Not a Betta, but...Meet my new friend.

[red_fish_blue_fish]

I worked my first full day today (yeah!) at PetCo...and already I come home with a rescue (holds head up in pride, but holds it down due to weaknesses the animals have placed on my heart). This lady was telling me about how she bought a visious hampster....How much she hated it, yadda, yadda, yadda...blah blah. I told her that I was sorry that that happened to her. Not 2 min after she left, I found a moving box at register one...with a hampster in it. It was a shoe box. Well, nobody claimed him by the end of the night, so I took him home. Here he is: I have named him Huedini...lol, because he escaped the box multiple times throughout the night...and he is not mean AT ALL!!!!

 

[snowyangel]

Huedini, i love that name for a hamster! He's simply too cute.

Your like me, stubborn and curious. Whenever i see an animal labelled "dont pet me i bite!" or "I'm mean" labelled on animal that isn't aggressive by nature, i just have to pet them! lol. But it hasn't steered me wrong yet. It's all about how you approach an animal imo.

 

[Kiarra]

She was probably just mean to the little guy, and he just thought he had to defend himself.

Such a cute little thing. Good thing he's out of her hands and in someone else's, who will take care of him.

 

[50000_tears]

sorry i have to brag on some things. you cannot use those wheels they can break the hamsters legs ,and pine bedding is horrible for the respitory of your hamster i would recomend looking for Carefresh (great brand) its brown paperish looking. btw i have a hamster

 

[GuppyDude]

hamsters are not mean, my guess is the lady's kids were being a little too ruff handleing him and he got pissed. they are very peaceful and like being handled (properly). kudos for rescueing him! he would have likely been put down. your a hero

 

[Auratus]

sorry i have to brag on some things. you cannot use those wheels they can break the hamsters legs ,and pine bedding is horrible for the respitory of your hamster i would recomend looking for Carefresh (great brand) its brown paperish looking. btw i have a hamster

Ditto

Also wanted to add that the aquarium probably isn't the best invironment for him, especially with the pine bedding. It might be temp since you just got him but the decreased ventilation causes respiratory problems with the fumes from the wooden beddings + the urine.

Also, a block food is better than the high fat seed/pellet mixes.

:::steps off soap box:::

Just stuff you can tell people next time they want to buy critters at the store you work at.

 

[red_fish_blue_fish]

It's Aspen Bedding....not ceadar, not pine...no scent, less dust than even that newspaper made brands, and never had any redness of the eyes or nose, no sneezing, nadda (Besides, I am allergic to the newspaper brands). I have had Hammy's before, been a breeder of them. They eat the plastic wheels (which is not good for them either), and I have them get there legs caught in the reg metal ones...never had any bad luck with this brand of wheel (as my hampsters legs cannot fit through the wire openings, but I would never put it in with a mamma and her babies). I have had bad luck with wire cages as well, My hammy's have tried to climb it, and hurt themselves falling, or they eat the covering on the wire, or they hurt their mouths trying to chew on the wire. I am in the process of switching him to block food. You cannot just change the diet of any animal without causing tummy upset or worse. So all that I use is from experience. Thanks for the advise though.

 

[LoachLover]

I love hamsters, nice name too

 

[Bloo]

It's Aspen Bedding....not ceadar, not pine...no scent, less dust than even that newspaper made brands, and never had any redness of the eyes or nose, no sneezing, nadda (Besides, I am allergic to the newspaper brands). I have had Hammy's before, been a breeder of them. They eat the plastic wheels (which is not good for them either), and I have them get there legs caught in the reg metal ones...never had any bad luck with this brand of wheel (as my hampsters legs cannot fit through the wire openings, but I would never put it in with a mamma and her babies). I have had bad luck with wire cages as well, My hammy's have tried to climb it, and hurt themselves falling, or they eat the covering on the wire, or they hurt their mouths trying to chew on the wire. I am in the process of switching him to block food. You cannot just change the diet of any animal without causing tummy upset or worse. So all that I use is from experience. Thanks for the advise though.

Everyone is different in the approach to keeping animals - however I tend to agree with you on your preference for keeping hamsters (for various and also similar reasons). I have also kept and bred many many hamsters for 10+ years

 

[kaz petts]

I found a hamster not that long ago. Unfortunatly I had no room for the little guy as my son has mice, I have fish and a rabbit, my two daughters have rabbits and one of my daughters also keeps fish.
The little guy was very grumpy, well wouldn't you be if you had been dumped out in the cold and left unsafe where any preditoroy critter can get at you.
Unfortunatly I don't think I have really saved him as I couldn't find a home for him so he has ended up in the hands of the RSPCA.
This little guy did nip, he bit my knuckle that hard that the bite went down to the bone. Don't let this put anyone off keeping hamsters though as I have kept them before and one of them was that tame that it used to lick the end of my nose when I put him near my face.
Your new friend is very similar to Bobby, my hamster that sadly passed away last year. He looks very nice and good on you for saving him.

 

[Stagette]

aaaawwww he's very cute congratulations!

 

[RandomWiktor]

Awwwr. What a cutie; he's lucky he found you. And I agree with your housing; I had a hammie who chewed one bar loose from the plastic on his cage, tried to squeeze through, got stuck, and asphyxiated. It was very sad
I peronally have only had one hamster that was remotely handleable in my entire life, but I think it was more an issue of me being too young to know good socialization. Good luck with the lil fella; I'm sure thats one happy hammie to have found such a good home ^^

 

[OrkyBetta]

Pine bedding is OK if the cage is well ventillated. Aspen and Carefresh are great alternatives, but I understand how pricey they are. That wheel probably won't hurt the hamster's legs since the bars criss cross, his feet won't get stuck. IMO the wheels that are solid plastic and only have an axle on one side are best, because the hamster has a less chance of falling and the bar hitting his head. But, these are just precautions. Hamsters are mischevious little animals, and there is no way to fully keep it safe. I've had hamsters get their legs caught climbing the bars of wire cages, hamsters gnawing holes through water bottles and ingesting the plastic, etc. The most important thing is that you keep the cage clean and keep the hamster well fed, and keep a good eye on him. Which I have no doubt you are doing, so I see no real problem.

 

[BettaMomma]

She desserted him at your store?

What a hag.

I'm so glad you adopted him.
I bet he is too.
I have no hamsters, but I do have 2 guinea piggies and just love them - I love all sorts of little furry critters.

Yay for you, and him!

 

[red_fish_blue_fish]

I have an extra play pen that ws a hand me down form my family when we had my son...lol. I use it to let the Hammy/and the mice (not together) play in it, and have out of cage time at least once a day. They all really enjoy it, and it has so much space. I like it, becuase if I have to run and tend to my son, I don't have to worry about them getting lose during play time. They like the openess of it, and always act like they got loose, and are getting away with murder by playing in there...lol. It's funny.