Hello! My husband and I would like a pet, unfortunately our apartment does not allow cats or dogs. We were thinking of geting 2 gerbils or 2 hamsters. Does anyone have any advice on owning either of these pets, their habitats, their food, anything?
Thank you so much in advance for all of your help!
Answers:
Yes I do:
First, if you want to get two of them, get two gerbils, not two hamsters. Hamsters are known for fighting more even though gerbils fight sometimes too. Gerbils should always have a friend in their cage because they get lonely. Also, hamsters are more nocturnal them gerbils. Hamsters are very lazy during the day while gerbils are up and ready to play.
Cages: You can always get those cute little tube cages they sell for pocket pets at the pet store, but personally, I don't like those. They make a lot of noise. I prefer an old fish tank (a 10g is a good size) They are cheaper too since they can't hold fish in them any more. With hamsters, you must change their fluff once a week but with gerbils you only have to change it once every three weeks.
Bedding: You can buy bedding at your pet store, Care Fresh is what I use. Also make sure you have another bedding thing in their for them to sleep in. I put old socks (clean of coarse) and towels in there for them to shred up.
Food and water: Pretty basic, a water bottle, change it every day, fill the food dish with hamster or gerbil food and refill when empty. With gerbils, don't refill the bowl until it is entirely empty. Gerbils will pick out the fattening, bad for you seeds first and not eat the healthy stuff until all the good stuff is gone. Make sure they eat ALL of the seeds in the bowl before you give them more.
Exercise: Have a wheel in the cage at all times. Hamsters and gerbils will run on them all night and day.
Thats about it.
yeah do you want mine? He looks like that retarted Yahoo hampster but he has red eyes. His name is Mr. Boston. Give me your address so I can send him to you in the mail, even if its a P.O.Box, I need to get rid of him.
I am glad that you want a hamster (or a gerbil!). I have not owned any gerbils in my lifetime but I have two dwarf hamsters now and have had two other hamsters before! Here are some tips to keeping them healthy and how to pick the right one!
1. When buying a hamster, make sure that he is awake, his eyes are clear, his ears are clear, and that the cage that he is in, doesn't look dirty, and that the water is clean.
2. Hamsters need to be let out of their cage at least for 10 minutes each day. Hamster balls are great. They let the hamster get the run of the house and are fairly cheap.
3. I would recommend getting only 1 hamster (unless you want to keep them in seperate cages!). They can fight or produce unwanted litters of young hamsters.
4. Hamsters can live to be 2-5 years of age. The smaller hamsters (like the dwarfs!) tend to live longer then the bigger sized hamsters (like the golden hamster).
5. Hamsters love to eat food! They can eat many different types of veggies and fruits, such as: apple slices, oranges, strawberries, carrots, lettuce and more! Most of the time, a hamster will "hoard" it's food. That means that the hamster will take some food from the food bowl and stuff food (as much as can fit!) into it's cheecks, and then go back to their sleeping area. There, they will "unstuff" all of the food that is in their cheecks and safe some food for later!
6. You can get two different types of hamster cages. You can get the terrieum type of cages (like the ones for lizards!) and put bedding in them, a wheel and toys. Or, you can get a normal cage made speicaly for hamsters, gerbils and sometimes mice!
I hope that this helps! Have a fun time choosing which pet you will get!
If you want two get two gerbils.. Hamsters are more solitaire animals and they'll end up fighting and you'll need to seperate them.
Hamsters are noturnal, they definately need a wheel to run on. They're not nearly as intelligent. You can get a gerbil or a rat not to poo on you but a hamster probably always will.
Now I don't know how much you know about gerbils, but they're apparently really great pets. I've never actually owned one. They do really like to dig so you'd be better off with an aquarium with a lid rather then a rodent cage. They're really smart and apparently have a lot of personality. They also sleep at night, which is nice because then you can watch them in the day and it's not like your messing up their sleep habits.
If I was you, I'd go with rats. Rats are super smart, you can train them really easily. I have 2 rats that only go to the bathroom in their cage. I can let them run around my room and they know to come when I tap their cage. They're definately my favorite rodent. The only problem with mine is they chew alot. However any rodent you get will probably chew quite a bit. The problem with rats is they're nocturnal and they live in my room. So while I'm trying to sleep they're keeping me up by chewing on their cage. I've spent probably 60 dollars trying to find something else for them to chew on and I've had no luck.
As far as food, the best thing is to buy little pellets rather then the seed mixture just make sure it's got whatever you decide to go with name on the front. It's generally cheaper and its better for them because they cant just pick out what they like. Pretty much anything they could have potential to eat in the wild you can give them for a treat just try to make sure there's not too much sugar in them. You'll learn pretty quick what they like and what they dont like.
for hamsters if u wanted to get 2 hamsters u would need to get dwarf hamsters becuz Syrain hamsters ( more commonly known as teddy bear hamsters) will fight to the death if they are put together! Hamsters are soooo cute and sooo sweet and very lovable! They are soo much fun to have and they don't cost a whole bunch of money either! If you got a hamster you woud need to change its food every other day or untill it gets empty, change its water bottle everyday, clean out where he/she goes to the bathroom everyday ( only if he sleeps where he goes) Clean the cage once a week or more if it starts to smell, handle him/her everyday! That basically is all u do!! You should use Carefresh because cedar or Pine shavings can kill your hamster so i would use Carefresh! They keep there selves clean so u don't need to wash them or anything! Once you get your hamster right away put it into the cage and leave him/her in there for 24 to 48 hours! Then you can start to hand feed him/her and pet him/her and in a couple of days after that you should be able to hold your hamster! They love sunflower seeds, carrots and apples! If you get a hamster don't give them to much fruits or vegatbles because they can get sick from it! Don't feed the hamster the skin of the apples and cut the apples and carrots up small! They are sooo cute and so much fun! Sure they bite it may hurt but it doesn't hurt that much and once your hamster gets used to you he/she won't bite you! Oh and before you leave to get your hamster you should have the cage food and water ready! My hamster loves this food called vita-vittles! You can buy it at Petco! You should also have some shredded up purple cabbage in the cage before you go ( just a few shreds would be good) because it reduces the stress! I don't know anything about gerbils but my dad had one and it bit him in the thumb and there was a lot of blood! He has had lots of hamsters and none of them have ever done that to him!! My hamster only bit me twice because i forgot to wash my hands and i just put his food in! Remember to wash your hands before you play with your hamster! Hamsters are nocturnal and get up during the evening! My hamster gets up at 7:40pm and maybe a little bit later depending on how long he stayed in his plastic ball that he runs around in! For the cage you should get a plastic and a metal cage because it has very good air ventalation and glass cages don't give much air ventalation! Hope i helped! And if u have any hamster questions please email me!
hamster curl up in to litle cutie balls and roll around ( thats wat mine did i couldnt stop laughing) gerbils jump high they have long tails both of them can escape out of a hamster/gerbil/ECT. ball so u have to tape it. AND NEVER LET YOUR HANDS SMELL LIKE food or the hamster or gerbil with bite u. dont feed them junk food, veggies,fruits,seeds are good for them. dont use wood bedding becuase that isnt good for them.i just dont noe why the pet store used them but my hammy is fine =D and make sure u check out the pet if u see anything out of normal then u dont buy it O_o
hamsters, like the syrian are solitary, so you only need one, and they are alot of fu, gerbils are more nervous types and i don't care for them as pets, you can go to petsmart and get everything you need. i like the crittertrail cages, and the super shavin's bedding, low on oilsand dust, and they have food and exercise balls to run in out of the cage. they are nocturnal, so be prepared to move them out of the room you sleep in, and they eat fresh vegs and fruits as well as their mix, the cage will come with a bowl and water bottle, so you don't need to buy those extra.
DO NOT GET A GERBIL!!! it is pretty rare for them to be nive but if they arent nice then they are devils :0( but hampsters are hardly never mean.!!
Do not get two gerbils! When I was younger we had two in the same cage, and one day we came home from school to 1 1/2 gerbils. NOT pretty! Our vet said they can become carniverous!
We've had one hamster at a time for a number of years now, and they've been quite happy. The main thing to remember, after the obvious food/water/cage stuff, is that if you want them to be friendly and social you have to take them out and hold them and play with them on a regular basis. That way they get used to your smell and to being held, and they won't bite or hide from you. We didn't know this with our first hamster, and once he bit us each once (and drew blood) we stopped picking him up. Since he wasn't socialized he was very hard to catch and control when we needed to clean the cage. ..but other than that they make very cute, quiet pets.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment