My basic info
Here's what the humans have to say about me:
Litter of Syrian hamsters just surrendered - supplies needed!
Link to amazon wishlist https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2SSMCPKZEA3I5?ref_=wl_share
(We particularly need mazuri rodent blocks and paper bedding!)
An owner contacted me last week because she had a litter of hamsters that she wanted to surrender. I found out that she bought two hamsters for her young son; a male and female. She said that her son intentionally put the two together to breed, but they didn’t realize that they would have 10 babies. The photo they sent me of how they were keeping them was so unsettling - so I knew I had to step in.
I was able to educate the owner about how Syrian hamsters are solitary animals - once the babies reach about 8 weeks old they need to be separated as they will become territorial, not to mention start breeding with each other. I told her about how each hamster should have an enclosure 4x the size of the one all 10 were currently living in. They had them in a 10 gallon tank, with no furnishings and wood shavings A single Syrian hamster ideally should be living in a 40 gallon sized enclosure. Aspen is an ok wood based bedding - and even then sometimes that can irritate their fragile respiratory tracts. The owner was very receptive to this information and I hope they will make some changes with their remaining hamster.
The owner purchased the male and female hamster from Petco and Petsmart - two more animals that these large corporate pet stores have failed. Time and time again I see animals from these stores suffer in the hands of their owners, not because the owners are bad pet caretakers - but because they received little to no information on how to succeed as a pet parent.
One day I’d love to see these stores stop selling live animals… but until then I will continue to advocate for them.
I’m slowly opening up for surrenders again now that I have had some adoptions. This one will be a big undertaking. These little 9 baby hamsters are about 6 weeks old, they’ll be ready for new homes in 2 weeks and after that will need to be separated into
