Thursday, March 29, 2012

How to chose the type that suits you the most?

Hey hamster lovers. This is the post for evryone planning on getting a hamster. I had this problem while I was buying my hamsters and I belive many people out there are having it as well.
WHICH IS THE BEST HAMSTER FOR ME?
If you are looking for hamster that will be a good companion, but mostly loner, you should get Syrian. Syrian hamsters, also known as "golden" or "teddy bear" hamsters, are good for people who are looking for a hamster more as commintment then a pet. I know this sounds harsh, but it is reallity. Syrians are more loners and would not like you to handle them. Taming them is also harder than with Russian Dwarfs. Anyway, I like Syrians because they are unique and being solitary animals makes them good as one owner's pet.
If you want hamster that will be cute and easy to tame and handle; Winter White should be your choise. I do not own any Winter White but saw them in pets stores and they seems not to be asocial at all. In fact, they can even live together in small colonies (up to 5 hamsters, but they will need a big habitat and remember, one male per colony if it is mixed gender group). They are holding friendly and would like to give them attention. Only fact that I do not like about Winter Whites is that they come in only three colours: agouti, pearl and saphire. Mutations between colours are posible, but it is most likely that hamster with other colour is not pure Winter White, but partly Campbell hybrid. Winter Whites are non-biters and are great for hamster begginers.
If you want a hamster that has cuteness of Winter White and almost as strong temperament as Syrians; get Russian Campbell's Dwarf. Campbell's are as cute and small as Winter Whites, but if not tamed appropriately, they could become little monstrums. However, if tamed in a good way, they become really good and peacefull pets. The good fact about Campbell's is that they come in like fifteen different colour varietis. Some people recommand having Campbell's in groups, but from my experiance it didn't work out well. Maybe because FiFi and Bella aren't from the same litter. So I recommand not having more then one Campbell's per cage if they aren't put there while they still being young. I also recommand not having different sex hamsters in same cage if you do not want pups. Campbell's, as well and Winter Whites, are like baby popping out machines.
If you are looking for watch but no tuch hamster, get Roborovki, also known as Robo. So Robos are really samll, smaller then other two dwarfs. They have like tons of energy and are really funny to watch. But problem with Robos is when it gets to taming. Robos are likely Syrians, just smaller. They are also know as common biters. But they are redeciously cute and amusing to watch. If you really work hard on your Robo, it could turn out peaceful, but remember it is still kind of wild by nature. Do not try to change it, just learn how to live with that.
There are aslo few tipes of crossbreeds. Moat popular is Pudding hamster. Pudding hamsters are Winter White-Campbell's hybrid, and is strongly reccoamnded not to try getting  them at homes. They have colouring of Campbell's but natural friendly soul of Winter White.  They are really pretty with unique orangle-yellow colour, but are extremly rare. I do not even know do they sell them in pet stores. Getting Pudding hamster requires a lot of knowledge and experiance about breeding and hamsters in general. You do not want your hamster die because you tried to get Pudding hamsters. Sadly, in most cases it will happend. No matter is mother Campbell's or Winter White, she could have complicatons because of too big fetuses and die. And no one guaranties you will get Pudding pup. I mean, is it worth of it?
I hope this article actually helped someone. If any aditional questions, feel free to contact me via comments or mail (you can find it on my official).
Have a nice weekend,
-Marko

Monday, March 26, 2012

Buying a Hamster?

Hey all.
First (real) topic I would start with is how to buy a hamster. Let me tell you one story:
"It was 2 weeks before X-mas last year and new pet shop opened in my town. I wanted to get a dog, but my mom didn't let me, so I said I will buy a rat. If I did that, she would probably kick me out of the house. OK I said. You do not let me have dog, I'll get rats. Too bad, I could find any. But few days later my granny found two mice. I was happy. I took old terrarium and placed mice inside. When my mom got home from work she almost had a stroke. But she realized I really wants a pet and I am serious about that. So she let me buy a hamster as my X-mas gift. Same day I went to pet shop.
There were like two terrariums. One crowded with nice and colorful baby syrian hamsters, and another with three big albino angora hamsters. Shop assistent came and asked me what I need, I said that I would like to get a hamster. All she did is aked me which one I like. I picked cute silver ball. It was a bit affraid. I asked assistent can she tell me is it boy or girl. She didn't know. But I immediately fell in love. "No matter what, I am buying you", I said. So I bough it. When I came home first thing to find out was sex of my hamster. I didn't take a while to find out he was boy. Next goal: pick a name. At first he was nameless for first few days, and then I found perfect name; Pixie."
So, this is quite how it was. What I am trying to say is DO A RESEARCH. Do not be a stupid kid who point and gets something without knowning a single thing about it. It is much, much easier to care for hamster with some experience and knowledge, belive me. It is much easier to raise FiFi now after I already raised Pixie and Bella.
Read a lot of different stories about experiences with hamster. But do not stick to them. Remember that every hamster is unique. So, a lot of research and choose a good pet shop. I would reccomand to visit few before buying your hamster and make list on good and bad sides of each, and in the end choose the best. Eve better is buying hamsters from breeders. And the best thing is, that there are those breeders that breed because of love for hamsters and not money, who may give you a hamster for free. But prepare yourself, they might fool you. So do your best, do little research and I am sure your new hamster will spice up your life. Hope this post helped someone.

-Marko

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Initial word

Hey all. First to indroduce myself. I am Marko from Bjelovar, Croatia. I  am great animal lover (at least I think so). My animal kingdom contains a cat (Flekica, don't let the name fool you, he is a boy), a dog (Masha, a pekingese mix breed), aquarium with many fishes (mostly mollies, guppies and platies) and lst but not least three beautiful hamsters; Pixie (syrian boy, lazy piece of work), Bella and FiFi (two dwarfs girls, actually chinese hamsters, who act like sister to each other, but they are not). I know I am not some hamster expert, but think I know enough to make blog about them. Sorry, I can't put any photo in this post since I have any on laptop, but promis to put somoe pics soon.
                                                                                                                                              Marko