The importance of researching your pet BEFORE you get it!

To be honest, I'm tired of seeing people come onto one of the hamster/rodent forums I'm on and show pictures of their poor pet in a horrible home. Sure you rescued Muffins/Pixy/Fido/Wolfe from a "horrible situation", sure you just "bought him from the store, didn't mean to!", sure he came as a surprise birthday gift. SURE. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't do SOME research BEFORE joining forums and acting stupid.

First of all, all rodents are very sensitive. Just like cats and dogs, they need vet care and constant visual. If their water bottle is out of water, you can damn well bet they wont TELL you that. You have to see yourself. Rodents are prey animals, not pets, they don't make many noises and when they do you can pretty much bet something is seriously wrong. The only exception to this rule is "happy clicking" which you can barely hear.

And don't get me started on cages. I'll put it plain and simple. QUIT WASTING YOUR $40 ON SHIT CAGES AT THE STORE. They are NOT good for your hamster. Syrian hamsters (not teddy bear, panda, etc as pet stores label them to make you pay more) need 300 SQUARE INCHES minimum. Dwarf hamsters (Campbells, Chinese, Robovorski, or Winter White. NOT 'blueberry' 'russian snow' etc) need 200 SQUARE INCHES minimum- OH. And dwarf hamsters can squeeze out of 1/2inch openings through wire bars ;) Most pet store cages are lucky to have 100 SQUARE INCHES- IF that. It's exactly the same as if you were to lock your dog in a crate all its life- or YOU live in a CLOSET all your life. So before you go waste your money, go buy your dwarf a 10gallon tank or your Syrian a 20gallon and save your money. OR better yet, buy a bin ($15 max) at wal*mart and MAKE YOUR OWN CAGE :o

And then there's wheels. Don't get me started on wheels. Basically, if you own a hamster tape your wheel with duct tape. The picture on the right is of my hamster on his duct taped wheel. See how 1. its taped on the inside AND outside and 2. ITS BIG ENOUGH FOR HIM?

That leads into my second point. People buying wheels that are too small. People, Syrian hamsters need 7" wheels and dwarfs need 6" wheels. The bigger, the better. There should NOT be a bar going through the middle and their backs should NOT bend at all when they are running. If your pets (all rodents are the same for this rule) have a bent back when they're running, the wheel is too small. Also, gerbils need a bit bigger wheels because their tails will curl over their backs and cause issues with that.

Another thing, bedding. CEDAR AND PINE ARE THE WORST THINGS EVER. Ever. They cause respitory stress, UTI's, etc and can even lead to death. Not only that, but they smell like hell. Aspen, Carefresh, recycled paper type bedding, unscented toilet paper/paper towels/etc. ALL of those are FINE for bedding. But remember, hamsters like to dig. They need enough substance to dig down into. Gerbils need atleast 6" of bedding to make tunnels (gerbils will need to have timothy hay or shredded cardboard mixed into their bedding to help their tunnels stay open).

Roll about balls, avoid them at ALL costs. My gerbil, Tiki, was in a roll about ball in his previous home. He ran into the wall so hard going so fast he now has brain damage. Also, they cut off rodents' senses (hearing, smell, eyesight, etc) and stress an animal more than you could imagine.

Food. Gah, food. People make too many mistakes and end up with fat hamsters. First off all, sunflower seeds and corn are /bad/. They are "filler" items. If your hamster food is stock full of those, just choose a new hamster food. You can buy Wild Harvest hamster & gerbil at Wal*Mart, if you say you don't have a Petsmart to buy hamster food from. Wild Harvest is atleast decent, better than half the crap you can buy. Just pick out the corn/sun flower seeds. Dwarf hamsters need one TEASPOON of food a NIGHT, syrians need TWO. So stop filling your hamster bowls to the brim with food, that's just way too much. Also avoid foods with BHA/BHT and ethoxyquin, they cause cancer and death in rodents. You may notice in my picture, my hamster has a dog bone. Dog bones are great treats for hamsters, as they love to chew on them and it helps to keep their teeth from getting too long. But if you DO give your hamster a bone, make sure it doesnt have too much fat or protein. Dog bones are treats, and may be used as suppliments to a hamsters diet ONLY if they need the extra protein/fat.

I think that's all for now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Happy rodent owning!

And last, but not least. Join this forum and read all the stickies. They have great help.
http://www.hamsterhouse.com/forum/index.php

An answer, and I fail.

So I failed. Because I wasn't able to update at ALL that week. My internet was completely shut off. Whoops.

Now Have-Not-Sheep asked me "Have you ever stayed up for 24 hours?"

The answer?

Yes! My record is 63 hours, actually. I lived on an entire 2 liter of Doctor Pepper, a loaf of bread, and a container of circle sliced turkey.... I was strange? oO;


Tomorrow in J-Club we're making rice balls :D!! I'll make sure to bring my camera and take some pictures for that ;)

For now, heres a cute picture of my hamster :)

This is my hamster, Maxx!! X3

Musings...

Why is it that most people don't consider "vet care" as part of the basic needs of an animal?

I am a member of a rodent website, and there is a young lady there who's pet has mange. Now, most people would either 1. take the animal to the vet or 2. take the animal to the pound, where THEY can fix it. However, this young lady chooses to completely ignore her pet, and is getting another. Her dogs are also unfixed, and had a litter. Her reason for not fixing them? "Because they are purebred with papers."

This girl isn't stupid, she takes general great care of her animals. Her pets have food, water, a home to live in- everything they need. So why is it that she ignores their right to veterinary medicine?

The dogs, okay. I can live with her not fixing her dogs. She claims they can be responsible, then alright.

But when does basic medical care stop being an important factor in the choice to own an animal? To me, these are the things you HAVE to consider before you get an animal:

1. Can you afford food?
2. Can you afford shelter?
3. Can you afford vet care for it?
4. Have you done enough research about its basic needs?
5. Can you fulfill its basic needs (food, water, shelter, vet, etc for certain animals like hamsters which need a certain amount of space in its cage, bedding, etc)?
6. Are you prepared to take on the responsibility of getting the animal something it needs if your parents suddenly decide its 'not worth it' or they 'arent paying for this anymore'?

If you answered no to any of that, you shouldn't get that pet. I'm sorry, but if you take on the responsibility of getting it- you take on EVERYTHING it comes with. All its illness', all its diseases, everything.