ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Chinese Hamsters

Updated on March 21, 2012

Agreeing to a hamster

At the weekend, my daughter Lyndsey was 11 years old. She received some lovely gifts as well as some money from her relatives. Most of the weekend was spent begging her step-dad and I to let her buy a hamster. I sat down and worked out a list of pros and cons of allowing her to keep a hamster, and eventually gave in and took her to the pet shop yesterday to choose a furry friend. Before I could say "are you sure about this Lyndsey?", she had chosen a rather lovely female Chinese Hamster, a pink girly cage and a trolley full of accessories for the cute little critter.

While the assistant packaged newly named "Tinkerbelle" into a carry box, Lyndsey proceeded to the check-out, proudly announcing that she was now a mum!


Meet Tinkerbelle!
Meet Tinkerbelle!
Tinkerbelle's new home.
Tinkerbelle's new home.

Chinese Hamsters

Chinese hamsters are much smaller than the traditional Syrian Hamsters which are the more popular choice of pet. Originating from China and Mongolia, they are very distinctly marked with a black stripe down their back and a white underside. They look like a small mouse, but without the long tail. Adults grow to around 7-9cm in length. Although they are small in size, they are not of the dwarf variety, but often mistakenly referred to as dwarf hamsters. They are easy to handle, but are very quick and can get into the smallest of spaces. Male Chinese Hamsters can be kept in pairs; although it is not advisable to keep females in pairs as they can become aggressive with each other.

Housing a Chinese Hamster

An aquarium style house is more suitable to this type of hamster, as they can escape through the bars of a traditional cage type hamster house. They will need a little house or box with bedding to sleep in and some hamster safe shavings or shreddings to run around in. Some pet stores offer a hamster starter pack as part of the deal when you buy the house.

Feeding guide for Chinese Hamsters

Hamster specific mixes are available to buy at pet shops and their diet can be supplemented by some fresh fruit and vegetables in very small quantities, as too much can result in diarrhea.

Suitable fruit and vegetables:

Strawberries, apple (no seeds), papaya, cantaloupe, banana, melon, pear, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, celery, carrots, corn, peas, squash.

Chinese Hamsters are prone to diabetes, therefore, their diet should be monitored very carefully.

Always replace the feeding bottle with a fresh supply of water each day.


Happy Hamsters

Chinese hamsters are semi-nocturnal animals, but will come out for an hour or two in the day. To keep your pet happy, you should invest in a few "toys" to avoid them becoming bored. These are a few ideas to keep them contented:

Small teddy/bed buddy (especially if they are kept on their own)

Log or tunnel with holes in (they love to hide and explore)

Wheel (for exercise)

Runner ball

Wooden hamster sticks (to gnaw on, as their teeth grow constantly)

Mineral stone (will maintain health and provide essential minerals)

Ladders, blocks, etc will all add to the quality of your hamster's life.

Playtime

Playtime for your furry friend is just as important as its diet. Letting your hamster run around gives them a change of surroundings and gives you the opportunity to play with and handle them. My daughter takes Tinkerbelle out of her cage once a day for an hour or so and puts her in a hamster play pen with a selection of toys. Chinese hamsters love to play, and once tame they like to be handled and cling on with their tiny paws.


A hamster playpen will allow your pet to play safely without escaping.
A hamster playpen will allow your pet to play safely without escaping.

Their life expectancy is around 2-3 years. Once they are tame, they love to be handled and very rarely nip. Chinese hamsters make wonderful pets, but as they are very fast, they are not recommended for younger children.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)