RSPCA – Please read

Dear readers, this information is from the RSPCA book for Hamsters because I wanted all the information to be right.  The reason why I’ve copied it from the RSPCA book is because the RSPCA knows what to do when your Hamster is ill and what to do etc. so that is why im coping from the RSPCA book. I am sure that the RSPCA will be more than happy for me to do so.

~ Theo ~

Foreword

Owning a Hamster is great fun but a huge responsibility. All animals need a regular routine and lots of love and attention from us. But most importantly, pets need owners who are going to stay interested in them and committed to them all their lives.

Anyone who has ever enjoyed the company of a pet knows just haw strong the bond can be. Children learn the meaning of loyalty, unselfishness and friendship by growing up with animals. Elderly or lonely people often depend on a pet for company and it has been proved that animals can help in the prevention of recovery from physical or mental illness.

The decision to bring a pet into your home should always be discussed and agreed by everyone in the family. Bear in mind that parents are ultimately responsible for health and well-being of the animal for the whole of its lifetime. If you are not prepared for the inevitable expense, time patience and occasional frustration involved, then the RSPCA would much rather that you didn’t have a pet.

Being responsible for a pet will completely change your life but if make the decision to go ahead, think about offering a home to one of the thousands of animals in RSPCA animal centers throughout England and Wales. There are no animals more deserving of loving owners.

As for the care of your pet, on this site should provide you with all the information you need to know to keep it happy and healthy for many years to come. Enjoy the experience!

~ Theo ~

Introduction

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Golden Hamster was thought to be extinct. In 1930, however, an exciting discovery was made: a female and her young were found in the Syrian desert. They were taken into captivity for breeding, and they became the ancestors of the huge number of laboratory and pet hamsters which have since been reared throughout the world. Sometimes two entirely different species, the Chinese and Russian Hamsters, are available but, except where otherwise stated, this site is concerned with the Golden or Syrian Hamster.

Keeping Hamsters as pets

Hamsters still retain their place among the most popular pet rodents. They have proved themselves attractive, undemanding, clean and easily tamed. Potential owners must also realise that they are solitary animals, largely nocturnal by nature and extremely active.

Fighting amongst Hamsters

The fact that the Syrian Hamster is solitary may be an advantage. It is one of the few pet animals that may properly, indeed must, be kept singly. Those owners who attempt to keep to or more adult Hamsters together are subjecting them to unwarranted stress, and inviting conflict that invariably results in injury and death. These animals become gentle and tractable with people but will fight viciously with each other.

In the wild, Golden Hamsters are nocturnal, or perhaps crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk). In captivity, they may adopt sufficiently to wake during the afternoon, but the principal periods of activity remain the night, dawn and dusk. It is at these times – and therefore often unseen – that Hamsters will fight among themselves.

Active creatures

Since Hamsters are often seen during their daytime rest period, many people make the understandable but quite wrong assumption that they are indolent animals. The reverse is true. Hamsters are highly active during their waking hours, occupying themselves by running on a wheel, climbing, gnawing, grooming, rearranging their bedding and escaping.

~ Theo ~

Varieties

Syrain (Golden) Hamsters

The natural colour of these Hamsters is a rich Golden brown above, with a white underside. The face is marked with white crescents beneath dark cheek flashes. Since their introduction to Britain in 1931, Golden Hamsters have been bred so skilfully and extensively that they now occur in over 100 colour varieties.

Self colours

Single-coloured Hamsters are known as ‘selfs’, and the self colours include white, cream, fawn, honey, cinnamon grey, silver blue, sepia, chocolate and various shades of the natural golden colour. Each shade, it recognised by the Hamster Fancy breeders’ organisation, is referred to as a separate breed, the name of which may include the eye or ear colour, as in the Red-Eyed Cream, Black-Eyed White, Dark-Eared Albino and Flesh-Eared Albino. Perhaps surprisingly, there are no black hamsters, despite the optimistic claims of enthusiasts. There are many dark-coated Hamsters, but on examination they are found to have lighter bellies, frequently a lighter ring around the eyes, and they do not ‘breed true’.  

Marked varieties

The marked varieties are multi-coloured or patterned Hamsters. The most commonly seen is the banded variety, which has a broad white band across the Hamster’s back, dividing the self colour into two sections. Banded Hamsters are named according to their self colour, as for example, in the Golden Band, Honey Band and the Ruby-Eyed Fawn Band Hamsters.  

Other marked varieties of multi-coloured or patterned Hamsters include the Piebald, which is broken-coloured with some white-spotting; the Mosaic, which has one or more dark markings on a pail coat; and the Tortoiseshell and White Hamster, which has three colours, including yellow, in the coat.

Varying coat-types

Golden Hamsters have been successfully bred with varying coats, which may be both longer and shorter than the natural form. The longhaired varieties have an appealing, fluffy look and they are bred in the whole range of colour varieties. The short-haired form is the satinized Hamster with hair that looks and feels like velvet. These, Hamsters, too, are bred in the compleat range of available colours.

Social Hamsters

There has long been a demand from pet keepers for a social Hamster which will live peaceably in a colony. Breeders have sought to meet this demand by offering two species of hamster that are known to live in groups in the wild. Both are small animals, less than half the size of the Golden Hamster, and the colour varieties are limited.

Chinese Hamsters

Cricetulus griseus, despite its common name, occurs throughout much of Eurasia from the Siberia to Tibet and westwards into eastern Europe. This species is now available to pet keepers, and they may kept in pairs of males or females but should be introduced under the age of six weeks. Colony rearing in the close confines of captivity has not always been very successful. Some of the females are highly aggressive and, particularly when they become pregnant, are very liable to attack the males unmercifully, making it imperative to house them separately.

Russian Hamsters

Phodopus sungorus occurs throughout Russia, China and Mongolia. These little dwarf Hamsters seem to be much more amenable to family life than a Chinese Hamster, and are becoming increasingly popular as pets. Their natural colour is brownish grey with contrasting white underneath and a distinctive black dorsal stripe, but they are now available in a satinized form and also a wide range of coat colours, which include Cinnamon, Chocolate, Opal, Copper and Black.

~ Theo ~

Hello World!

Hi! My name is Theo. I’m a twelve-year-old boy from Hove and I love Hamsters! Here is all the information you need if your Hamster is unwell etc.

If your Hamster has a problem and isn’t on this site, tell me (by commenting on the ‘Ask Me’ page) what the problem is then ill try my best to give you an answer!

Oh, and one more thing, me (Theo), is of course an ADMINISTRATOR + OWNER and Oli, my really awesome friend is an ADMINISTRATOR. Oli also has a legend website theorlandoguide.net (banner on widget). He does the appearance + good ideas (looks) for this site. I gotta say though, without him, my site would look boring! e.g. The ‘Pages’ bit with the brush strokes and the awesome writing printed on top of it. WHAT AN IDEA don’t you think? All down to him. (I STILL WRIGHT THE AWESOME INFO THOUGH!)

Note: I rarely go on the computer during week days, on weekends I will be on more often, just a quick note so that you dont think I might be ignoring you comment or question. On holidays, well, unless if im on holiday (which I will inform you if I am) I will be here, answering your comments and questions.

Enjoy!

~ Theo ~