What Makes A Successful Pet Blog?

So you are starting a blog - 
Hello and welcome to the blogosphere – its a big ol’ world out there punk! I hope you are ready!
- and you have decided to set up a PET blog!
(if you are setting up a cookery or photography blog you can still take note from this post just I will be aiming it mainly at them quirky animal lovers! )

Now in my opinion, there is a HUGE difference between a pet blog and any other kind of blog you can make (emphasis on the ‘in my opinion’ bit). Blogs are a persons way of sharing passions, thoughts and opinions on all sorts of topics from talking types of beer to reviewing the latest porn movie. Yes, it really is out there folks!
When it comes to sitting down and deciding you want to start a blog, a logical beginning would be a ‘constant’. What do I mean by constant? Well, blogs are more successful the more often you post, FACT, so you want to post about something you have an interest in and something you can easily discuss every day/week. There really isn’t much worth in blogging about your week holiday to Cairo when its over and done with after 7 days. What happens to your blog after that? Where would it go?!

So it is easy to land on the idea of a pet blog! Its perfect! Your pet is there every day so you can take pictures and have stories pretty regularly. But this is where that pesky problem arrives.

I love cruising WordPress for pet blogs. I like reading about animals, looking at other peoples pets, reading about their mischievous adventures and even admiring exotic creatures I would never dream of owning (lizards for example… I will look but not touch! Noooo touchy!) and when I find a new pet blog – say with one or two posts already – I check it out, give the blogger a little support with a comment or a like, and I check back to see if that particular blog is successful.

I can tell you now, out of ALL them new pet blogs I have discovered, there is not one still going today. Not one.
So why do pet blogs in particular have such a high failure rate?

I think its unfair to say the bloggers themselves are lazy or “just not that into it” because I genuinely think that blogging about a pet is harder than it looks – I think any kind of blogging is harder than it looks! When you are writing about your pet everyday, that once exciting new thing your animal did becomes the normal. Daily life as a pet-owner becomes slightly un-blogable; its tedious and routine and seriously who actually wants to read about the same thing day in and day out?! This is where so many pet blogs are going wrong! They close their subject down so much that when they run out of things to say, the blog dries up and dies. RIP yet another pet blog.

Now like I said before, I love reading about pets. Without the support and comments from other bloggers I doubt I would have had the patience and motivation to continue this blog and make it the success it is today. I learnt very quickly where I was going wrong whilst blogging and how to try to fix that. Here are some tips to make that quickly dying blog spring back into life;

1. Don’t post more than once a day.
   If you post 2 or 3 times a day while you are starting out, you will burn out. And fast! You will run out of things to say, your posts will get shorter and that routine people crave just wont be there. Everyone loves a reliable blog – if you want followers to come back day after day to check out your site, you have to post day after day to keep your audience entertained! Blogging is a creative discipline – you have to set a mental schedule for yourself!
   Do you want to post every day? Will you have enough to say if posting daily? Would it be better to post every other day? Even when you have several ideas for posts, which is generally the case when you are getting started, write them up and SAVE THEM. Post them the next day, line up a few posts for the next few days if you have the ideas! That way even if you have an off-day and dont fancy writing much, you can simply pluck that draft you wrote up yesterday and post it. Job done and you still have that regime.
2. Widen your blogging topic.
   There is only so much you can say about one particular thing – I have a blog about hamsters, I know this fact all too well! If you stick to writing solely about that one topic you will just run out of things to say. You, as a writer, will get bored and there again – the blog dies a slow and painful death. And imagine your readers! They don’t want to read about the exact same thing every day do they?! Think outside the box a little.
   Take HamsterDiaries for example: I knew I couldnt blog about JUST hamsters for longer than a week so I added some features to the blog. I have a weekly feature, The Sunday Riddle (which is not even hamster related anymore) just to break up a weeks worth of hamster-themed posts. I also review toys and pet products – still on my blog’s theme but different to the every day post. I include videos to break up the thousands of words I post. I have started using photography techniques on my hamster photos which has opened up a whole new world of talk-points and ideas. I have blog awards and ‘competitions’ to involve my readers as well as tackle frequently asked questions and answer genuine hamster-related problems that other bloggers have. By exploring photography, art, technology, social media and all sorts of other topics I am broadening my reading audience as well as giving me something new and exciting to write about (believe it or not, I have more things on my mind than just hamsters who knew eh!)
3. Go comment CRAZY!
   
   

   This is just a picture of the comment box – want the real thing, scroll to the bottom of the post

   When you have a new blog, dont be afraid to comment on other blogs to get your name out there in the blogosphere! If you sit there at your computer and wait for hundreds of readers to flock to your site you are going to be bitterly disappointed. It takes patience and a little bit of selflessness to get your blog going. Hey for the first 3 days of HamsterDiaries I didnt get more than 15 views a day! It was slow and discouraging but just give it a little time and voila! If you find other blogs with a shared interest or topic you will gain a reader and perhaps a following. There are lots of pet blogs out there, just take your pick and introduce yourself! Read these other blogs, get to know the blogger behind the posts and comment your thoughts and opinions. Knowing someone is paying attention to your writing is rewarding and more often than not the favour is returned.

4. Include pictures. Lots of pictures.
   People who read pet blogs don’t want to read millions of words everyday; they want to see who the fuss is all about. Including a picture in every post you publish is a MUST. As shallow as it may seem, over half of the blogs I check out from the WordPress Reader are because of the pictures! If I see a super cute kitten or a dog doing a handstand, I am checking that blog out! If I see lots of words and no pretty pic, I’m not all that enticed to read it. With pet blogs especially, you cant have a pet blog without pictures of your pet!
5. Dont try too hard.
   If you spend hours and hour slaving over each post, tweaking them jokes and changing the words around so it sounds better – you are going to suck the fun riiiiiight out of blogging. Not every line needs to be a joke, not every line needs to be philosophically meaningful and not every line needs to be grammatically perfect. Your blog is for you to express yourself; if you’re going to perfect every detail you are going to lose all that enjoyment of blogging. Writing this now I can see about 7 red squiggly lines underneath my terrible spellings but I dont really mind because I write as I think and when I am on a roll typing, not a thing in the world can stop me! I would say don’t write ‘lyk dis. No1 wnts 2 read blogs whn da writing iz just bad!’ I promise I will never try to type like a chav again, I made my point.

This post turned out lots longer than I planned but I thought I would give my advice and share a few tips as I have yet witnessed another blog death this week.
If you think your motivation could fall prey to the blog-plague then just make your blog a bit more open, dont specify it as a pet blog so you can write about anything that pops into your head! I would recommend a theme to any blog, best way to get interested targeted readers is to have a theme, but if you think you could just give up on a new blog start out big and focus it down as you settle into a routine.

Some of the greatest blogs I read are pet blogs, they are the success stories here! They have made it through blog-death and I salute them!

Its not OK to have favourites… is it?

I imagine when it comes to pets its a little bit like children. If you have more than one, you can’t have a favourite.
Saying that, doesn’t everyone have a favourite even if they don’t speak of it out loud?

I love my three hamsters very dearly. They are cuddly, cute and make me laugh even if I am having a bad day. They are certainly nowhere near as much work as an infant would be, and I personally am not even close to mature enough to have my own children any-time soon. So hamsters seem like the logical stepping stone.

I have an older sister. There has been no end of sibling rivalry between us over the years. My point? My parents dont have favourites between us (despite all the typical conspiracies). Thats law number one with children isnt it? You cant favour one over the other, its just not the done thing. I may be considering my pet hamsters way too closely with offspring here but you get my point. You can’t put one loved ones priorities and needs over the other loved one.

Now I am prepared very much so for the backlash of my next statement.
Okay, I lied. I’m not ready.
But here it goes….
I have a favourite.

I’ve tried not to love this particular furry more so than the other two. But I just can’t help it!
Can you guess who I am talking about???

What to do if your hamster escapes!

DONT PANIC – I haven’t had an escapee, I was just asked the question

We have all been there! You look over at the hamster cage and see the lid wide open and no hammy inside, or you look over to the exercise ball and see the lid laying beside an empty ball.
It happens; hamsters are born escapees.

Catching your wild hamster is no easy task. It takes a LOT of time and patience.

Case Study
Many years ago, one of my sisters hamsters – Harry – lived in his barred cage on top of a chest of drawers. One night my mum and dad woke up to scurrying underneath their bed. Their first thought … rats! The lights went on and they investigated the rustling under their bed to see that Harry was happily exploring the world underneath the bed. When they checked Harry’s cage, the lid was wide open. So somehow Harry had managed to climb out of his cage, jump down about a meter high chest of drawers, crawl from my sisters bedroom across a landing and into my parents bedroom. Quite the adventurer!

How to catch your escapee

1. First of all, establish which room/area your escaped hamster is in. Is it just a particular room or is there the possibility of your little furry being further out?
   Turn off all noisy appliances and really listen to each room individually. You are likely to hear scurrying, nibbling or rustling which will be a huge giveaway as to where your hamster is.
   Once you have worked out which room the fella is in, shut all the doors/windows etc so that you dont end up on a wild goose chase all over the house.
2. Secondly, check anything that has wires – the back of a TV/internet box/anything with electrical wires that is on floor level really. Hamsters love to chew and bit and once a wire is bitten not only will you have to replace a cable, you may also have a deep-fried hamster (nope, that’s not a foreign delicacy).
   If you can see your hamster lurking by wires you can grab them or try to usher them into a different space just to take them away from potential danger!
3. Next place a pile of your hamsters favourite treat close to where you think they are, but in a place that is easy to grab a sneaky hamster. The smell of treats or food will entice ANY curious hamster out of hiding so its just then a matter of time.
   If they don’t have a favourite treat then I would recommend sunflower seeds or yogurt drops. They smell tasty (to hamsters) and will be too tempting for them!
4. It may even be worth placing their exercise ball, without the lid, alongside the treats as hamsters may very well climb right in and then you can pick up the ball as simple as that. Hamster caught!
5. Eventually you just have to sit as still and as quiet as possible in the same place until your curious hamster appears. It may very well take AAAAAGES but any sudden movements/jerky actions/loud noises will spook them further into hiding. There is no use lunging as soon as your hamster pokes a whisker out of its hiding space because you will freak them out and they will not come out for even longer. If you are patient enough, they will emerge right out into the open to scoff some of them treats and at that moment you make your move.

There is no magical hamster-trap you can set down (there are non-killing mousetraps which can be used in this situations but personally anything with the word ‘killing’ in its name is going nowhere near my hamsters!)
Patience is the name of the game.

Hope this has helped! ^.^

How To Hand-Rear Baby Hamsters

Hand-rearing baby hamsters is an exhausting task. There are only two reasons for deciding that hand-rearing is the way to go.

1. If the mother has abandoned her nest and doesn’t feed/keep warm/defend the babies herself.
2. If the mother has died before the litter are 14 days old

Under no other circumstances should hand-rearing be the first option unless advised so by a vet (in very rare cases).
In this article I will show you how to set up a suitable cage, how to keep the nest warm, how to hold and feed a baby hamster and how to encourage peeing and pooping.
All this information is from personal experience and through extensive research on Google.
I recommend all this information for pups upward of 7 days old.

How to set up a baby-safe cage

What you need:
A basic cage (preferably one without fancy tubes and tunnels)
Kitchen roll
Pet-safe bedding
Hamster muesli
Fresh vegetables (carrot or cucumber being better choices for babies)
A water bottle

NOTE: Do not use sawdust in a babies cage as it can be dangerous for tiny inexperienced mouths!

As you can see from the picture (right) the cage I am using doesn’t even require a lid as such yet. The babies are at such a stage that climbing out is unachievable and as the feeds are regular, its a pain to have to take a lid on and off constantly.

The base is also compromised of 4 sheets of large kitchen roll. It covers the bare plastic, provides vital heat insulation and is much safer than sawdust at this stage in the pups lives.

 Everything is very much open which is important for keeping an eye on wandering babies. As they are still blind having  places to hide is a risky move on the owners part so keeping things as simple and open is important.

I have also attached the water bottle onto the inside as low as possible to the ground so that when they are exploring if they want a little drink, they can. As of yet, they havent touched the water bottle. I think 14-21 days is the general time region to expect self-drinking babies, if not longer.

How to keep the nest warm

The nest in which you are raising these babies in is hugely important. Its where the majority of the pups time will be spent whilst growing up.
As you are rearing these babies without a mother, the necessities wont be provided naturally to the babies. For example, the heat of a mothers belly will no longer be there to maintain a healthy body temperature for the pups.
This is crucial!!
Babies will lose their body temperatures very quickly when alone and without a mothers tum to nestle into, this is literally a matter of life and death for young pups.

To compensate for a mothers tum, there are two things to do to keep your hamster babies toasty.
Firstly, an almost boiling-hot water bottle. Its incredibly difficult to maintain an even temperature but throughout the night you cant cradle the bubs against your own body for warmth! So its the easiest way to heat the nest.

This is where the layers of kitchen roll and a hot water bottle cover come in handy dispersing heat and also makes sure that the cage doesn’t overheat.

If it is too hot, the babies may squeak a little (they are letting you know its uncomfy – simply place a towel or blanket inbetween the base and bottle to take away some heat) or  they will just move out of the heated section of nest. They aren’t stupid and they will decide where they want to sleep in the nest.

This will require changes every 3 or 4 hours to maintain a decent temperature (even throughout the night) so pay attention and regular checks are a MUST!

In contrast, heat pads are available which can maintain even temperatures across a layer which can be placed in a cage however they can be costly (especially when you’ll only really need them for 2 or 3 weeks) and I was recommended by a worker at Pets at Home that heat-pads are more commonly used for reptiles and regularly-changed hot water bottles are equally as good for this situation.

The second way to keep the bubs warm?
Hold them in your hands of course! Plenty of handling can be helpful as it keeps them at body temperature which is the end game really. Like I said earlier, this isnt possible 24 hours a day but any chances you get – it can be super efficient!

How to hand-feed a baby hamster

Hand feeding a baby hamster is a challenging operation. It requires effort, patience and a very gentle touch.

What you need:
Cat/Kitten milk
(“there is no difference” said the vet)
A pipette
(I got mine from Boots Pharmacy for 99p)
Fresh vegetables/fruit
(carrot, apple and cucumber again are best)

How often?
From 1-14 days old hourly feeds are required. Yes, every hour! I never said it was easy people! Pups get dehydrated in a matter of hours so slacking on this front could kill them.
When the pups are eating soft/solid foods (approximately between 10-16 days) the milk weaning can begin reducing feeds to every 3 hours.
When the pups are comfortably feeding themselves, milk feeds can be stopped altogether.

Is cow’s milk okay?
No.
Babies need nutrients from milk to help them develop and grow properly. Milk low/without lactose is important as it is as close to the mothers milk as you can commercially get.Cat or puppy milk was recommended by the vet I visited, and she also stated that there was not much difference between cat and kitten milk so either is perfect for feeding baby hamsters.

How to hand feed milk
It is a very time-consuming task hand feeding pups.
You have to take it sloooooow. Any hurry or forceful feeding can lead to milk being inhaled into the lungs and causing death within the minute. This is serious stuff!

• Gently hold the pup in your hand being careful not to squeeze them tightly.
• Take a pipette full of milk and place it near the pups mouth. Remember they are not used to being fed this way so resistance is natural.
• Try not to squeeze vast quantities into their mouth, they’ll choke! Little and often is the way to go.
• Allow the pup to lick/bite the end of the pipette on their own to take in milk.
• If they dont show an interest, a small drop of milk on the bottom lip can be licked up and enjoyed all the same.
• Wait for the pup to stop ‘chewing’ the milk (its how they swallow and is normal) then repeat

About 2 or 3 drops in one sitting is plenty for a little hammy.
Anymore and you may be doing more harm than good.

If milk covers the nostrils, be quick to wipe it off as this can be inhaled and will kill your pup.

I find hand-feeding 2 pups takes between 10-15 minutes. There is no point in rushing the feeds as, like I mentioned earlier, they are still babies and can inhale just as easily as swallow which will kill them!

How to introduce solid foods
There is no use leaving a bowl full of muesli out for your babies to munch on. Their teeth are still developing and will have nowhere near enough power in their jaws to break down the solid nib-lets you get in muesli.

This is where fresh veg come into play.
Dice your chosen veg into teeny-tiny chunks – no bigger than the pups ear-size.
Place the chunk in your hand in front of them and wait for them to hoover it up.
They very well may take a good 20 minutes chewing a chunk – its new to them! Just be patient and wait for them to 100% finish the chunk before feeding a drop of milk or just retuning them to the nest. You don’t want to over-do it.

Placing these finely chopped veg into the cage near the nest encourages the pups to explore and scavenge for their food.
Finely chopped apple is also a winning food as its hydrating as well as nutritious.

How to encourage peeing and pooping

You may very well giggle at this but until about 12-15 days of age they wont be able to pee or poop on their own. Their mother would have to lick their bottoms to encourage them to relieve themselves which is where you have to step in and play surrogate.
If you don’t do this, it can lead to “backing-up”. Can you imagine how uncomfortable that would be for a bub?! Its also a cause of death for infant rodents, so dont slack about at this stage!

What you need:
Lukewarm clean water
Cotton bud
A tissue

Basically heat the water to about body temperature (you are mimic-ing a mothers lick here).
Dip the cotton bud into the water, drain any excess water off.
Hold the baby so their bottoms are hanging free from your grip.
Gently rub the damp end on the babies bottom area. A regular up-and-down motion for no more than 10 seconds will encourage the babies to relax enough to pee. They even tend to hold still at this stage so you know they’re concentrating!
Having placed the tissue underneath the pup, it should catch any drips from their little wee! Any poop may need a bit of extra rubbing with a cotton bud. Stubborn things!

How often should you do this?
Really as often as you can manage!
I do my two every 2 hours or so however at 10 days old they have started peeing and pooping without encouragement – phew! I only discovered this however when they were causally exploring my bed and both managed to pee in unison.

————–

As I said at the start, the whole process is not for the faint-hearted. Its all very well thinking its best for your pups to be hand-raised by yourself but are you prepared to sacrifice everything that comes with it? (Sleep being a biggie! I haven’t slept for more than 2 hours at any stage since Friday)

Taking the babies away from the mother may be the only option but it needs to be considered in respect to everything else – do you have the time to hand-raise a litter?
Tomorrow I shall post a 24 hour ‘diary’ of my day caring for the pups, just to give you an idea of how much my life currently revolves around these tiny rodents!

Hope this information is helpful to someone out there!
If you have further questions/worries you can contact me for free of course.

Where can you sell baby hamsters?

So your situation is your syrian hamster has given birth to babies!
Firstly CONGRATULATIONS!
Secondly, where can you now sell your furry offspring??

BEFORE you consider selling your baby hamsters you must make sure they are old enough to be separated from the mother.
In Syrian hamsters this is recommended between 3-4 weeks earliest and no later than 6-8 weeks.

 So WHERE CAN YOU SELL BABY HAMSTERS;

• Ask Friends and Family
  This is your best and should be your first port of call. Ask everyone you know if they want a hamster or anyone they know would like a hamster! Carry a photo of the babies on your phone or something as a cute face can be verrrrrry persuasive if some need convincing  
• Advertise on Facebook or Twitter
  There are tons of pages and groups set out on Facebook and Twitter where local people can advertise things they have for sale. Finding local people to buy your hamsters is usually the most successful route and the simplest! 
• Privately owned pet shops
  The big branded pet stores rarely ever accept baby hamsters. They have certified breeders who stock their shelves so wont accept masses of hamster babies from everyone who comes in the shop. The only pet shops that may possibly accept hamster babies will be privately owned store and even then its just a long-shot. Its worth ringing around your local area and seeing if they would take your hamsters in! Chances are they wont accept 10 hamsters babies and they probably wont even pay very well, if at all, for them but its an option to bear in mind.
• (Country depending) GumTree 
  This is an online site where people can sell pretty much anything for free (eBay do not allow the sale of live pets so GumTree is an alternative to consider). You can set your price and add pictures and can attract local buyers to your pet. This is another outlet to consider if you are selling the offspring!
• Local animal shelters
  If you google your local pet rescue centre and give them a ring or a visit you may be able to donate your hamsters to them. I think out of politeness you should not ask for a price because these centres are up to their eyeballs anyway with homeless rodents and so they are actually doing you a favour taking any unwanted babies in. (However this is just personal opinion of course!) 

I have mentioned this before but if you are selling your hamster online, make sure you price them above the cost of snake feed because there are people out there who buy living rodents to feed to their pet snakes. As long as your hamsters arent cheaper than specialised snake feed then you are doing all you can to prevent this kind of cruelty.

 Any other suggestions on where to sell hamsters are welcome in the comments below!

xx

What to think about BEFORE you breed hamsters

I am DESPERATE to breed Dexter and Eve together.
I cant wait to get little baby hamsters!

So why haven’t I done it already?
There’s a surprising amount of organising to do before you even let two hamsters in together.

Do you have buyers for the offspring?

Big pet shops (Petco, Pets at Home, PetSmart.. etc) rarely take in baby hamsters – even if you bourght the hamster already pregnant from them! They don’t need to take in hamsters because they have certified suppliers and wouldnt have the space or control to take in every person off of the streets baby hamsters!
So you need to organise buyers for your babies.
Hamster give birth to BIG litters with up to 20 little babies but the average being around 8. You need to at least organise 6-8 buyers prior to breeding this way you wont be stuck with potentionally 20 baby hamsters!
(If your hamster has less, then you’ll still be fine and if you have buyers left over without hamsters then you are capable of breeding them again.)

Syrian hamsters are pregnant for around 16 days and start to show after the first week or so. After the 16 day pregnancy, they have to remain with the mother for between 3-4 weeks before being able to separate. So make sure you consider these time restrains when arranging buyers too!

The best way to sell hamsters is to advertise (I will be doing an entire post about this aspect of breeding in the next week or so)!
Ask friends, ask family, ask friends of friends – you get the idea! Post on Facebook or Twitter advertising your litter! If all else fails some privately owned pet shops may consider taking a hamster or two off of your hands but do not rely on them. However if you find yourself with a hamster going spare its worth ringing around the local ones in your area to see if they are willing to help out.

There are online forums which allow local pet sales which are always worth trying. Although I read a tip on one site saying that you should always check the price of “snake live feed” before pricing your hamsters because some people will buy baby rodents to feed to their snakes! Kind of cruel I know – so just be aware that this happens!

Pet shelters are another option however are usually up to their eyeballs in rodents so you cant guarantee that they’ll all be re-homed very quickly at all.
Basically sort a handful of buyers out BEFORE you breed so you dont have to worry about it later on!

Do you have a neutral territory for the hamsters to breed in?

I read on some online forums that putting the female in the males cage was an option for breeding however I disagree. Males are territorial and if the female is not in the mood or the male is having a bad day then there could be a fight and inside a cage isnt the most accessible place to seperate fighting hamsters.

I suggest a neutral territory to let the hamsters mingle in. This was there is no territorial defending and is much less stressful for both hamsters involved.
I know I have slated the “Indoor/Outdoor Playpen” before for being useless at containing hamsters, but for this situation it is perfect.  It has an open top so easy access if things don’t go to plan and theres plenty of space for two hamsters.

Do you have supplies for when babies are born? Do you know what care they need?

 Having extra food and bedding and even extra cages must be prepared before the birth of any babies!
Extra bedding should take priority because mummy hamsters love to build nests when pregnant. [Placing strips of toilet roll into the females cage means that they can create a soft cosy place to give birth to her babies!]

I will do a further post in the future about the kind of care that baby hamsters need but all you need to know BEFORE you even consider breeding is that extra things will be needed and LOTS of research into the topic (make sure you follow the blog if this is something you are considering!)

And my tip top piece of advice before considering breeding your hamsters: Research!
It is key to breeding hamsters because stressed out mummy hamsters eat and cull their babies when things aren’t perfect!

So make sure you follow the blog for further posts and to keep track of my own journey toward breeding my hamsters! There is a little box on the left hand side of this page near the top. Look for it and you shall see
To my fellow bloggers, hope you’re as excited as me to the prospect of breeding Dexter and Eve!

And if any UK residents would be interested in having a baby hamster off of me (once ive bred Dexter and Eve) then let me know via email or just comment below and I’ll get back to you

xx

Do hamsters make good pets?

When it comes to buying a pet, you want to make sure you have a rough idea of what you are getting yourself into.
Its like with a dog; you know you have to be around a lot of the time to train and look after it, as well as be active and take it for walks and jabs and all that malarkey!

Well people want to know the same for hamsters so I have devised an easy guide to what owning this pet requires, who its good for and all that kinda stuff. This is based on Syrian hamster, there are differences if you are looking to buy a dwarf hamster!
So get a pen out and take some notes!

Owner Requirements:

• Patience (Hamsters can sometimes take a few weeks to get tame and that’s with regular handling so as long as you are persistent with holding your hamster then there wont be any problems here!)
  • Energy (Hamsters love to be played with so you need to be enthusiastic and have lots of energy to do so! This is why hamsters are perfect for children as kids always have lots of energy)
  • Cleanliness (Hamsters will lick, chew and nibble anything they can get their hands on so making sure they have a clean environment to explore is essential. Chemically cleaned surfaces can seriously damage little rodents because as they clean themselves they transfer all the germs from their feet onto their mouths and all over their body. Pet-safe disinfectants are widely available)

Hamster Requirements:

• A small amount of space(As long as they have a suitable cage and an exersise wheel or ball to run around in, they will be happy! You dont even need much floor space because sealed-up-wheels are available to put your pet in if you dont have the space for a ball.)
• Food and water (Water bottles should, ideally, be changed daily and food topped up if needed over the week. Replacement of hoarded food is necessary but thats only to stop mould growing! As long as you can provide these, then you are good to go! The standard hamster food  is approximately £2.39 for a whole kilogram so its doesnt need to be bourght weekly!)
• Attention (Hamsters are playful creatures and need to be handled as often as possible to break boredom and keep them healthy and active! Again, this is why hamsters are perfect for children!)
• An exercise wheel/ball (This is the most important thing for your hamster. They need to be stimulated – how would you like to be cooped up in a cage with nothing to do all day! Wheels are well known for being noisy at night so keeping your hamster in a separate room is recommended if you want a good night sleep!)

NOTE: Hamsters tend not to need pet insurance because they have a short life expectancy and also because the more common ailments are cheap enough to solve without.

Things to consider:

• Have you got the space? 
  This isnt just for a hamster cage itself, but remember you need somewhere to keep all the bedding/sawdust/food whilst its not in use as well as a small amount of space for a ball.
• Will you still be around in 3 years time? 
  For Syrian hamsters life expectancy is between 2-3 years. Any older than that and you have done VERY well indeed! Will you be around in 3 years time to still be looking after this pet?
• Can you afford to buy food/bedding/unexpected vet bills?
  Making sure you have a little money left over before payday is essential. If your little hamster needs a trip to the vet can you afford to pay the vet bill on top of all your other spendings?

Checklist for beginners:

• Cage
• Food
• Wheel
• Ball
• Sawdust
• Paper Bedding (Optional Extras include soft stuff)
• A toy of some kind
• A pet safe cleaner

The total, not including the price of the hamster, should cost around £30 if you get a starter kit cage which includes free sawdust/bedding/food etc.
Hamster prices vary up and down the country but here in the UK, you can buy them from around £9.50.

Still unsure if a hamster is right for you?

Positives:

• They only take up a small amount of room
• They are friendly and brilliant for kids once tamed
• They are cheap to maintain and care for
• They are easy to look after
• Dont need supervision during the day so can happily go to school/work
• They love to be played with
• They dont need to be taken out on walks in the rain
• They teach responsibility to young people
• They are a good starter pet if you’ve never owned a pet before
• They are superduper cute
• They dont need to be insured

Negatives:

• They have a short life expectancy (2-3 years, suppose this could also be a positive)
• They need to be tamed
• They can bite
• They can be noisy at night – running on a wheel or gnawing the bars etc.
• They can poop or wee on you (what animal isnt that true for though?)
• They are masterful escape artists so need supervision whenever outside of their cage
• Need cleaning out weekly

Any further questions about what owning a hamster entails; contact me!  

P.S. do you like the new picture at the header of this page?? 

How can you tell whether a hamster is a boy or a girl?

One of the most common things searched on my blog is this very question.
“How can I tell whether my hamster is a male or female?”

Pet shop owners make mistakes when checking the sex of a hamster so its always worth double checking your new hamster if you have doubts  Seeing as I have a girl hammy and a boy hammy I thought I would show all of them puzzled readers as to the difference between a male and a female.

So below is a super flattering picture of Eve and Dexter.
No they do not look comfortable, but this is the only way to check the sex.

Females

• Girl hamsters have rows of teats on each side of their belly.
  These can be tricky to see but if you gently hold your hamster like in the picture below, you should be able to get an idea as they create a fleck in the fur.
• You should also be able to see the lady-bits between the hind legs

Males

• There is no sign of flecking in the belly-fur
• You can see the butt and the hammy-manhood (circled in the picture below)
• The butt is a noticeable and prominent bulge around the tail area. Take a look at the picture below and notice how the female is flat across the hind legs whereas the male has the bulge. You can sometimes tell whether it is a by looking from above this butt bit is so characteristic.

Eve (female) is on the left and Dexter (male) is on the right.

 

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Apart from checking the underbelly of your hamster, there really isnt any other way to know the sex of your hamster.
If you still are really unsure of the gender of you hamster, then take him or her to a vet and they will be able to tell you for sure.

Hope this has helped

Can Hamsters Get Concussion?

Experience has showed my that my hamsters have absolutely no sense of consequence.
They jump off of platforms, run into walls, climb up the bars and all sorts. 

Eve, as you may have read before, has a hobby of climbing on the bars of her cage.

A kind of monkey-bar exercise if you like.
She manages to hold on for impressive amounts of time, and covers every inch of the wired cage upside-down.

 There are then the times that she lets go and doesn’t quite land so smoothly after clambering on the ceiling for a bit.
Basically she face-plants the floor.
(As you will see on the video below - try not to laugh too hard when she splats on the floor!)

This raises the following questions;

Can hamsters get concussed? 
Yes, hamsters CAN get concussion.
When dropped from a height, in a ball or if they’ve jumped out of your hand onto a hard floor, these small rodents can suffer horrible injuries.
The first port of call if you suspect your hamster is seriously injured, is the vets.

Get things checked out if you aren’t sure!

How can you tell if your hamster is concussed?
You will notice the following from your hamster:

• disorientation
• limping
• lack of appetite
• unusual/jumpy behaviour
• excessive sleepiness

These are all warning signs that you have an unhappy hamster!
Unlike humans, hamsters tend not to vomit with concussion which means it can be slightly harder to spot. So just keep an extra careful eye on your hamster in the following days after a hard fall.

What do I do if my hamster has concussion?
First of all, visit a vet.
Its better to be safe than sorry!
There are things you can do at home too.

1. Remove the exercise wheel.
   (This may seem counter-productive however if your poorly hamster does vigorous exercise it may worsen the problem and slow recovery. As long as the exercise wheel is returned after 3-4 days the worst of the injury should be over.)
2. Assist your hamster when drinking water. 
   (Concussion can make it extra hard for your little pet to get all the fluids it needs. So just help them out when they are at their water dispenser by gently squeezing the bottle so droplets are easier to drink, or take the water dispenser to your pet and hand feed them.)
3. Make sure there are no bright lights or loud noises around.
   (This is particularly important when your pet is poorly with a head injury. If they are in the same room as a TV, keep it turned down, if they are near a window, keep the curtain/blinds closed, etc) 

 Can hamsters concuss themselves in their own cages?
There is the possibility that they can concuss themselves in their own cages however these cages are designed to be as safe as possible for the little critters!
As you can see from my hamster Eve, she face-plants the floor a good 10 times or so a night and she is fine!
She can handle a few bumps and falls – the main thing is she doesn’t fall very far and has a cushioned landing of sawdust too.

This is the video Im sure you have all been waiting for.
Eve doing the monkey bars, followed by an attractive SPLAT onto the floor.
Enjoy!

Dont forget to follow the blog – dont have to have a WordPress account either – just an email address!
You can then receive an email every time I post.
You dont want to miss a thing!!! 

Do hamsters have nightmares?

Picture the scene: Its a Sunday morning, there’s a slice of sunshine peeking through the curtains on the bed (you’re laying-in), its quiet and peaceful, except for your boyfriend who is heavily breathing next to you.
Sounds about right; when suddenly…
You hear a tiny little squealing coming from the hamster cage, its not just once – it continues.
Peaceful lay-in ruined.

I jumped to my feet, making sure to “accidently” elbow the sleeping boyfriend in the process, and rushed to the cage fearing a hamster-homicide scene (I watch too much CSI…) and what did I see?
I saw a peacefully still hamster, squealing like a little piglet in his sleep. What the fu..!?

 This sparked the thought, was he dreaming?
Was he having a nightmare?
Or was this just a hammy version of “heavy breathing“
(who am I kidding – its called SNORING!)

I woke him up just to be sure he wasn’t suffocating or something… As soon as I stroked him in his bed he woke up and the squealing stopped. He just looked at my hand with blurry eyes and an annoyed ‘dude, come onnnnnn!‘ expression on his face.

I’ve heard of dogs dreaming, even cats! But never hamsters…
So to the pet owners out there: Do hamsters have nightmares? 

My conclusion of this event, is yes they do. Just like humans, they have parts of the brain that keep activated at night. This is even more so for hamsters as there is the primal instinct of predators when they sleep so they have to be alert pretty quickly when they need to be!
The main thing to know is, if your hamster has squeaked or made funny noises in their sleep like mine, its usually nothing and they are dreaming of pussy-cats eating their tails or something. Its not a sign of distress and almost all hamsters do it at some point in their lives so dont fret!

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