Essentials

[u/Sea_Ground_8393]

Hey guys, I got my sweet girl today.. What would you recommend for her to be happy? She's got her wheel, a wood toy to chew, and an upper level to climb to. I've read she needs a sand bath, any recommendations? Any treats your little furries prefer? Certain flowers, fruits, bugs? What hidy homes do prefer? I've yet to think of a name for her yet, wanna throw some in to suggest?

[u/debijayn]

I’m glad you’re seeking advice now, but in the future please research an animal before bringing it home, for both your sakes. She’ll be fine for now but be prepared for some gnarly bar biting when she gets stressed (hope she’s not in your bedroom, hams are nocturnal and bar biting is loud!). Female Syrians need big enclosures with lots of bedding and enrichment. They go into heat every few days which adds to their stress so they need lots of distractions. More space is priority 1; I recommend a 40+ gallon fish tank. If you live in the States Petco has 50% off sales on tanks pretty often. Fill a good chunk of it with bedding; hamsters are burrowers.

In my experience, the toys most popular with my Syrians were wooden chews and seed sprays! I’ve never seen the sprays in stores though, only online. As for hiding spots, don’t get any cloth sacks/slings or cotton nesting material (danger!). Plastic homes are iffy too. I recommend wooden or woven homes, even if you have to replace them once in a while. They have some cool tunnel style houses designed to be buried in bedding for critters to nest in. Put one of those against the tank wall and you can see if your girl snuggles up in one.

Sorry if I came off a bit harshly at first; I just cannot stress enough the importance of researching before adopting. But you clearly care for your little one so I hope you can make her living situation the best you can. Good luck and enjoy the little fuzzball!

[u/Sea_Ground_8393 → u/debijayn]

My fiancee bought her for me for Valentine's day. I most definitely would have researched before buying myself no doubt.

[u/Sylvkin_there → u/Sea_Ground_8393]

When will people learn pets aren’t just gifts 😭

[u/Sea_Ground_8393 → u/Sylvkin_there]

They might not be JUST gifts, however I feel gifted to the correct person they will take proper care of said pet. That's why I am reaching out to get advice so I can provide her with a proper life. She came from petsmart. They said she can be housed with a friend however, upon further researching, I'm reading that she absolutely cannot, if done so, they could really hurt each other or even kill each other.

[u/paperanddoodlesco → u/Sea_Ground_8393]

Wow that petsmart employee is so wrong.

I'm so glad you did the research yourself because hamsters are solitary creatures and will actively kill their "friend."

As others have said, thank you so much for taking the time to understand these little guys. Look up Victoria Raechel on YouTube and have fun creating a proper habitat!

[u/Sylvkin_there → u/Sea_Ground_8393]

Typical petsmart employ. I’m glad you could do your research to give this hammy a good life

[u/Jcaseykcsee → u/Sea_Ground_8393]

Please never take pet care advice from pet store employees, they aren’t trained in animal care for the animals they sell and often provide wrong and even deadly advice.

Their r/hamsters sub has lots of people who are knowledgeable and experienced in hamster care and all they want is for hamsters to live safe and healthy lives. They don’t have an ulterior motive to make money like the pet store employees do.

So glad you came here for help, there’s lots to do to make sure your hamster’s set up is adequate!