Martes, Hunyo 19, 2012

SOME THINGS TO KNOW AS A HAMSTER OWNER

All hamsters should be handled at a young age, so that they would be familiar to your scent, and would be easily tamed.

They should not be picked up by the scruff of the neck, because this contributes to aggression.

Placing hidey holes and wood blocks also lessen the aggressive behavior in hamsters towards the pet owner, and towards each other.

Young hamsters tend to become aggressive as they grow older if they experienced a hamster of a different breed invading their territory.

Hamsters of different breeds should be housed separately.

Dwarf hamsters like campbell, winter white and roborovski can be housed together after the weaning process given that they have good temperament. Also, this should only be temporary, and as much as possible should be avoided.

Syrian hamsters can be housed together if they're still young. If they have a good temperament, they can still be housed together after two months old if they show no sign of aggression towards each other, and if they are of the same sex. The default however is that they should be caged individually. If they are to be bred, do not place the male hamster inside the cage of the female. It should be the other way around, and do not keep the female in the cage of the male after they have mated.

Inbreeding should be avoided as much as possible because it might result to the following: smaller litter, infertility, deformities, diseases: diabetes is the most common disease that results from inbreeding, especially in dwarf hamsters.