Hamster help! Please!!!

[Buddy'sParents]

Ok, so to make a very long story short, I may be getting 13 baby hamsters to take care of/find homes for.

Now, this wont be for about a week or so, the hammies will be about 4 weeks old, so I have time to do lotsa research, etc.. but to anyone with knowledge of hamsters, I would appreciate any and all tips.

Anyone? TIA

 

[Kay]

What kind of hamsters? if they are syrians (Also called golden/teddy bear/blackbear/panda bear/polar bear) etc. other names that pet stores make up to charge more money for syrians......

If they are syrians, they MUST all have seperate cages by I think 6 weeks old or they will fight to the death.

All hamsters need a good amount of floor space, and if they are babies it will be tough finding a cage that will keep them in so bin cages would be best. Here is a link to a hamster forum, I reccommend asking there, they will have TONS of information there to help you with, but you need to know what kind of hamsters these are.

If there are 13 from the same litter, my guess is that they are in fact syrians. This means they will need 13 seperate cages by a certain age (With a good amount of space to run) , you need to buy bedding for all 13 cages (No pine and NO cedar, these are toxic) , they all need a good sized wheel that is not wire, it must be solid....There would be alot to taking care of 13 syrians, but again, ask at this forum as many people on there have alot of experience:
http://www.hamster-heaven.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl

 

[Buddy'sParents]

I have not seen them yet, but the "owner" says they are dwarf and he doesn't know much about them... :rollseyes:

So that's why I agreed to step in and try to help so that they don't end up at pet stores or in the wrong hands.

Wait! I have pictures...

 

[Alisha2324]

They do look like dwarfs I would seperate sexes as sson as they are weined(?sp). They do not always fight till death, used to have 2 teddys and they lived together for 3 years. I am NOT saying they will not fight but i would seperate sexes so NO more babies.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

would seperate sexes so NO more babies.

yes, that is the most obvious, they are not yet weaned though

 

[Kay]

I agree they don't look much like syrians, pictures of the parents would say for sure though

The site I posted has 2 very experienced hamster breeders on there (syrian and dwarf) they are extremely helpful and can help you out majorly with baby care/dwarf care/how to sex them etc. they will be able to tell ya if those are in fact dwarves also

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Thanks, I joined the forum!

 

[Kay]

They do not always fight till death, used to have 2 teddys and they lived together for 3 years.

Your syrians simply passed away before they ended up killing one another. It would have happened eventually had they had a longer lifespan.

Syrians are solitary, in the wild they live alone, in captivity they *have* to live alone, or they *will* fight, that's how it is.

 

[Shannerson]

They look like Syrians to me. And in the first picture there is the Syrian mom who looks kind of dead or something.
Yeah, separate about 6 wks into separate sexes, then separate as they begin to fight I guess. Good luck! I'd take a couple if I lived closer. You can use aquariums or even plastic tubs with holes for air. Aspen bedding, water bottle, hamster food...

 

[Alisha2324]

Buddy's parents:If you notice at the top of my post i said seperated as soon as weaned!

Kay:A lifespan of hamsters is 2 to 3 years!

I was just stating that I had two that lived together for thier whole life (they where in 2 crittercages connected my have helped with more room) did not say they would NOT fight!

 

[Kay]

Kay:A lifespan of hamsters is 2 to 3 years!

....I know....

 

[Gustav]

They do need to be handled quite alot so that when they go to their new homes, they will be used to people and won't bite, that's all I can think of to add!

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Thanks guys

 

[LoveMyKees]

I know this is late, but the hamsters should be seperated by sex no later than 28 days, but no earlier then the 21st day. By 6 weeks, if they are syrian, they need to be seperated and living on their own.

By day 14 you can start handling them.

In my opinion, the best hamster forum on the web is here:
www.hamsterific.com
Just sign up on the forum. I'm an administrator on the site, my name is Dreamer123.