r/hamstercare Jul 07 '22

What /r/hamstercare is about

68 Upvotes

This group has been created for the sole purpose of talking about the positives along with the negatives of keeping hamsters as pets (and for keeping those hamster-but-is-actually-a-guinea-pig-tshirt advertisements at bay).

Most important thing to remember here is: If you can have compassion for animals, you can have compassion for people too.

I did think about writing up a care guide to pin, but ultimately decided against it when there's plenty of good ones already out there that do it better than I could. If you have a good reccomendation for one that helped you, please share it below.

We wouldn't have places like these if people understood everything. We were all new once. This subreddit might very well be someone's first contact to better animal care. While we expect posting is opening up to criticism, it should always be constructive and kind.

We're a subreddit designed to be asked questions about the care of hamsters. Any posts containing images with health concerns should be marked as NSFW to blur them. Some of those questions or responses do get repetitive. Use the flairs or suggest how we can change them.

In an ideal world; everyone would research before getting a pet, people wouldn't get surprised with the responsibility of a pet, everyone would be in a financially stable situation at all times, every country would follow scientific evidence for its animal regulations, people wouldn't be abusing their animals to the point where some need rehoming, and I wouldn't be getting death threats among other semi-regular verbal abuse from banned people that claim are 'just being brutally honest because others need to hear it'. My point is, we don't live in an ideal world. Sometimes that 'dumb question' might need a little more compassion or a kind voice for them to find a solution, get reassurance, or generally just do better.

Hamster care in general has a steep learning curve because they're sold to the general public as cheap child-friendly pocket pets and generally they aren't.  Startup costs alone can be around $400-$500 and vet visits going anywhere between $50-$100+ with many vets not even accepting hamsters. It's best to call around in advance to find your closest one.

Be kind in your posts, report when you see those that are unable to have a civil discussion (and I'm begging you, please, stop reporting when you disagree with an opinion). Use the upvote system to support opinions you agree with or don't - as long as it's civil and doesn't go against group rules you can discuss anything. Start a topic if you want to get more insight on something hamster related. We're here to share and learn.

We support going to a vet first. Report if you see anything that discourages vet visits. On the flip side, the amount of times this group has saved a vet visit over the discovery of scent glands being on the hips is higher than I'd like to admit.

The cage minimum here is 450sqin. We know it sucks. It sucks for a reason. It's scientifically proven hamsters thrive best in over 1500sqin of space with as much depth to the bedding as you can possibly fit. Anything less than that size will always suck. Hamsters have massive territories in the wild. We will always promote bigger is better in cage size. (For reference: largest Ikea samla comes to around 600sqin, so does the prevue cage, 50gal/189L sterilite is 800sqin, a 75gal aquarium comes to about 900sqin and the Ikea detolf is at around 1000sqin).

The reason we keep to North American standards as a minimum is for accessibility reasons, this also includes minimums for rescues and breeders. If you want change: Go to your animal welfare for better regulations. Contact companies that make the cages and ask for bigger sizes or for smaller bar spacing in rabbit/guinea-pig cages. Support rescues, or ethical breeders and small chain pet stores that show better animal care. This subreddit will change when they change. You can be that change.

If that lights a fire up your ass, then good. That's the intention. Please go do something about it that could make a difference. There's subreddits out there dedicated to animal activism. Suggest any below you've found that could help.

We're a space for new and experienced owners alike. We're here to learn and support each other in growing and improving our husbandry. Hamster care as a whole has come a long way, and still has a long way to go.

TL;DR we're the same as any other subreddit. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it sucks. Be kind and go pet a hamster.


r/hamstercare 21h ago

💖 Health/Care 💖 I might just need reassurance.

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49 Upvotes

Hello, my boy Gavin suddenly wakes up really late ( 2 am almost.) He was out to eat and drink and run in his wheel for like 5 seconds then returned to his hide, I didn't noticed any visible illness on him and he eats well. I'm just worried for this sudden change. It was very hot in my room today so that might be something other wise I'm looking for advice or reassurance if this is normal behaviour.


r/hamstercare 4h ago

🏠 Enclosure/DIY 🏠 Looking for enclosure recommendations

2 Upvotes

Hello! I am looking for enclosure recommendations. I currently have my male Syrian in a prolee 40x20x20, but I’m not feeling satisfied and I don’t think that he is either. I have the space in my room for either a 60x30x30, or an L shaped enclosure 60in on each wall. Does anybody have any recommendations for an enclosure that size, or would I be better off DIYing? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!


r/hamstercare 1d ago

⭐ Hamster ⭐ Goober likes rice sprays

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189 Upvotes

I’ve seen him go at these more than I have at flax seeds. I love this little guy so much💛


r/hamstercare 18h ago

🥜 Nutrition 🥜 Elderly hamster not eating as much

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2 Upvotes

r/hamstercare 1d ago

⭐ Hamster ⭐ is this an okay playpen setup?/ general ?’s below

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9 Upvotes

this is the first time he’s been out of his cage and on the ground. i have his food bowl along with seed mix and some scattered treats on the ground. he has his sand box, moss jar, and various other things he can chew on and hide in. i’m wondering if taking him out like this isn’t a good idea? i’ve had him since july and im struggling with taming him. i can hold him perfectly fine and he will clean himself in my arms, which ive heard is a good way to know that your hamster is comfortable with you, but he will NOT take anything out of my hand. i try to feed him treats and veggies and he has no interest in it from me but as soon as i drop it on the ground and back up he will go and get it. am i stressing him out by doing something wrong? i’m also wondering if im messing up his sleeping schedule 😭 it’s 2pm so he should’ve been asleep now but i am really trying to bond with him so taking him out now when i have free time sounded like the best idea to me. how long should i keep him out for?


r/hamstercare 1d ago

💖 Health/Care 💖 weight range for 3 month old male syrian

2 Upvotes

what is a typical weight range for a male 3 month old syrian. Mine is 3 months tomorrow and weighs 85g. I tried to google and it was saying hes on the small side so I am just wondering what is the normal range? How much weight should they be gaining weekly at this point? He was 80g on 8/22 and 85g on 8/29


r/hamstercare 2d ago

🏠 Enclosure/DIY 🏠 Title: First time Syrian hamster enclosure – how does it look? Open to any feedback! 🐹

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58 Upvotes

Hey everyone! This is the enclosure for my female Syrian hamster, Peach. She's almost 4 months old now, weighs 130g, and I wanted to check in with you guys to see if the setup is good or if there's anything I should improve to make it even better for her.

Here are some details about her setup:

Enclosure size: 120 x 80 x 60 cm

Bedding: Up to 30 cm deep bedding at the highest point for burrowing.

Wheel: 28 cm upright wheel.

Sand bath: 24 cm diameter sand bath (which she uses as a litter box daily!).

Hideouts & Tunnels: Currently using a 3-chamber house with 9.5 cm chambers and 6–7 cm entrances. Plus a ceramic house with a 6.5 cm entrance, a coconut hide with a 6 cm entrance, a ceramic tunnel, a cork tunnel, a cork log, a kapok pod, a self-built cave in the corner, and plenty of toilet paper for nesting material.

Substrates & Digging: Boxes with sphagnum moss, cork granules, and corn cob granules (around the wheel).Plus a mix of all kinds of dried leaves and various flowers scattered across the bedding as top layers.

Chews & Wood: Timothy hay sticks to gnaw on, as well as bamboo, apple tree, and hazelnut wood.

Diet & Forage: High-quality seed mix from a specialized German online shop (FutterParadies), plus various sprays and harvests like wild oat, flax, silver millet, ornamental millet, canary grass, and forget-me-not flowers as decoration. She also gets whole wheat heads and sunflower heads to work for, plus fresh veggies daily (like cucumber or zucchini).

Enrichment: A "sniffle forest" (forage area) and a foraging wheel from JR Farm.

Are there any adjustments you would recommend?

(Note: For anyone interested – including the enclosure, all the accessories, deep bedding, substrates, and high-quality food, I'm currently at around €400 total for everything except the hamster itself!)


r/hamstercare 1d ago

🏠 Enclosure/DIY 🏠 Updated enrichment list

3 Upvotes

This is an updated enrichment list for safe items for hamster enclosures - and also shows unsafe items to avoid. I know many of you already know many of them, but there might be some you haven't seen and for newbies, hopefully this will help :-) Please feel free to suggest any other items that could be added.

https://www.thehamsterforum.com/ams/best-hamster-enrichment-items.106/


r/hamstercare 2d ago

⭐ Hamster ⭐ Trip away

4 Upvotes

How long is too long to leave a hamster on their own?

I’m going to my parent’s house for 3 nights (4days) and I would prefer to leave my hamster in her cage in my flat as I feel the quick turnover would be too stressful for her.

Is 3 nights too long? I do have a camera set up


r/hamstercare 2d ago

💖 Health/Care 💖 Hamster won’t eat

3 Upvotes

My hamster is an extreme picky eater and rather starve herself than eat. I have done everything. I was buying vita smart and mixing it was science selected. She was eating vita smart for a while but when I ran out I made a mix. I bought a variety of oat, ancient grains, flax seeds, green peas, seeds, and worms from sprouts. But after a while she would just leave it there. I did the tough love approach and I would do two table spoons for two days and i noticed she would only pick out the seeds and worms and leave everything else. I even bought dried green leaves and carrots as a topping, which she would eat every once in a while. I give her fresh fruit and vegetables which she will eat. I’ll make her eggs, cheese and bread but she won’t eat it. She has sprays from Etsy but only eats a few and if I spread hay and flowers, she used to eat it but not anymore. I went back to mixing vita smart and fully cheek’s seed mix with some worms, and I’ll mix in some organic seeds from sprouts. Same thing- she’ll only eat the seeds from sprouts and refuse anything else. I am at my wits end with her. At one point she was dumping her whole bowl out to make it look like she ate so I would refill it faster so she can pick her favorites out. I used to scatter one tablespoon and put the second one in her bowl. When I noticed her bowl wasn’t getting empty, I kept putting everything in the bowl to keep an eye on what she was eating.

Idk what to do with her or how to get her to eat. Do you guys have any luck with the Etsy hamster packs?


r/hamstercare 2d ago

🏠 Enclosure/DIY 🏠 diy boredom breakers?

2 Upvotes

my hamster never gets tired of the toilet paper cardboard with some tissue and food between the layers of tissue especially when i fold the ends she goes wild lol im not sure what else i could make at home thats similar i feel like my ham is kinda picky with everything. i got her some really cute wooden chew blocks and she couldn't care even if she wanted to! she doesnt really care for store bought toys or boredom breakers(she hates spending money apparently). does anyone have any diy crafts i can make for her? I've never had a picky hamster until I got the one i have now that I've had for about a year and a half! thank you in advance for some ideas :)


r/hamstercare 2d ago

⭐ Hamster ⭐ Hamster Bedding

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone I was wondering about the best type of bedding for hamsters as I got the Small Pet Select Aspen Shavings and it looks awful. The shavings are huge, I put my hand in and it comes out dusty and even has grey pieces of wood or different looking dark brown bits. It also feels super rough and I'm not sure if I should use it (I haven't yet). Just weird cos it has such great reviews. Any ideas or just other cheap recommendations? this dreadful bedding cost me £30 :(


r/hamstercare 2d ago

🏠 Enclosure/DIY 🏠 Question about when to add more bedding

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1 Upvotes

r/hamstercare 2d ago

🏠 Enclosure/DIY 🏠 BUCASTATE 3.0/General Enclosure Question 💕

2 Upvotes

we are planning on getting a syrian (possibly female) and i was looking into either DIYing the enclosure, getting a 40 gallon tank (saw one for $50), or getting the BUCASTATE 3.0 on temu!

please give some advice/tips on which one, and how to utilize the space for lots of enrichments since i know syrians are super active


r/hamstercare 2d ago

🏠 Enclosure/DIY 🏠 Rate my enclosure

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1 Upvotes

hamster enclosure for my newest member of the family. Cricket. I want to take the tank out. I put it there to use as a platform. I thought it would give more space to put stuff. But honestly think it might be better without it. Plus I don’t like how high it is. What do y’all think?


r/hamstercare 3d ago

💖 Health/Care 💖 Wobbly hamster

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133 Upvotes

I’ve noticed my hamster is wobbling sometimes. Is this normal?

He’s still eating and drinking like normal.


r/hamstercare 3d ago

🏠 Enclosure/DIY 🏠 Question about hamster cage

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7 Upvotes

Is this a good cage for hamsters? I used to have hamsters but I got rid of their cages years ago and Im wondering if this is a suitable cage for a hamster. My main concern is the size. I plan on getting a bigger cage in the future, but is this cage a good place to start?


r/hamstercare 2d ago

💖 Health/Care 💖 Cant find food hoard/How to clean under platforms?

3 Upvotes

Just cleaned my hamster’s cage for the first time. Aside from his small hoard in a hide, I couldn’t find any food? I see him take food into his chamber hide and under platforms. I don’t want to go completely rifling through his cage but wary if he ever hoards a vegetable and it rots, it’ll be left in there. Is it likely he’d leave the small bits I give him rather than eating them? Is rifling through everything actually worth it? I don’t want to mess up his burrows!

Alongside this, his main pee spot is in the corner under a large platform. It’s a ledge that came with the cage, attached rather than on stilts, ballache to take out and look under.. but doable as it isn’t submerged into the bedding. So I was wondering, how do people clean under their platforms usually? How would I get to his pee spot if I couldn’t take the platform up at all?


r/hamstercare 3d ago

⭐ Hamster ⭐ I no longer see my hamster as much

6 Upvotes

I have owned my hamster for just over two weeks. A couple of days ago, I moved him from a cage that was meh to an actually good cage. If you have any questions about the set up, look at the last post I made on my profile (and my amendments regarding the houses height).

He finally has deep bedding to burrow in. I know it was early to change him over but I didn’t want to let him get used to a cage I was only going to swap out and that he might have felt less comfortable in anyway, if that makes sense.

In his first cage, he got up every single night between 8.30pm and 9.30pm. He stayed on the surface and mostly ran around on his wheel. The first couple of nights he slept under the surface and then changed to his ceramic hide. Since changing his cage, he seems to get up later and spend a lot of his time awake still in his burrows, sleeping only under the surface. I see him much less. When he is up, he seems healthy. His eyes are bright and clean, his fur on his body and butt all looks soft and fluffy. He drinks, he eats, he gathers food, uses his sand bath, and sometimes runs on his wheel. But he is quick to go back under and get cosy. He doesn’t seem overly frightened or anxious, still a little jumpy but okay with my voice and me moving near the cage.

Is this an issue? Can this sudden change in behaviour be attributed to the change in environment and be a good thing, or should I be concerned? I know burrowing is natural for hamsters and the fact that he is so comfortable doing it and so able is a really good thing, however I can’t help but feel thrown off by the sudden significant routine change in my little guy. Does anyone have any advice? Cheers


r/hamstercare 3d ago

🏠 Enclosure/DIY 🏠 Enclosure (and other things) Recommendations

2 Upvotes

Hey everyone!

I am planning to get my very first hamster soon! Most likely will be a male Syrian hamster. But it will definitely be a Syrian hamster.

I’ve been doing research on enclosures but I also wanted to ask on here, does anyone have any recommendations? I am planning on putting it under my desk (i live in an apartment and it’s the best place out of the sun). I have space for a 40 x 20 enclosure. I would appreciate any recommendations that you guys have!

Also any tips or recommendations for other products would be super helpful, but the first thing i’m buying is the cage so main focus is the cage!


r/hamstercare 4d ago

💖 Health/Care 💖 Is my hamster okay? Is this swollenness or is she actually a male?

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219 Upvotes

r/hamstercare 4d ago

⭐ Hamster ⭐ Special technique

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140 Upvotes

Today I caught my guy chewing on the inside of a paper roll like this… At first I thought he was stuck, but he just flipped back and ran to the bowl when he heard me.


r/hamstercare 3d ago

💖 Health/Care 💖 My 5-month-old Syrian hamster is very active but has lost weight and isn’t eating much — could it be related to his tooth?

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11 Upvotes

My Syrian hamster is a little over 5 months old and is still very active. He drinks water normally, pees normally, and his poop also looks normal.

However, since around the middle of this month, he hasn’t been very interested in his regular food. Today I tried offering him some vegetables, but he didn’t seem very interested in those either.

His weight has dropped from 118g to 105g.

During this time, I also noticed that one of his lower front teeth seemed to have broken off, and a new tooth has started growing back. Could his reduced appetite and weight loss be related to the broken tooth?

Has anyone experienced something similar? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


r/hamstercare 3d ago

🥜 Nutrition 🥜 Food and foraging

2 Upvotes

Hi! I’m just asking for some general advice. I feed my Syrian hamster 2tbsp of her food every other day. She has sprays in her enclosure (120cm Bucatstate) and I have a few different forage foods. I’m not sure when to replace the sprays or how much forage to sprinkle in her enclosure. I’ve tried to find how much forage to put in but it keeps coming up with 2tbsp of food so I’m really unsure.

Alongside this, she doesn’t seem to be interested in the boredom breakers I’ve made, even if they have high value treats in them (mealworms, at the moment). I have some folded toilet tubes and some cut toilet tubes with tissue inside, easier for her to access those treats than the folded tubes. I’m not sure how else to keep her enriched if she won’t use the boredom breakers.

We have only had her for a week, so maybe she isn’t comfortable yet but she has been happy to sit on her wheel or at the front of the enclosure near us and eat her food.