7 Things you need to know about Hamster diet

1. Provide a predominant hard dry food for the hamsters.
   Hard food allows hamsters to work their teeth on it and helps in preventing overgrown teeth which might cause the hamsters to experience difficulty in eating
   
   
2. Not too much Sunflower seeds
   Sunflower seeds are fattening. Too much is unhealthy. Offer as treats but not main course.
   
   
3. Balanced diet
   If you are mixing your own feeding for hamsters, you have to ensure that you have a right balance of Protein, fibre, Vitamin A, D, E, Folic acid, Fat, Iron, etc. If you are not good at it, you may like to refer to packaged hamster food off the shelves in pet stores. After familiarising with the ingredients, you can then mix and match your own hamster feeding.
   
   
4. Not too much Greens... please
   Too much fresh vegetables and fruits may cause diarrhoea to occur for hamsters. The symptom would be them having wet tails. This is also called wet-tail syndrome.
   
   
5. Watch where you get the grass from
   If you want to feed your hamster with grass, please make sure you do not pluck the grass from roadside or from the park. This is because the grass might have been contaminated by vehicle exhaust or people stepping over it. Buy clean grass or grow them yourself under clean conditions.
   
   
6. Clean food every day
   Always pour away yesterday's leftovers and refill clean ones. For hygiene and cleanliness reasons.
   
   
7. All food in small pieces
   For fruits and vegetables, do only feed the hamsters with small pieces. And remove them before they rot.

The wrong Bedding can KILL your Hamster

In this entry, I'll discuss with you the types of available bedding in the market, and as what the title says, the wrong bedding that you should avoid at all cost. No bargain. At all cost! Read on to find out more.

First, let's take a look at what's available in the market:

1. Wood Shaves
2. Bedding made of biodegradable material
3. Cat litter (yes, your eyes did not betray you)
4. And lastly, the bedding that can KILL your hamster
5. Some interesting natural bedding that you can try to explore

Wood shaves are the most common bedding available in the market. However, there are actually a variety of wood shaves on the shelves. Let's take a look at it.

• - Scented and non-scented
• Do the hamster enjoy the nice smell? I believe only the owner does. I prefer the non-scented type as it is more natural and healthier for hamsters. If you regularly clean the cage, it won't smell so bad.
• - Coloured and non-coloured
• Again, the colour is actually for the owner to enjoy looking at, not the hamster. But the hamster needs to live with the colouring and consuming some colour dyes.

My piece of advise would be to select one that is finely shaved, so as to reduce sharp wood piece to a minimum for the safety of you and your pet.

Next up, Biodegradable bedding. I do not have an accompanying picture to illustrate so just try to imagine. This kind of bedding has the same shape as the cat litter (as shown below). When the bedding absorbs moisture, the bedding disintegrates into powder form. And this powder can be used as fertilisers for plants. I do not know the generic term for this bedding though. This bedding is a very good absorbent. However, the negative part is that if you have a metallic cage, air movement or the hamster might cause the powder to get littered around the cage and make the surrounding dusty.

Third, we have the Cat litter. This is what I am currently using. As shown in the picture below, it is made up of recycled paper.

The good point about this bedding is that it is harder for it to get carried by the wind out of the cage and dirty the surroundings. And also, it is more absorbent than wood shaves. Plus, it is environmentally friendly.

It is odourless and clean.

Finally, DO NOT use any of the following types of beddings for the sake of hamsters and their health.

1. Newspapers
2. Fluffy cotton wool

Newspapers should not be used as a bedding because of the carbon content. The hamster will be licking it and be stained with carbon all over their body. If you like licking the newspapers, go ahead but leave the hamsters alone.

Fluffy cotton wool is often used by naive hamster owners to build a "nest" for their hamsters. There are such beddings offered by pet shops which bear the label "safe". But it is not. Such bedding that cause harm as the hamster can choke on it, and the fibres may entangle the hamster, causing injury to its limbs. The material cannot be digested and when consumed, it will cause a blockage in the stomach of the hamster.

Bedding materials should not cause restriction to the hamster's movement, and should be readily digested by the hamster.

Some interesting bedding materials that you can try to explore

Soft shredded paper (strips or even smaller pieces) made up of undyed and unscented toilet paper or non-printed printing paper. However, this bedding material is not very absorbent and you will need to change the bedding more often.

Hay can be used but avoid straw which is harder and have sharp edges. Of course, the hay should be clean from mould and dust.

Natural soil planted with grass can make a unique bedding.

Clean sand can also be one.

Criteria for choosing Cages

In the previous post, I included information with pictures of cages that you can get for your hamster(s). In this post, I discuss on the guidelines in choosing a cage in general, regardless of the type of cage.

1. Shape of cage
   
   Whatever shape you get, please do not choose a round/circle cage. Hamsters always try to "dig their way out" of the cage at the corners of the cage. A round cage will disorientate them and confuse them. Hence, do not get a round cage
   
2. Ventilation
   
   Always buy cages that have as much opening as possible. Imagine yourself living in a four-walled, humid, hot, stuffy room. If you think that's bad, that probably is bad for the hamster. However, you need to be careful about the opening in places where the hamster can reach. They are great escapists.
   
3. Size of cage
   
   Assuming you are keeping only one hamster, having a big cage allows you to put more toys in and a larger playing ground for hamsters. It also allows you to clean the cage relatively less frequently as hamsters usually urinate at the same spot when they inhabit long enough in the cage. Obviously, the more hamsters you have, the larger should the cage be. This will prevent some fighting and also for hygiene purpose.
   
4. Hazards
   
   Ensure that no sharp objects are in the cage or in the reach of hamsters. Check for cracks in cages from time to time, especially when you are using a plastic or glass cage. Also check the cage before you purchase it.
   
5. Bedding
   
   For a metallic cage, the surrounding of the cage might get dirty due to the hamster kicking out the bedding material when its digging. You can counter this problem by either not using a metallic cage, or use other kinds of bedding (which makes the surrounding less dirty) such as cat litter.

Choosing a cage for hamsters

This section, I will share with you some tips in getting an ideal hamster cage. I will also reveal some low-cost cages that you can have for your hamsters.


When you buy a hamster cage, you need to do some planning like how you would do when you buy your new home, but for in this case its the new home for the hamster. Some general guidelines would be the furniture (toys, water bottles) that you want to put into the cage, the number of hamsters you have, the type of bedding that you want to use, etc. I'll cover these factors in subsequent entries. Let's just take a look at the different cages available in the market.


1) The most common cage that you will find in stores :: Colourful plastic and metal cage.



These cages are readily available in many pet shops.

Advantages:
- Airy, good ventilation, cooling for the hamster.
- Usually comes with the water bottle and a wheel, so less hassle in getting them.
- Side of cage has an opening which you can fix tunnels to link to other cages.
- Some comes with a theme, eg. classroom, kitchen, etc.




Disadvantages:
- Relatively costly
- Metallic parts rust very quickly as hamsters gnaw at the metal
- Area surrounding the cage may get littered by the bedding material as the hamster kicks it out.
- More hassle to clean the cage as you need to dismantle the cage into various parts to clean.


2) The second most common cage :: Plastic Cages


This cage or tank if you want to call it, is cheaper than the colourful cage shown above. And this is much bigger. If you use this kind of cage, my suggestion is, get a big one and remove the top cover. I'll tell you why below:


Advantages:
- No rusting. Plastic cage can last forever if not damaged physically
- Relatively affordable
- Surrounding of cage will be clean because the bedding is contained inside
- Easy to clean. Pour bedding out, wash it. Dry it.
- Allows you to unleash your creativity in decorating the cage with toys and all.


Disadvantages:
- Not as ventilated as metallic cages. Hence, if you have a big tank, remove the top cover for better air movement. The top cover gathers dust too and is a hassle to remove it. So just remove the cover if the tank is high enough.
- Comes empty, so you need to buy accessories yourself.







3) The not-so-common cage :: Aquarium tanks


Many of you would think that aquarium tanks are expensive and a plastic cage would suffice. I actually got this tank free as some fish lover abandoned the tank. I've also noticed that in some 2nd hand shops, the tank costs about only S$5, which is maybe US$3. So, price shouldn't be the issue here.


Advantages:
- Similar to those of plastic cage
- Able to put partition to house two hamsters separately within cage. For the partition, you can get an acrylic piece, cut it to the appropriate size and slot in. So one cage becomes two. This is how some pet shop owners house their hamsters. Its harder to do so with plastic cages plastic cages do not have the same breadth as you move upwards. The aquarium tank is rectangle, so its easier.
-The height is confirmed to be unreachable by hamsters, so they won't escape from the top


Disadvantages:
-Quite heavy, a bit more hassle to carry it to wash
- Fragile, as it is made of glass


4) The wonder cage :: Cupboard cage

First, please do not be mislead by the picture. Do not house the hamster in opaque cages. I am showing this picture to aid in my illustration.

A suitable cupboard to be used as cage would be one that has transparent shelvings. It is especially useful if you are keeping lots of hamsters. Simply pull out the shelvings such that the ones at the bottom are pulled out most and the top one least. So that the cute hamsters can enjoy the ventilation.

Advantages:
- Compact, multi-storeyed cage
- Shares the good points of the plastic cage
- You can build a massive community by linking the various shelvings by tunnels. Then the cupboard will be an high-rise apartment building.


Disadvantages:
- Ventilation not as good as metallic cages
- Comes empty so you need your accessories


As a summary, it depends on the number of hamsters you want and your budget. Also, whether you want to do-it-yourself for the furnishing of the cage, or you want a ready-made. I am still exploring other possible improvised cages. Creativity rules. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to post a comment and we will discuss the possible pros and cons.

Sexing Hamsters

Sexing Hamsters -- Determining the sex of hamsters.

This chapter, we'll go through how you can determine the sex of the hamster yourself. Even though, you may trust the shop owner or your friend to do it for you, you may need to know because one day you might want to mate the hamsters.

Hamsters' sex can be more easily distinguished when they are older. You need to have some experience in judging younger ones (less than a month old).

Male Hamsters

They have a scrotum bag which gets more visible when it erects. The scrotum bag may not be as easily identified when the hamster is young.





Look out for the distance between the urinary tract and the anus. The distance is longer relatively than that of the females.


Female Hamsters


For female hamsters, there is absence of scrotum bag and the distance between the anus and urinary tract is smaller.