Re: thinking about cheating on my mice and hamsters

by MouseLover Sat 25 Jun 2016, 6:18 pm

My gosh... dwarf rats sound like a dream Shocked

is it caused by a healthy dwarf gene? Or are they like teacup chihuahuas, which are just bred smaller and smaller?

Chinese hamsters are so cute. Quite mouse-like I think. I feel like a pokemon master, gotta catch em all. I need all the rodents. And we have quite a few exotic rodents available in the UK, inc. harvest mice, african pygmy dormice, duprasi, zebra mice, and (one that you may like the sound of...) mouse-like hamsters.

by River Sat 25 Jun 2016, 6:50 pm

MouseLover wrote:My gosh... dwarf rats sound like a dream is it caused by a healthy dwarf gene? Or are they like teacup chihuahuas, which are just bred smaller and smaller?

Chinese hamsters are so cute. Quite mouse-like I think. I feel like a pokemon master, gotta catch em all. I need all the rodents. And we have quite a few exotic rodents available in the UK, inc. harvest mice, african pygmy dormice, duprasi, zebra mice, and (one that you may like the sound of...) mouse-like hamsters.

Good question. Albeit, I ended up with a 'tea cup' chihuahua once - despite the parents both being normal sizes and very healthy, one of the pups never grew too much. Wonder how it happened.

Mouse-like hamsters? I've never heard of them! Upon googling them, though, they are adorable. Rather thick tails, though, don't you think?

by CinnamonPearl Sat 25 Jun 2016, 7:07 pm

Ooooh, Scaredy, I've always wanted a bunny! I tried to get one a while ago, but neither of my parents were up for it. I still wanna get one someday.

by scaredymouse Sat 25 Jun 2016, 7:11 pm

I think its a gene, if I'm not mistaken, I saw someone with a litter with just one dwarf. Of course, then you grab those and breed more!

And yes, I'm going to collect them all! Up until a few years ago, I had never even held a hamster before. I held a chinchilla for the first time the other day. I'm in love!

I forgot to add, we have spiny mice over here, that's the only other kinds of mice we have

by Artistwolf Sat 25 Jun 2016, 9:19 pm

The problem with rats is that they can't live in a tank, so you'd have to be getting yourself a giant barred cage (like one of Martin's Cages—R-680, R-685, R-695, or R-699 are recommended the most... Make sure to only get powder-coated—or something like the Critter Nation). Basically all of these cost upwards of $100. I'm pretty sure you need similar for dwarf rats, although perhaps you could get smaller (like the Martin's R-670 or R-690). I couldn't tell you the specifics, but rats just cannot be in tanks. I've done quite a bit of research about it. And of course you always need at least 2 rats, regardless of gender.
Yes, rabbits are so cute!! I love how you can teach them to walk on a leash, lol. And they can be litter box trained, so they can at least somewhat be free-rangers like cats and dogs (with the downside that they'll chew wires)!

by CinnamonPearl Sat 25 Jun 2016, 9:30 pm

The best way to keep rabbits is either to let them be free range or to set up a pen for them using a tall dog play pen. Rabbits need huge cages, and the rabbit cages you see in stores are waaaaaay too small for them. Free range is certainly the cheapest.

by River Sat 25 Jun 2016, 9:35 pm

CinnamonPearl wrote:The best way to keep rabbits is either to let them be free range or to set up a pen for them using a tall dog play pen. Rabbits need huge cages, and the rabbit cages you see in stores are waaaaaay too small for them. Free range is certainly the cheapest.

True. Mine refused to be littertained, so they all have to be in large, homemade cages and get out of cage time.

by Artistwolf Sat 25 Jun 2016, 9:36 pm

I've heard of using those dog cage things to keep rabbits in. Nice and big, and not too expensive Smile

by River Sat 25 Jun 2016, 9:47 pm

Artistwolf wrote:I've heard of using those dog cage things to keep rabbits in. Nice and big, and not too expensive

True! I show mine, and weirdly enough, the showing area has cages that I'm guessing barely meet the minimum, and I've heard of flemish giants getting bumblefoot off of them since the floors are wire. Despite all that, it's the biggest rabbit show in my state - they just don't get a lot of flemish giants anymore.

by scaredymouse Sun 26 Jun 2016, 2:04 am

We have two rooms upstairs that are basically empty. We got a house that is much too big for my husband and i because it was awesome and the price was right. I mean, i already have a whole room just for critters. Anyway, if i get a rabbit, rats, or chinchillas... they can have their own room.

I've been researching chinchillas all day. There are two chinchillas at a nearby shelter and they've been there for quite some time. They are already litter trained and bonded to each other. They are $100.00 for the pair, which is really cheap. My husband is actually interested in this idea. We need to discuss it a bit more... housing, cost, etc. So exciting! We wouldn't be able to take them for another 6 weeks and they might not even still be available. And it's not likely that any more will come through any shelters anytime soon. Lot of variables. If it's meant to be... it will be.

If we get the chins, that means no rats or bunnies for the next 15 years or so. But i can still get some gerbils or a Chinese ham when i have an open tank. Animals aren't a hobby, they're my life. Seriously. I'm home all day, every day. I'd probably shrivel up and die if they didn't keep me company. I'm never bored and there is always something to do!

Only recently have i considered chinchillas as a pet. They always seemed far too exotic! They are so expensive, hard to find, mysterious and i didn't know the first thing about them. Well, that has all changed in the last month or so. Then i met a chinchill last week. And what are the chances of there being some at the local shelter? I feel like it's a sign Wink

Getting a chinchilla is on my bucket list. They live such a long time, we need hurry up and get some soon. If they live 15 years... I'll be 55 years old when they die! That's crazy!

by despereaux Sun 26 Jun 2016, 10:04 am

scaredymouse wrote: Eventually, I will have gerbils and rats. And probably a chinchilla and for sure a Chinese dwarf hamster.

Chinese hamsters are actually not dwarf hamsters! They tend to get lumped in with the dwarf hams because of their smaller size, but they're a completely different species of hamster. Even the different varieties of dwarf hamsters (i.e. winter whites, Campbell's, robos) are different species. Just some hamster facts for anyone interested! Smile

by MouseLover Sun 26 Jun 2016, 2:01 pm

That's true despereaux. I guess people just refer to chinese as dwarf hamsters as they're so much smaller compared to your standard syrian hamster, and more the size of the dwarf hamsters.

The russian dwarfs, (winter whites and campbells) are different species indeed, but are so closely related that they can interbreed. Though it's not recommended as the hybrids are more prone to certain health issues, like diabetes. Apparently most pet shop russian dwarfs are likely to be hybrids.

Going to get Archie out now, all this hamster talk makes me want to hold him Razz

by despereaux Sun 26 Jun 2016, 3:15 pm

Yep, I knew that about the hybrids. I'm pretty sure my dwarf ham is a hybrid, but she's about 19 months old now and no health issues so far. They still make great pets!

by scaredymouse Sun 26 Jun 2016, 5:07 pm

I know i'm not supposed to have favorites, but my dwarf, Katie, is my favorite ham to handle. Splotchy has the best face and is the most entertaining... but Katie is the sweetest.

So there are lots of changes coming up in our house! I emailed the shelter with the chinchillas to ask a few questions and the shelter has approved us to adopt two chinchillas and somehow, I got talked into fostering a gentleman mouse. The chins have an awful sad story. They were born in 2011 and have been in 7 homes since then. They have been bounced around from breeder to petstore to owner 1 to humane society to adopter number 1 to our rescue to owner number 2 and back to our rescue, so being in 7 places they most likely have trust issues but they are sweet and at least they have each other. It was funny, the shelter is very protective over these chinchillas, as they should be, but they already had an application on file from me for a hamster back in January that she reviewed. So she was confident that the chins would have a good home with me. So much so, that she asked me to foster a mouse.

My husband and I went through really funny negotiations all morning regarding these chinchillas! It came down to three specific (and labor intensive) home cooked meals, an expensive birthday present, and i have to accompany him two places i don't want to go. And i have to downsize my rodent population indirectly by simply not filling vacancies as they come up. This is how we do things. Hilarious negotiations with counteroffers until we come up with an agreement.

by River Sun 26 Jun 2016, 5:20 pm

Awh. Do they have names? Hopefully they'll have a nice permanent home with you. What gender are they? Not sure if you've already mentioned it. I'm curious. I considered chinchillas once, but somehow ended up with degus instead; I don't regret that at all, though! They were wonderful pets.

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