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protips on tiny pets omnomnom !EU2flUHnlo
Hey /an/
I have a very tiny (8lbs) Shih-Tzu right now and recently I've been thinking of getting another pet. I was thinking about something small, maybe even just a cricket. Yesterday i remembered how awesome hamsters are... Discuss.
>> Anonymous
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I had a Siberian hamster I named Max. He was almost 4 years old before he died.

I loved my hamster.
>> Anonymous
I've had 12 hamsters in the course of a year.

I bought one from the petstore. She had 8 babies.
I gave two to my boyfriend and the rest back to the pet store when they were old enough.
I ended up getting a black bear hamster for free the day that I returned them. Someone had just brought them in.
The first hamster who had the babies died, and I got another hamster to replace her.
He died a few months later, so my boyfriend gave me one of the babies from the first hamster's litter.

I still have Beary (black bear) and Buttercup (first hamster's baby). They're really great.

They're easy to take care of and they're very gentle.

I prefer the female hamsters over males because they seem like they have a lot more personality, but that's just my opinion.

You should get one :). You won't regret it.
>> Anonymous
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I have 6 hamsters, they are the shit.

I have:
1 banded cream syrian hamster
1 Russian campbell dwarf (I'm suspecting it's a hybrid cuz its from some shitty pet store but I can't tell)
4 roborovski dwarf hamsters.

I really want a winter white russian dwarf though, maybe i'll get one soon.

pic is my russian campbell
>> Anonymous
rodentfag here.
i've never owned a hamster before, mainly because they seem a bit dumb and useless, and i've been bitten enough times to never want one; usually it's the dwarf hammies that are the rotten ones. i work at a pet store, so you can imagine how many children come in wanting hamsters. i wanna know which hamsters are usually safe and which ones are more likely to bite your fingers off. also, why ARE dwarf hamsters so mean? D:
>> Anonymous
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Get a Syrian. I've never had any of mine bite me.
>> Anonymous
Get a rat instead. They're much nicer and you can teach them tricks.
>> Anonymous
Can hamsters or other rodents have any diseases like rabies? Just wondering since it seems fairly common for them to bite you.

Also OP's pic reminds me of how adorable hamsters can be. It put a smile on my face.
>> Anonymous
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I recently bought two hamster from a pet store. They were labeled as Roborovski hamsters, but the coloring seems different from what I've seen in a few books...I love them anyway. The female doesn't bite at all, hates being held, but likes being petted. The other likes to nibble my fingers before he climbs into my hand and spits out all of his food. They both seem to have completely different personalities, and it's totally worth the time put into them.

This is Murder Machine and Rusty Metal D:
>> Anonymous
My brother and sister both have bear type hamsters. My sister has a panda bear, and my brother has a black bear. They have never bitten me without due cause. The only time i have been bitten strong enough to hurt was the second day my sister had her hamster and i was feeding it a treat through the bar like an idiot. It thought my finger was another treat
>> Anonymous
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>>320362

those are definately robos, they are the "white face" color variant. robos like to sleep like that.

here are 2 of my 4 that i have.
>> Anonymous
>>320317

>i wanna know which hamsters are usually safe and which ones are more likely to bite your fingers off. also, why ARE dwarf hamsters so mean? D:

Syrians are almost always tame and never bite from my experience, dwarves have a tendency to bite sometimes. although i have had some VERY sweet dwarves before because i handled them from when they were babies. they aren't all mean, just gotta find one that is hand raised.
>> Anonymous
>>320340

Any mammal can have rabies, dumbass, but they don't get it just sitting around their cage. They would have to be infected by another (usually wild) animal that already has it. Since rabies is usually transmitted by bites, something as small as a rodent would usually not live long enough after being bitten by a rabid animal to develop rabies itself.
>> Anonymous
>>320499
Yeah, there's never a need to worry about pet rodents contracting rabies since they're very rarely if ever exposed to other animals.
And depending on the species, rodents aren't any more likely to bite than a good dog and less so than a cat (at least, in my experience - cats get feisty when they play). I've kept chinchillas and rats for 4-5 years, the only 2 bites I've gotten that broke the skin were from excited chinchillas going for treats and getting a finger instead. It's almost happened with the rats, but my rats seem to be more careful about accidental nipping and always stop before breaking the skin.

There's a disease called rat-bite fever (similar to cat scratch fever) that would likely be possible to catch from a hamster bite, but that's pretty much as unlikely as rabies from a cage animal..

I could never keep Roborovskis, just watching those little fuckers go tires me out.
>> Anonymous
I have aquestion for hamster lovers. Is it fine to keep sand in the terrarium? I'd hate to clean the regular shit people use, and whenever I'd chose to keep a hamster, I'd like to make cleaning easy. Sand seems to be a perfect choice, but is it?
>> Anonymous
>>320794

also, how bad is the smell? I'm thinking of Robovskis as well, or Jungaians, however you spell it.
>> Anonymous
>>320796
If I'm not mistaken, Hamsters are from the middle east and chinese desert areas, wouldn't sand be included in their natural habitat anyway?
>> Anonymous
>>320851

I give my robos a little thing filled with sand for them to bathe in. I don't know about using sand as substrate though? they like to dig.
>> Anonymous
>>320162
hamsters are fucking shit, they are stupid and don't do anything.
>> Anonymous
>>320333
i have two female rats. :3 they're so smart, but they're really mischievous. i love them so much >w<
>> Anonymous
>>320362

What bedding is this, if this owner is still in this thread? I keep thinking it's pillow filling, but I might be a little too high on mead to tell the difference. Still wanna know though, never seen it before.
>> Anonymous
>>321263
the 18- boards are soooo superior to the 18+ boards... mead ftw
>> Anonymous
rats
>> David
Hamsters are bad news. Go with Rats! They are the smartest rodent out there, smarter than dogs and cats even. Plus they are good tempered
>> Anonymous
>>321263
It's a brand of substrate called Carefresh, and I've seen it in almost all of the pet stores around here. I really like it because of the lack of wood oils and how absorbent it is. The packaging also claims that it's flushable, but I really wouldn't trust that. I definitely recommend it.
>> Anonymous
>>321380

Carefresh! I never thought it actually looked like that, most of the Carefresh kept at my store is at the medicinal aisle, for the sick rodents.

Thanks a lot, mighty Anon.