| Hamster Corner |

These are the things that you should know about hamsters.


ALL ABOUT HAMSTERS:
(Contents Outline)



Hamster General Information (Part I)

• Is a hamster a right companion for you?
• Average Size
• Habitat
• Distribution
• Description
• UPDATE: Different Hamster Breeds
• Syrian Hamsters
• Dwarf Campbell Russian Hamsters
• Dwarf Winter White Russian Hamsters
• Roborovski Dwarf Hamsters
• Chinese Hamsters
• *Burrowing
• UPDATE: Myths and Misconceptions about Hamsters
• UPDATE: Myths about their Behavior

Handling and Restraint (Part II)

• Picking up
• One-hand Grasp
• Use of container
• Two-hand carry

Housing and Bedding (Part III)

• One hamster, or more?
• Recommended environmental conditions
• Cage size
• Substrate
• Nesting
• Hygiene
• UPDATE: Housing Hamsters Together
• Vanilla Essence technique
• Large tub and small cage method
• UPDATE: Set-up and Habitat Myths and Misconceptions

Hamster Accessories and Toys (Part IV)

• Recommended Hamster Supplies
• Hamster Accessories

1. Exercise wheel
2. Exercise ball
3. Gnawing Toys
4. Other Toys
5. Harness
6. Special insecticide
7. Bathing supplies

• Playtime

Food and Water (Part V)

• Food and Water
• *Cheek Pouch
• Hoarding
• UPDATE: Hamster Diet List
• UPDATE: List of Plants regarded as Unsafe
• Hamsters' Urine
• Lack of Food and Water
• UPDATE: Food and Nutrition Myths and Misconceptions
• SPECIAL: Nutritional Information of Sunflower Seeds and Meal Worms

Hamster Health Check (Part VI)

• Health care
• UPDATE: Hamster Vital Signs
• Hamster Hematology 
• The weekly health check

1. General
1. Hamster Skeleton
2. Mouth and nose
3. Eyes
4. Cheeks
5. Fur
6. Nails

• *Grooming
• SPECIAL: Hamster Anatomy

Breeding Considerations (Part VII)

• UPDATE: Simple Breeding Terminologies
• Sexing adult hamsters
• Sexing hamsters through:

1. anogenital distance and;
2. posterior features

• The Estrous (Breeding) Cycle
• Lordosis
• UPDATE: What Mothers should eat
• UPDATE: What should be removed from the cage
• Young hamsters
• Baby Syrians Timeline
• Sexing pups
• UPDATE: Types of Hamster Breeding
• In-breeding
• Line-breeding
• Out-crossing
• Out-breeding
• UPDATE: Common Breeding Misconceptions
• SPECIAL: What to do if your Hamster pups were abandoned
• If the little ones are 12 to 14 days old
• In the event the pups are 10 days or less
• Pups 8 days and younger

Hamsters and humans (Part VIII)

• Hamsters and humans
• Hamsters as children’s pets
• Human Allergies to Hamster Dander

Hamster Health Issues / Diseases (Part IX)

• Hamsters' specific issues and diseases
• Common Health Issues and Red Flags
• Disease Susceptibility
• Recognition of Hamster Diseases
• Hamster Conditions

1. Teeth Problems
2. Toothless Hamsters
3. Trauma
4. Respiratory infection
5. Head tilt (wry neck, torticollis)
6. Hypothermia
7. Fight wounds
8. Bladder Stones
9. Cancer
10. Abscesses
11. UPDATE: Wet Tail (Proliferative Ileitis)
1. 1. Hamster-safe Wet Tail Management 
12. Salmonellosis
13. Rabies
14. Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis
15. Demodectic Mange
16. Intestinal Parasites
17. The pinworm and the tape test

• *Hibernating
• Hamster resuscitation
• SPECIAL: Hamster Medications
• Antimicrobials
• Antiparasitics
• Miscellaneous drugs for various conditions
• Routes of Administration

References (Part X)

Did you know that...

Hamster studies for Vet Med Studies:



Module 1 HAMSTERS: Use in Research
Module 2 HAMSTERS: Biology
Module 3 HAMSTERS: Care and Management
Module 4 HAMSTERS: Diseases Part I
Module 5 HAMSTERS: Diseases Part II
Antibiotic Therapeutics in Laboratory Animals










OUR HAM-STory

January 2012 -- This was the first month me and my girlfriend first decided to buy a pair of Syrian / Teddy hamsters. As a matter of fact, we didn't plan to buy even one but we arrived at the idea when we've visited a local pet shop. We were actually planning to buy a pet dog (preferably Japanese Spitz or Chow Chow) but it's quite difficult to buy (because they are quite expensive) and raise one (because some of my girlfriend's cousins have asthma). We then saw this cage with so many Syrian hamsters in different colors. Indeed, they are very cute even though they stink and their fur are quite wet sticky that time certainly because of the lack of care given by the pet shop owner/s. Besides the fact they are cheap, we also decided to buy hamsters because they are easier to manage and they don't really need to roam around the house.

Japanese Spitz

Chow Chow

After buying all of the necessary equipment (cage, food, water and food container, and wheel), we decided to name them Mirmo (+) and Mimi (+). (Trivia: Their names were based on the leading characters in the manga series written by Hiromu Shinozuka, Mirumo de Pon!) We took good care of them for 3 days but we're saddened to observe that they became really sick. 24 hours after that, they both died because of heat stroke (product of my late readings). I did not expect that it will be a difficult for us to cope up with the death of our first pets.

The real Mirmo and Rima. ^_^

After one or two days, I suggested that we should buy another pair of hamster as I point out that we learnt from our mistakes and we ought to be better hamster owners now. My girlfriend did not object with this idea and we went to another pet shop that same day. We ended up having a roborovski pair (Chouchou and Kiwi).


Update: February 2012 -- We bought 2 more pairs of hamster. We have acquired a new pair of Syrian hamsters (Rimo and Rika) and pair of Campbell hamsters too (Krypton and Krista).