Chinese Hamster

by CallaLily Sun 20 Nov 2016, 8:22 pm

I've started looking into these guys but thought I'd ask here, in case anyone had any experience with them. Any info is appreciated. We've had Syrian, Winter White, and I think (though I don't remember for sure) Campbells in the past.

I didn't post about it here before but our Chihuahua, Jep, passed a couple months ago, completely unexpected. It has been very hard on my youngest son. He has talked about wanting another pet but a dog just isn't in the cards right now. So he's been looking into getting a hamster and fell in love with a sweet little Chinese ham at the pet shop today. We have not brought her home yet. I want to read up on them more and get everything ready.

Thanks!

by MouseLover Mon 21 Nov 2016, 1:33 pm

I have not had one myself but have heard they're very fast and better climbers than other hams. They're often described as being more m"mouse-like" than other hamsters. I think they're adorable and would love to see pics if you do decide to get one Smile

I'm very sorry to hear about Jep and how hard your son is taking it Sad

hope you all feel better soon.

by Artistwolf Mon 21 Nov 2016, 3:36 pm

My friend had one. She was super cute and did seem quite a bit more mouselike than other hamsters. She liked climbing and even had that tiny little tail. She was a cutie, although I don't think my friend had much luck taking her. But then I don't think she often does... not to be mean but I don't think she's very good at hamster taming.

by CallaLily Mon 21 Nov 2016, 3:54 pm

I had read that they climb better than other hamsters. So the cage should be similar to what I'd do for a mouse? Just not as high?

This little girl is so calm. The girl working at the pet store went on and on about how sweet she was, said she holds her every chance she gets. She was very tempted to take her home herself but she mentioned she had a chameleon that was quite expensive to care for and wasn't sure if she could swing another pet right now, still being in college and all too. So it's nice that she's already a bit used to handling since she would be for my youngest.

They have a scarred ham (from a fight) and a return ham up for adoption. Dwarf but I didn't check which species. She said both of those were very bitey. Poor hams sound like they've been through a lot. Sad

by MesaMouse Mon 21 Nov 2016, 5:22 pm

CallaLily, go over to Hamster Hideout, click on Forums, go to Different Species and there's a nice thread on Chinese hams. This link might work: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/130224-need-info-on-chinese-hammies/

by CallaLily Mon 21 Nov 2016, 5:52 pm

Thank you. I have been browsing their forum but hadn't seen that thread. They do sound more mouse-like.

peopleboreme wrote:Chinese tend to be more shy and cautious. Generally they benefit from a space with tons of hideouts and burrowing possibilities. Sometimes, if the hamster is particularly shy, it's even recommended that you block off part of the cage so as they have a smaller space to get accustomed to. After they are comfortable you slowly begin expanding the the full size of the cage. That's why the more places to duck under, the more likely it is that your hammy will explore the cage.

by Peachy Mon 21 Nov 2016, 8:12 pm

Ah, those are cute! That one sounds like she'd be a win, I'd like to see pics if you bring her home, too. Smile

by CallaLily Tue 22 Nov 2016, 10:27 am

Finding good hamster food is just as difficult as finding good mouse food. Gaah

Except with the mice most mixes are too high in crude protein, and with Hamsters everything's too low! I know I'm going to have to mix a high protein food in with a good variety seed mix to get what I need - but all of those with the right GA have such crap ingredients. It's so frustrating.

Maybe I just have mouse on the brain too much. Is soy easily digested by hams? Is large amounts of corn in their diet acceptable? I've seen hamster hideout's nutrition articles and in some mixes they point out the corn as if it reduces the overall score as one of the main ingredients, but in others they seem to ignore it completely though it's just as high on the list. It's also hard to believe they have Kaytee block listed as a "high-grade food" to add into your mix. Nah

Trying to find more info. Maybe I'm just too picky.

What do you feed your ham? With past hams I didn't pay much attention to the GA and just went with a couple types of hamster food. I feel like a lots changed since we had those hams and I want to be more careful this time around.

by CallaLily Tue 22 Nov 2016, 12:32 pm

Oh and we got her! I'll get pics to share once she's settled in more.

(and I do have a few different hamster foods I've mixed together for her to come out to 19% crude protein, 6% crude fat, and 9% crude fiber....but I'm not very happy with it ingredients-wise.)

by MesaMouse Tue 22 Nov 2016, 5:08 pm

CallaLily wrote:What do you feed your ham? With past hams I didn't pay much attention to the GA and just went with a couple types of hamster food. I feel like a lots changed since we had those hams and I want to be more careful this time around.

I give Imogene Higgins Sunburst Gourmet (CP 14%) and add a few Mazuri Rat/Mouse lab blocks each week. The Sunburst Gourmet is a really nice mix of seeds, fruits, grains, nuts and Imogene eats 90% of it. I've yet to try the Higgins Vita Garden (CP 12%) as (1) it's hard to find except online and (2) it gets mixed reviews from hamster owners whereas the Sunburst Gourmet is generally well thought of. In addition to her base food, I give her a few mealworms every evening in her treat dish (unlike any of my mice, she loves them!) and either a few bits of carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, unpeeled cucumber, peeled apple, a piece of walnut (once or twice a week), a few Cheerios (usually hidden a TP tube for her to forage), half a crunchy Nutro or Charlee Bear grain free dog treat or a few shelled sunflower seeds.

by CallaLily Tue 22 Nov 2016, 5:55 pm

Where do you order the mazuri, if you don't mind me asking? I think I'm just going to give up on trying to find something not corn based. I'll check out that mix too. Thank you, Mesa.

Edit: Wow that Higgins has pretty dang good variety.

by CallaLily Tue 22 Nov 2016, 9:50 pm

I went ahead and ordered that Higgins food. I needed bedding anyway and with things being on sale, plus another 10% off, plus free shipping (Petco) - I picked up a few other little things for her too. Giddy

by scaredymouse Wed 23 Nov 2016, 12:29 am

Eep, I'm late too this party! I also use higgins. I am currently using teklad blocks but plan to switch over to Mazuri mouse/rat when they're done, because you can get mazuri at Petco. I was getting teklad in bulk on ebay.

I've never had a Chinese ham before but I want one. I want to hear all about her! Congrats on your new addition Smile

by CallaLily Wed 23 Nov 2016, 8:36 am

I didn't see mazuri at Petco, in store or online. Hhmmm, let me look again. Thanks!

Edit: I found it by searching for it. Don't know how I missed it browsing products last night!

by CallaLily Wed 23 Nov 2016, 11:26 am

Meet Hamtaro!

Chinese Hamster 20161140

She's sooo tiny and very shy but sweet. We held her for a short time today but so far I have to dim the lights to be able to watch her explore her new home. Right now she's in a temporary tank but will be moved into a much bigger bin cage soon and once I get the exo terra fixed she'll move there.

For size comparison, here's Seren (a 30-35 gram mouse) with that same frog.
Chinese Hamster Img_2011

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