How Much Is A Hamster At Pets At Home

How much does 1 hamster cost?

Initially, you will also need to purchase a cage ($10-$50) and toys, such as a hamster wheel ($20). Large cages with tubes and tunnels often cost more and are harder to clean, so make your own obstacle course instead with old toilet-paper rolls. As for the actual hamster, he will usually only cost $5 to $20.

Do they sell hamsters at Pets at Home?

Small Animals – In store we have rabbits, guinea pigs and a selection of the smaller pets such as hamsters and gerbils. All our small animals are bred by reputable specialists.

Can you buy 1 hamster?

5. A Lone Hamster Is a Happy Hamster – While some animals need friends and companionship, hamsters do not. A Syrian hamster can bond with a human guardian, but they should not live with another hamster. They are territorial and will likely fight. Dwarf hamsters, including members of the Roborovski, Russian, and Chinese species, can live with a companion if introduced at a young enough age, but fights can occur no matter how long they’ve coexisted.

Are hamsters expensive to buy?

In general, a hamster will cost between five to fifteen dollars in a shop, and a bit more if you’re buying an unusual variety.

Are pet hamsters worth it?

7. Hamsters are Easy to Clean up After – Hamsters are clean animals, so you will rarely ever have to bathe yours unless you have to wash something off of them. They are generally fastidious about personal hygiene and regularly clean themselves to keep tidy.

• Not only does this mean that you have less work, but it is also adorable to watch them undertaking their little cleaning rituals.
• Hamsters are also quite good housekeepers.
• They usually choose one corner of their cage to be their bathroom, which keeps the rest of the cage relatively clean.
• This makes tidying up their home a breeze in comparison to some rodents! With so many things to love about hamsters, it is no wonder they make such popular pets.

Without much cost, time, or space, you can keep an adorable little companion to call your own. Although they may be easier to care for than some other pets, it doesn’t mean that a hamster is right for every household. Very noisy households or ones with lots of other pets could be stressful or a risk for a hamster.

Do hamsters live 1 year?

Hamster fact file – There are several different breeds and varieties of hamster, varying in size and temperament. Hamsters usually live for up to two years, although some may live for longer. Here are some top hamster facts:

There are 24 species of hamster and they belong to the family Cricetidae. The Syrian, Russian Dwarf Campbell and Roborovski breeds are the most popular for pets. Hamsters enjoy exploring and use their whiskers to help them sense objects in their environment. A hamster’s teeth never stop growing and they have a ‘self-sharpening’ system where the incisors grind against each other while gnawing, which wears the teeth down. Hamsters are nocturnal, with large eyes and a retina dominated by rods – the part of the eye that can function in lower light. Not all hamsters are sociable – in the wild, Syrian hamster adults generally live on their own in their burrows. Other species, such as the Russian dwarf, naturally live in groups.

Why not have a read of our full Hamster fact file?

Are hamsters smell pets?

Why does my hamster’s cage stink? – It’s not surprising that hamsters can create a stink when they sleep, eat, poo and wee in a confined space. However, they aren’t dirty animals and groom themselves instinctually to make it harder for predators to catch their scent.

1. One possible reason why your hamster’s cage might be smelly is down to the pheromones they release from their scent glands.
2. This is a totally natural way for hamsters to communicate – marking their territory or attracting partners – but it does have a musky smell.
3. Lack of cleaning or the wrong type of bedding might also be the cause of a bad whiff so clean regularly and use absorbent bedding.

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Do hamsters need a house?

Pet Owner Version Because of their small size, hamsters do not require large amounts of space compared to some other kinds of pets. In addition to a suitable cage, your hamster will need a balanced diet and regular time to play or exercise with you. Your hamster will need a protected and safe environment within your home.

Hamsters seem to prefer being housed in enclosures with solid floors, relatively deep bedding, and abundant nesting material. This comes closest to the environments in which their species live in the wild. The enclosure should be secure. Hamsters are outstanding escape artists. Once outside the cage, they are difficult to find and may be reluctant to return to the cage.

Your hamster will need an enclosure with enough space to allow for exercise in addition to areas for feeding and nesting. The enclosure should be at least 6 inches (15 cm) high, but enclosures 8 inches (20 cm) or more offer the advantage of deeper bedding.

The floor should be solid and there should be no wood that can be gnawed and no sharp edges that might injure your pet. Smooth plastic or glass is preferred for cage walls because hamsters can chew wire. Whatever cage or tank is selected, it should be easy to clean and sanitize, well ventilated, and easy to light.

Ideally, a hamster’s living environment should be kept at 64°F to 79°F (17°C to 26°C). The hamster cage should be equipped with a water bottle with a sipping tip. The food container should be heavy (to resist tipping) and should have sides low enough for easy access to food but high enough to avoid accidental introduction of feces and urine.

1. Ceramic dishes are good choices.
2. All water and food containers should be easy to clean and sanitize.
3. Select bedding that is clean, nontoxic, absorbent, as dust-free as possible, and easy to change.
4. Cedar chips and fresh pine materials should be avoided because of possible toxicity.
5. Shredded paper (other than newspapers printed with conventional inks) and processed corncobs make suitable bedding materials.

For nesting materials, plain white facial tissues or unprinted paper towels cut into strips and placed on top of the bedding are well received by most hamsters. Cotton balls are potentially dangerous because the cotton can be caught in toenails and feet and cause injury.

A nesting box made of sturdy cardboard or wood makes a suitable sleeping area. A play area can be created with old packing tubes cut into short lengths; just be sure that the tube is large enough for your hamster to move through freely. For small hamsters, old toilet paper tubes make good running toys.

In addition, boxes with holes cut into them make intriguing play areas for your hamster. Hamsters are normally housed singly except during breeding periods. Sexually mature females are territorial and aggressive and frequently fight each other. Because of this, housing female hamsters in the same cage is not recommended.

Breeding females are larger than mature males and the female hamster’s aggressiveness often means that a male hamster will be injured by a female cage mate. Except during breeding, it is safest to house hamsters singly. In the wild, hamsters eat both meat and vegetables. Commercially available food for mice and rats, which usually comes in pellet form, provides suitable nutrition as long as the food contains 15% to 20% protein.

Extra vitamins are usually not necessary. Or you can feed commercially available pellets formulated for rabbits, which contain more fiber, or “roughage,” than diets for mice and rats. If you are providing rabbit pellets for your hamster, you may choose to mix this in with mouse and rat food occasionally.

A few healthy treats such as fruits, vegetables, or chewy treats sold in pet stores may be given but should be limited to not more than 10% of the total diet. Seeds should be given sparingly because hamsters often prefer them over their pelleted food. Hamsters tend to hoard food and will hide food pellets in their cheek pouches or around the floor of their cages.

They usually eat their own feces. Fresh, clean water should always be available. Your hamster’s water bowl or bottle should be cleaned and sanitized regularly (usually daily) to prevent infection. Regular exercise is necessary for your hamster to stay happy and healthy.

• Often, an exercise wheel is part of providing the exercise your pet needs.
• Be sure to select a wheel with a solid running surface to protect feet and bones.
• The wheel should also be large enough for your hamster to move freely inside and to easily enter and exit.
• Pet stores often offer exercise balls that can confine the hamster while allowing it to move over a large area outside the cage.

If buying an exercise ball for your hamster, be sure that the device is large enough for your pet, has sufficient ventilation, and is constructed securely. Even inside an exercise ball, hamsters can get into tight places and potentially hazardous situations.

• Eep a careful eye on your hamster if the animal is in an exercise ball and be sure to return your pet to its cage for food and, most critically, water after a reasonable exercise period.
• Other encouragements to physical activity include providing a play area with tubes and boxes for play.
• Be sure all tubes and openings in boxes are large enough for your pet to easily enter and exit.

Hamsters are active, curious, and fun to watch as they explore their environment. If they become accustomed to human handling early, they can be easily picked up and should not bite unless they are startled. Hamsters should not be housed in groups because adults can become aggressive toward each other even if they are reared together.

Because they are nocturnal, hamsters are most active in the evening and at night and prefer to sleep during the day. Just as you do not like to be awakened or disturbed while you are sleeping, neither do hamsters. Plan your interaction with your hamster for the hours when the hamster is most likely to be awake and active.

Evenings are usually good times for interactive play, cage cleaning, and other joint activity. Hamsters are small animals; even the largest can sit comfortably on an adult human hand. Hamster bones and muscles are small and can be easily hurt. Handle these animals carefully and gently to avoid injuring them. Copyright © 2023 Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA and its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Which hamster should I get?

Syrian (Golden) Hamster – mu_mu_/ Getty Images Also known as golden or teddy bear hamsters, the Syrian hamster ( Mesocricetus auratus ) is the most popular pet hamster, especially for children, They range from from 5 to 9 inches in length and have a lifespan of two to four years.

Through selective breeding, you can find this hamster in a wide range of colors and coat lengths, though typically they are golden-brown and white. The Syrian hamster is the best species for handling. It is easy to tame, the slowest of the popular pet hamsters, and the least likely to bite. Though docile with humans, they are territorial with other hamsters and should always be housed alone.

They will fight if housed in groups. The Syrian is true to its nocturnal nature and is rarely active during the day. Early morning or late evening are the best times to interact with this hamster.

Is it OK to have 2 hamsters?

Hamsters are generally solitary animals, and can be aggressive towards other hamsters. Not all species of hamster can be housed in groups, and Syrian and Chinese hamsters in particular aren’t naturally sociable and are better kept on their own. With the right care and conditions, Dwarf hamsters can be housed together.

Should I get 1 hamster or 2?

1 One Hamster per Cage : Hamsters are loners and two hamsters in the same cage will begin to fight and eventually, one may kill the other.

Should I get my 2 year old a hamster?

There are important pros and cons to consider before you bring a hamster into the family. At one point or another, your child will likely ask you for their own pet, and in many cases, this pet will be a hamster. While hamsters can make an excellent starter pet for some children – they are playful, cute, and fairly low maintenance compared to other pets – they do require careful, gentle handling, and might bite if they feel unsafe in small hands.

1. It’s almost certain that a toddler won’t be able to handle a hamster properly (squeeze too hard or drop by accident), which is why it’s best to wait until your child is at least six years or older.
2. Even then, hamsters need to be handled only with adult supervision by children under eight years old.
3. We’ve listed a few pros and cons to help you make an informed decision before bringing a hamster into the family.

PROS

Hamsters can be tamed if played with often and become quite loving and social. These critters are undeniably cute and love to play. Their housing set-up is fairly low maintenance – they require a roomy cage, food, water, bedding, exercise wheel and nesting box. They are relatively inexpensive They teach children responsibility They don’t take up a lot of space They prefer living solo, so you don’t need to pair up. They won’t get lonely or bored as long as they have plenty of toys and accessories to keep them busy.

CONS

Fully grown hamsters can take several weeks to tame. Like all pets, they may need medical intervention during their life. Hamsters are prone to a bacterial disease called wet tail, as well as dental problems, pneumonia, skin irritations, diarrhoea, abscesses and tumours. You can expect to pay the same vet rate for a hamster, as you would any animal. Hamsters need clean cages to keep them from getting sick. If their cage isn’t cleaned regularly (at least once a week), it can smell. They can easily get lost in your child’s bedroom, and are able to squeeze into tiny holes and hiding places. They don’t interact well with other pets in the home, including dogs and cats. Hamsters love running on their wheel at night and can be loud and disrupt your child’s sleep. They have a short life expectancy. Domesticated hamsters typically only live for two to three years, while Syrian hamsters may live slightly longer.

Do hamsters run a lot?

What Else Can I Do To Prevent Hamster Wheel Addiction? – If your hamster is caged up for most of the day, you may consider buying a bigger cage (or with split levels) so that it has more room to roam. Provide toys to divert its attention away from the wheel.

Toys such as tunnels, tubes, and ladders will make for a very stimulating environment for your hamster. To cater to their natural instincts as food foragers, you can scatter its food about the cage such as under its bedding and on different levels of the cage. This will force your hamster to “work” for its food and burn off some energy in the process.

Being confined in a small cage all day can make your hamster restless. So it will take to running on the wheel. Rather than removing the wheel, you can let it run about outside its cage – under supervision. : Is Your Hamster Addicted To Its Running Wheel?

Are hamsters hard pets?

While hamsters are relatively low-maintenance compared to many other pets, adults still need to provide plenty of support for children who own them. Hamsters are sensitive to mishandling and will bite if they aren’t treated appropriately, so children need to be shown the correct way to interact.

Is it hard to keep a hamster?

There’s a reason hamsters make such a good first pet — actually a few. They’re funny, cute, good with kids, and relatively easy to care for. But that doesn’t mean you won’t put in a bit of work. Between cage cleaning, feeding, exercise, and hand training, you may find yourself overwhelmed those first few weeks. Frenjamin Benklin/Unsplash

Do hamster bites hurt?

Hamsters do bite sometimes, though it’ll typically only happen when they get scared. Most of the time, your pet hamster will be a cuddly, affectionate companion, but in some situations, hamsters can and do bite. It’s rare for a hamster to actually be aggressive, though, and they typically only bite when they get scared.

Can a hamster trust you?

Making Your Hamster Feel at Home – MidWest Hamsters make great pets – they’re adorable, smart, and full of personality. They’re often considered a perfect “starter pet” for young children to teach responsibility. While they don’t require the same amount of attention as say, a new puppy, they do require daily care and some preparation and training.

1. Getting Your Hamster Settled It’s important to make your hamster’s transition home as stress-free as possible.
2. When you bring him home, place your hamster in his prepared cage and let him explore on his own in peace.
3. Your hamster’s home should have bedding, food and water, a hideout, and an exercise wheel at minimum.

come with an exercise wheel, water bottle, food bowl, hideout, and elevated feeding platform so you can simply add bedding and your hamster’s habitat will be ready to go. Even though you might be tempted to shower your new pet with love, do not disturb him for the first few days.

Continue to bring him food and water, but don’t remove him from his cage or handle him. Any added stress on his tiny body could lead to behavioral problems. You’ll know your hamster is getting settled when you see him marking his territory by rubbing up against the cage and completing daily activities such as exercising and burrowing.

Taming Your Hamster Like any new pet, hamsters need to be tamed. It takes time for your hamster to form a trusting bond with you, and handling him before he’s ready or when he’s stressed could lead to a nasty bite. To gain your hamster’s trust, offer treats while he’s still in the cage.

1. Eep your hand steady while he investigates.
2. If he doesn’t take it at first, it’s okay.
3. Just leave the treat and try again the next day.
4. When your hamster is confident enough to jump in your hand for a treat, he’s ready to be picked up and held.
5. Every hamster is different, so there’s no timetable for this process.

Some might get comfortable after a week; others may take a month. Just be patient. Hamster Grooming Hamsters are very clean by nature and spend lots of time grooming themselves. Your hamster could still benefit from an occasional dust bath. You can find dust powder for bathing in the small animal section of your local pet store.

• Just place the dust powder or bathing sand in a shallow dish and let him roll around.
• Brush off the excess and remove the dish when he’s done.
• Wet baths will remove essential oils from his coat, so avoid them when you can.
• If a bath is absolutely necessary, use shampoo especially made for small animals.

Hamsters’ teeth never stop growing so it’s important to have small wood blocks or wooden chew toys for him to wear down his teeth to an appropriate level. If your hamster’s teeth become overgrown, they can cause injuries to his mouth and affect the alignment of his jaw.

Should I get my kid a hamster?

Children and hamsters – Because of their small size, hamsters are often purchased as pets for children who want to play with them during the day. However, just when it’s time for your child to go to sleep, it’s time for a hamster to wake up. A hamster awakened suddenly from a nap during the day may bite.

Therefore, hamsters need to be handled only with adult supervision by children under 8 years old. Hamsters require a gentle touch and may be easily startled by sudden movement and loud noises. The motor skills of children under 8 are usually not refined enough to make a hamster feel comfortable being handled.

Young children who lack fine motor control and self-restraint may inadvertently drop a hamster, squeeze them, or scare them into biting. Young children are also at greater risk for zoonotic diseases (diseases that are can be passed from animals to humans) because of their undeveloped immune systems and because of their tendency for close contact with pets without proper hand-washing.

How old is a hamster at 2?

How old is 6 month hamster in human years? – A 6 month old hamster is 34 years old, Hamsters don’t age proportionally; a one-year-old pet would be 58 human years old, while at two years it is 70 human years old.

How old is the oldest hamster?

Reputable sources record some wild species as living up to 8 years of age. However, the Guinness Book of World Records states that Smeaton’s hamster of 4.5 years was the oldest. Smeaton’s hamster is likely the oldest recorded pet hamster. Unreported laboratory and wild hamsters may live for more than 5 years.

How long do hamsters sleep?

How Long Do Hamsters Sleep? – Hamsters usually sleep for about 12-14 hours a day but, unlike humans who typically sleep once a day, hamsters have polyphasic sleep-wake patterns. This means that they sleep multiple times a day so this 12-14 hours will be broken up into smaller segments throughout the day.

How much space does 1 hamster need?

Hamster Cage Sizes – For Syrian hamsters, the minimum amount of floor space needed per hamster is 900 square inches, or 40 x 22.5 inches. The height should be 24 inches to allow for several inches of bedding. Chinese and dwarf hamsters need a minimum of 700 square inches of floor space.

1. This equates to about 40 x 17.5 inches per hamster.
2. A cage height of at least 24 inches with 6-8 inches of bedding is optimal.
3. The ideal cage for multiple hamsters is one that allows a large enough floor space for each hamster’s needs.
4. Syrian hamsters prefer to be housed alone and should not live together.

Dwarf hamsters will need an adequate amount of space to accommodate more than one and should only be housed alone or limited to pairs. Be sure to check the gender and separate males and females to avoid unwanted breeding, and observe interactions as aggression may occur between cage mates.

Can hamsters live to 3?

Syrian Species. The Syrian hamster averagely lives between 2-3 years. In the wild, the average Syrian hamster lifespan is between 2-3 years. However, in captivity, they have been known to live longer, up to 3-4 years.

How much is 2 years for a hamster?

How old is 6 month hamster in human years? – A 6 month old hamster is 34 years old, Hamsters don’t age proportionally; a one-year-old pet would be 58 human years old, while at two years it is 70 human years old.

Are hamsters cheaper than cats?

Owning a hamster ($300 – $500 dollars annually) – On average, cats live up to 15 years and each year of joy with them means a year of financial spending. Hamsters, on the other side, have a significantly shorter lifespan which means you will spend less on feeding them.