Mike’s Fish Tank – Hamsters

Instead of fish, lets talk hamsters. They are extremely popular at our store. Kids love hamsters.

There are a lot of different hamsters available. When I was a kid, there were golden hamsters and maybe a few longhair. That was about all that was available. Now we have the bear hamsters. They tend to be bigger and usually a bit more friendly. They come in a variety of neat and interesting colors such as, polar, black, calico, tortoise, panda, dalmation and dove. Then there are the dwarf hamsters. The Russian dwarf are the ones you see the most. A lot of people shy away from them because they’ve heard they are mean. The Russian dwarf can be a bit nippy sometimes. Just remember that most of the time a hamsters friendliness depends on how they were raised. I get a lot of my hamsters from local people. Most of these people have young kids who tend to play with the hamsters at an early age. This will make a hamster much tamer. Also remember that one is better than two. At some point 2 hamsters will probably start quarreling and fighting each other. Also when there is just one hamster, they tend to bond with the human, becoming very tame.

Keep in mind that where you buy your hamster is a big deal. Some of the big chain stores will get their hamsters from huge breeding farms where the hamsters do not get much human attention. Thus you may get a hamster that bites or is nippy. If you do end up with a nippy hamster, hold them a lot, it’s the only way to calm them down. If you have to, where a pair of gloves so if he bites, it will not hurt you. A hamster can sense if you are nervous or afraid. Dwarf hamsters should only be fed the big hamster nuggets, otherwise known as square meal. Do not feed them seed. It can hurt or actually kill them. The regular sized hamsters can eat seed but square meal is good for them too. The dwarf hamsters come in a variety of colors too, dalmation, blackberry, blueberry, beige, tan, calico and more. One of our most popular hamsters are the chinese dwarf. They stay small like the russians but they are almost always tame and super friendly. They might be a bit more timid, less outgoing then the russian hamsters. But almost all of the people who buy them, love them. They just have a great personality.

The average lifespan of a hamster is 2 to 3 years. Keep in mind the better the food quality, the longer the hamster can live. Always buy food from a pet store where they get fresh food every week.

Pets A Plenty is located in the Blockbuster Video Plaza, Rte 281 Cortland, 753-9213. Open 7 days a week. We now have a website. www.petsaplety.biz. check it out. I post care sheets, coupons, new animal arrivals, contests and more. Any questions, email me at friskyy@hotmail.com

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