enough for 2 wheels so we gotta wait!

[Christmas_Hamster]

It sounds like you are off to a great start! I use two 6.5" Silent Spinner wheels for my dwarfs. It gives them room to run together if they want and they really are silent.

I can't wait for pictures!