Male or Female Hamster(s)

So you are at a pet shop, what sex should you choose? I believe this guide will help you decide.



How many are you getting?

Are you keeping only one hamster? Or are you going to get two hamsters so that they can play with each other? Hamsters, in general, are solitary animals. They prefer to dominate their living areas rather than live with others. However, it is possible to keep more than one hamster in one cage.

If you are buying one only, you can skip this portion below and go on to the other sections.

If you are buying more than one, read on.

1. Ensure that both the hamsters can get along well with one another. If you are at the pet shop, you should try placing them together and see if they get hostile with each other. If you are adopting, also do the same thing. There is a way to make hamsters stay in the same cage even though they keep fighting when placed in the same cage. I'll cover that in subsequent chapters. But as a rule of thumb, you wouldn't want to start having a pair that keeps fighting. So, make sure that they can get along with each other if you are going to keep them together in one cage.
   
2. Get a male and a female hamster if you are prepared that they will reproduce and you intend to keep that many hamsters. A hamster can easily give birth to more than 5 babies. In that case, it would be better if you separate them into different cages.
   
3. Get two males (preferred) because the tendency of both males living peacefully is much higher than both females doing so together.
   
4. Get two females (not preferred unless they have been living with each other for a period of time peacefully) because females are dominant in nature and prefer to have herself as the sole female in the territory. Nevertheless, if brought up together since young, female hamsters are still able to peacefully coexist.

Adopt or Buy

You can obtain your hamsters in three ways:

1. Buy from a local pet shop
2. Adopt from SPCA and the like
3. Adopt from people who are giving it away

Buying a Hamster

As compared with option 2, this option of obtaining a hamster is much common to all. Buying a hamster from the pet shop is a very simple process and convenient. You go down to view the hamsters, select the one you want, pay up and leave. Short and sweet. You may also buy a cage, some bedding, some food and toys; and request for a discount from the shop owner. All done in a stop. These are the advantages:

• Convenient
• May enjoy after services, membership benefits (depends on shop)
• One-stop station for food, bedding, toys

The disadvantages are:

• Costly, depends on breed, etc

Adopting a Hamster from SPCA and the like

Many irresponsible people dump their pets at the SPCA, and other similar organisations. Being non-profit in nature, these organisations hardly have the resources to keep every pet that is sent in. So, often or not, these pets end up in another world. You can make a difference to the hamsters. The advantages are straightforward: Save a hamster's life, reduce burden on the organisations (however small).

Disadvantages:

• As they are abandoned, the hamsters usually are not young.
• May need to pay for sterilisation cost, but the hamster itself is free
• They may have experienced shock, so you will need to put in effort in building trust between them and you

Adopting Hamsters from people who are giving them away

Your friends, colleagues, or someone off the Internet may want to give away hamsters. In this case, let's see the advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

• Free, or a small fee if the owner insist
• Get to understand the characteristic and behaviour of the hamster from the owner himself/herself
• Inherit his cage, and whatever is useful
• The ex-owner can be your guide if you encounter any problems

Disadvantages:

• You might not know if the hamster was given to you because it is ill, or any other reasons

Are Hamsters for me

Aren't those small little furry mammals cute? Take a look at them and they stare at you with those two big eyes, sometimes look like they are amazed by you. Wait till they finish their meal and see their chubby faces. So, you need to know whether hamsters are for you? Well, just consider the following factors.



1) Purpose

What is your purpose in bringing that cutey home? There are some people who buy a hamster home just because it is cute. This is what we call buying on impulse. Getting a pet can never be "on impulse".

Ensure that you are buying or adopting the hamster because you want to care for it, because you want it to be a part of your family.

Take some time to think about the purpose of owning a hamster, not your friends' purpose, not your sister's purpose, but your very own.

2) Commitment

Do you have the time and passion to commit into caring for the hamster. A hamster, like other pets such as dogs and cats, require human attention and someone to play with. Remember that you have to change the bedding every now and then, and restock its food when food storage is low. You also need to pay attention to their health and well being.

3) Environment

Where are you going to place your hamster cage? Do you even have the space? These are some questions that you might want to think prior to visiting the pet shop. The living environment of a hamster should be a comfortable location, away from direct sunlight, wild animals, and rain.

Will the position that you are going to place your hamster cage going to affect other household members?

4) Cost

Even though hamsters are small animals and does not require too much expense like those of dogs and cats, you still need to buy their food, cage, bedding; and also bringing them to the veterinarian when they fall sick. So, even the "cost of living" of a hamster is relatively low, it might help if you do some calculations and see if you can afford.

After going through all these processes of thoughts, it is now a time for you to say "YES" or "NO".

Slight Introduction

I started this site because I realised that many do not fully understand Hamsters, even most Hamster owners do not appreciate the health factors of Hamsters, their living environment and the food they consume. Hence, in order to bring more awareness of Hamster care, I came out with this blog.

Please feel free to drop a comment or email me for advice. Cheers.