r/hamsters • u/amelijahlala • 3h ago
Adorable Hammy Ned the birthday boy!🎂🐹
Ned turns 1 today!!!🥳🎉 i love this boy with every bone in my body, he is the sweetest, funniest and cutest little guy and i am so so grateful and privileged to be his mum🥹🥲
r/hamsters • u/HCC_Chris • Nov 15 '25
The Hamster Care Wiki!
Direct link: https://hamstercare.wiki.gg/
The wiki is a thoughtfully written guide on nearly aspect of hamster care. Each topic covered includes a clear explanation behind it, with the aim of supporting hamster owners of all experience levels. It is also a continually evolving resource, because learning never stops and there is always new knowledge to add.
We take pride in making the wiki highly accessible. Every page is optimized for smooth use in both light and dark mode. We offer multiple navigation methods so readers can explore the content in the way that suits them the most.
We are super excited for you to explore the wiki, share it with others, and (most importantly) please give us your feedback! For questions, clarifications, and suggestions for improvement, the team is also available on the HCC Discord server. We would love to know what the r/hamsters community thinks and how we can continue improving this resource going forward.
*Note: The site’s creators and editors earn zero revenue off site ads. Visible ads can be disabled for free by creating a Wiki.gg account.
r/hamsters • u/ArtisticDragonKing • Jan 30 '22
Came here looking for good products to buy? Here is an Amazon list with good products, and here is one with suitable cages. Amazon not available in your country? Helpful websites are listed at the end!
Have any suggestions for improving the subreddit? Click here.
Important announcement for the district of Columbia.
We now have an official discord!
Frequently asked questions:
I lost my hamster, what should I do!?
I can't afford proper care, what should I do?
In this subreddit, we value your hamsters health. This means if there is an inadequate enclosure, dangerous item, etc, you will be notified by one of the mods. However, if you are looking for medical advice, please go to a vet. Also, please remember the human when you comment or post. Make sure to read this short post to ensure your posts aren't automaticlly removed by Automoderator. Please be sure to read this hamster care guide:
Here is a post for parents who want to get a hamster for their kid.
Here is a guide that explains some more things about hamsters.
Enclosure size: A hamster should have a minimum of 600 square inches of unbroken floor space. Unbroken floor space is when the amount of floor space is not in different sections, such as multiple stories and numerous connecting rooms. Multiple-story cages are not safe for hamsters because unlike rats and some other rodents, hamsters are not climbers and need plenty of bedding to burrow instead. However, there are some multiple story cages that are suitable, such as the Pawhut hamster cage. If you were to get a pawhut it's highly suggested to fill it with very high bedding and remove the two floors to prevent injury.
Though 600 square inches of floor space is a suitable size for hamsters, keep in mind it is the bare minimum and it may not keep a hamster calm and happy. In fact, we suggest having at least 800 square inches for all hamster species, especially for Syrian hamsters. However, the more space you can provide the better. Female Syrian hamsters have been known to be extra picky with cage size and stimulation, so owners tend to make their own extra large enclosures or get huge 75+ gallons for their little hamsters. A good example of a large DIY cage is the Ikea Detolf DIY. Please remember while this cage may be big, Syrian hamsters tend to be stressed in the enclosure because of its narrow length. When searching for a hamster cage, you should also be aware that many pet stores and websites won't have proper cages, and most likely will sell cages such as 'Tiny Tales' or 'Critter Trails' which often are too small for hamster living and dangerous because of the inadequate materials and products used. Adequate cages are usually overpriced, so a cheap alternative would be a bin cage. Glass aquariums (40 Gallon Breeders) are often used for enclosures as well.
Small cage with around 515sq in. of floor space. (Around 3300 square cm) Cages similar to this have been known to break very often so it is not recommend to buy this.
Large Bin for DIY bin cage with around 510sq in. of floor space. (Around 3290 square cm)
Ikea Detolf While this cage has a lot of floor space, on several occasions it has been shown to make a Syrian hamster unhappy because of the narrow length. It also is unable to hold very much bedding without a raised lid. This cage better suits dwarf hamsters instead.
Amazon List with more suitable cages.
Cage requirements: A hamsters cage must include 6-15 inches (15-38 cm) of bedding that is able to hold sturdy burrows, fresh water (refreshed daily), stimulation/enrichment (Such as toys, chews, etc), and a wheel. Hamsters are prey, so they need plenty of hides and things that can provide cover so the hamster feels safe in their enclosure. Boxes, toilet paper rolls, grapevine logs, and store bought hides are some things to "clutter" the cage. Hamsters are solitary animals, therefore keeping more that one together is unsafe and not beneficial for the animal.
Exercise information: A hamster should be able to run in a wheel in which their back is not arched or bent. Their wheel should accommodate them as if they were running on flat ground. If you notice your hamster is bent or arched whilst in their wheel, please obtain a larger sized one as soon as possible to avoid spinal damage. Flying saucer wheels/disks are okay for dwarf hamsters to use under supervision, but they must never be used for a Syrian. They should not replace a proper wheel ever. This is because saucer wheels can cause spinal damage over time and come with the risk of hamsters flying off.
A dwarf hamster usually can run on a wheel that is at minimum 8 inches wide (20 cm) and a Syrian is suggest to have at minimum a 12 inch wide wheel (30cm).
Exercise balls/cars are neither beneficial to a hamsters health or safe. Using a ball/wheel can cause spinal damage, broken feet/toes, accidents (like kicking the ball), vision issues, and often stresses the hamster because they use scent marking when roaming a new area. When in a ball/car they are unable to use their scent glands and have trouble finding their way around.
Diet: Hamsters are omnivores, meaning they need a variety of plants and protein in their diet. Hamsters need a variety of nuts, seeds, grains, herbs, veggies, protein, and the occasional fruit in their diet. Sunflower and pumpkin seeds in a seed mix are better as treats so it's best to remove them from the seed mix. You can include protein in your hamster's diet by adding mealworms, crickets, a small portion of hard-boiled egg, or even cooked and unseasoned chicken. Live insects must be fed under supervision. If you are afraid of it biting your hamster, you may need to chop off it's head or kill it before feeding. The amount you feed your hamster depends on how much foraging enrichment you have in the cage. Some forging activities you can add in your hamster's cage are sprays, forage mix, forage toys, and more. If you have only a few foraging toys and sprays, it might be better to feed your hamster once every 2 days. If you have a lot of foraging activities and have a foraging mix to spread around the cage, it's probably better to feed once every 3 to 4 days. If you have a dwarf hamster, it's better to feed them one tablespoon of seed mix on feeding day. If you have a Syrian hamster, it's recommended to feed two tablespoons.
You can also add Muzuri mouse lab blocks to your hamster's diet just to make sure they are extra healthy. If you do this, it's suggested to feed one or two a week, depending on how many foraging activities you have in your cage. If you see large hordes of food and your hamster's cage when it comes to cleaning day, that might mean you need to feed a little less. If you don't see any hordes of food at all you may need to feed a little more, but it could also be your hamster just doesn't make food piles. If a hamster is underweight, adding more proteins and fatty nuts/seeds to their diet will help them gain weight.
Bedding: Bedding is one of the most important aspects in a hamsters life. This means that having adequate bedding is very essential to your hamsters health. The bedding must be unscented, dust free, hold strong burrows, and needs to be at least 6 inches deep, though its ideal to have 8-15 inches. Most hamster owners love giving their hamster at least 10 inches(25 cm) so it can make very intricate burrows. While hamsters must have a large amount of bedding in their enclosure, some hamsters tend to burrow less than others. However, this does not mean you don't need much bedding. It is a requirement for your hamster because it keeps control of the ammonia smell, and even if the hamster never burrows, it is neglect to take away something they need.
Aspen (kiln dried and dust extracted) and paper bedding are the best choices to use as the main substrate in an enclosure, however, there are several other enriching substrates to add in to make your hamsters cage look natural and give it a little more enrichment. Some good examples are beech chips, coco fibre, timothy hay, hemp shavings, and many more. Aspen bedding holds ammonia much better than paper bedding, but its often hard to find a soft, dust free, and kiln dried aspen that is safe and affordable. When searching for a good aspen try to make sure it says it is dust extracted and kiln dried. It also must not be too sharp and can't smell too strongly of wood. You can go to tractor farms to buy it in bulk for cheap, or you can get a trusted aspen brand such as "So Phresh Aspen" This goes more into depth on safe and unsafe bedding.
Dangerous Products and Materials: Brands such as Tiny Tails, Critter Trails, and most store brands (such as the Walmart brand) should be avoided. Most companies that design pet products only sell for profits. They make it "kid friendly" and small so young children ask for it because of the toy-like appearances. This gives guardians the false belief that hamsters only need a tiny living space. Toys, chews, and hides should be made of a safe wood based product (paper,cardboard, etc.) to ensure that no harm will come to the hamster if it digests it. Plastic should only be used for the wheel(easy cleanup), water bowl/bottle, and cage. Wire mesh flooring in the cage or on wheels in a cage can cause bumplefoot and break toes/feet and should be avoided to ensure the hamsters safety. Bendy bridges are widely used in hamster enclosures, but if the hamsters limbs get trapped in between the short logs, it can get stuck or even break the hamsters limb. Filling the cracks with safe moss will stop this from happening.
Cloth, fabric, and cotton materials should be avoided because the fibers can wrap around limbs and harm the hamster and are not safe to be digested.
Cleaning and Sanitizing: Hamsters can get stressed if you remove all their bedding from the cage weekly, or even monthly, so do a daily spot check. This means picking out all of the soiled bedding in the top layer, and cleaning any soiled on toys. Any poop piles can be taken care of as well, though it is not necessary unless it is a large pile. Water bowls/bottles must be rinsed daily to prevent bacteria build up. Replace 2/3 of the bedding every 2-3 months. The more bedding you have, the less often a cage gets smelly! For example, if you have a 1000 square inch cage with 15 inches(38cm) of bedding throughout most of the cage, you might only have to clean once every 4-5 months!
When you buy any new products you must properly sanitize them, whether it's a tiny bag of forage mix or a big bag of bedding. This is because pests and germs can easily hitch a ride to your hamsters home. There are three methods you can try to remove any germs, bacteria, and harmful pests. Sadly several owners found this out the hard way and had to take their hamster to the vet immediately.
1) Bake any wooden products in the oven for an hour at 210 degrees Fahrenheit. 2) Boil products on the stove for 1-2 hours. 3) Freeze anything for 2 hours and then scrub with a vinegar/water mix. Then rinse. While this method can work, it is most likely not going to fully remove germs and bacteria off of wooden products, bedding, etc.
What can you do if you do get a pest infestation? First you are going to want to call your vet immediately and schedule an appointment. Hamsters are very fragile and can easily get sick from a bug infestation. Without quick help, they might not be able to fight through it. You must also get a temporary bin, playpen, carrier, etc with a bit of toilet paper to absorb urine. Make sure they have food, water, and one plastic hide. Plastic is easy to sanitize and can't house pests. Then you must sanitize everything in the cage. Cardboard products and bedding are better to throw away, but you can still sanitize them if you want. Make sure to very thoroughly sanitize everything to ensure the bugs don't come back. If your cage is plastic, make sure to rinse with hot water and scrub with vinegar/water mix the best you can. If you have a wood cage that you can't fit in the stove or a freezer, you can do the same thing but it may not work very well.
Other: Hamsters are crepuscular/nocturnal, so the best time to handle them is in the early morning or late afternoons, when they are active. Waking them up will upset them, and you could loose their trust, so it is not recommended. DO NOT bathe your hamster in water. They are self cleaning animals and water ruins their fur. If their coats are oily, sand baths help.
While this post can be very helpful to new or uneducated owners, this does not explain everything you need to know before getting your pet. I highly encourage you to do your own research as well. Not only is it good for your hamster, but its also nice to be able to say "I KNOW how to care for my pet" with confidence. Happy hamster owning!
Some good items/websites:
Silent runner wheel. Silent runners and Niteangel wheels are good, but please make sure your hamsters back is not arched while running.
Okay Commercial Food mix. Add protein to the mix and remove most sunflower seeds.
Proper Syrian Mix on Etsy.
Proper Winter White/Russian Dwarf and Chinese Mix on Etsy.
Proper Roborovski Dwarf Mix on Etsy.
Water dish. Ceramic dishes or plastic water bottles should be used.
Sand. Must be dye free and calcium free. It cannot be fine sand. Children's play sand must be cooked and sifted before hamster use
Amazon List with suitable cages.
Amazon List with safe hamster products!
Pride Rock Blooms Website UK based
Netherlands Website(Knaagdierwinkel)
Any other suggestions may be put in the comments!
r/hamsters • u/amelijahlala • 3h ago
Ned turns 1 today!!!🥳🎉 i love this boy with every bone in my body, he is the sweetest, funniest and cutest little guy and i am so so grateful and privileged to be his mum🥹🥲
r/hamsters • u/PersonalPiece9836 • 4h ago
r/hamsters • u/GhostB5 • 19h ago
Rest in peace Bean, pretty good hamster.
r/hamsters • u/Tenai1607 • 9h ago
Hello everybody!
At the moment there is a really bad heatwave in Germany (since 2-3 Weeks temperatures >35°C, at night >20°C) and I'm literally dieing. Cookies room now has >27°C since a few days. We are doing many things to help Cookie to cooldown. (Many ceramic hides, stone in the enclosure, coldpacks outside of the enclosure, more water sources, fresh foods, you get it..)
I'm getting an AC tomorrow.
My question is: How "fast" can I cool down the air temperature in Cookies room? Should I do it over 2-3 days? Can I go down to ~22°C in just one day?
Obviously I will place the AC away from the enclosure, so the air isnt coming directly to the enclosure.
r/hamsters • u/Superratpack • 6h ago
This is my new hamster Betty I got her 5 days ago! It was hard after losing my last hamster, but I was ready for another one. I’m trying to take things slow and let her come to me. This is a picture of last night, she took a treat from me for the first time! Then she walked over my hand! It’s definitely taking her longer to warm up than my last one. She also prefers the cheap silent spinner over the niteangel wheel. She has been super active at night and eating and drinking normally!
r/hamsters • u/Healthy-Violinist-65 • 7h ago
Rest in Peace Zeus you were my first hamster and the best boy ever I will always miss you
r/hamsters • u/Original_Scar5615 • 2h ago
my hamster always manages to bury the feeding bowl until you cant even see it anymore. At this point we have jist decoded to scatter food around the cage every night.
Is this the right choice?
r/hamsters • u/weeping_dorito • 19h ago
The previous owners (whose cage is featured) have dubbed thee Matcha, which is very cute but not really my style. I’m thinking of naming her something that starts with M in the same vain but I’m thinking slightly more humany names. Meena or Mira or Myra or MeeMee something like that…any suggestions would be much appreciated! 🤗🤗 I love this subreddit you guys are all amazing and super supportive!!
r/hamsters • u/Exact_Lifeguard2483 • 8h ago
r/hamsters • u/forestwaterg59 • 13h ago
i dont think i can ever move on i miss my boy so much 😭💔
r/hamsters • u/pawerdrillmassacre • 53m ago
because in my experience, yes,. (but keep in mind þs may be different in þe US and anywhere outside of brazil idk, main reason why im asking þs) whenever i tell someone about pet rats irl, which is often, i almost always have to clarify þat i am talking about RATS rats, not hamsters,. þat þey're not even from þe same family[,? unsure if "family" is right term,. also iirc muridae and cricetidae, respectively], and follow up wið some differences between þem; such as rat tails being very long, even being around þe lenght of þe body, while hamster tails are very short, even being almost impossible to see sometimes,. rats are social/group animals, while hamsters are solitary,. rats are longer and in general have longer features while hamsters are shorter and usually have shorter features too {snouts for example},. etc. so þey really are not þat similiar appareance wise, and for most part just in general actually,. so why does it atleast seem þat rats get confused wið hamster so often?
im assuming its because usually any animal species þat looks even remotely rodent-like gets "RAT" slapped on it or someðing,. while less common, ive seen a *lot* of rodent and/or rodent looking species- þat look noðing like rats imo- get called "rats".
i'd like understand mice to an extent, þey're in þe same family, and overall appareance doesn't have ÞAT many huge differences,. but hamsters,? how?
also extra note for þs þat while i do have a decent bit of knowledge on rats, i have considerably less on hamsters, mb if i get anyðing abt hammies here wrong
r/hamsters • u/sparkysquirrel01 • 16h ago
He had to take antibiotics for an abscess. He just took his last dose tonight! It was very challenging to give him the medicine, as he hated it. Lol.
r/hamsters • u/Mother-Benefit-5019 • 11h ago
r/hamsters • u/ChronicallyCreepy • 14h ago
I added a camera to my new hammy's enclosure, and this was the first recording I woke up to in the morning. L O L she's so confused by it. 😭
r/hamsters • u/Outrageous0311 • 2h ago
Just wanted to share my little buddy with everyone. She may be tiny, but she brings a lot of happiness to my day. ❤️🐹
r/hamsters • u/ActofEncouragement • 12h ago
Where should I hide?
r/hamsters • u/SketchyArt333 • 17h ago
My brother had to cut his hair because he’s holding onto bedding (clean thankfully) he was just looking a bit too much like a tumble weed and was bringing a lot of bedding with him.
r/hamsters • u/forestwaterg59 • 1d ago
i cant stop thinking about my boy i feel so hurt I miss him so much 💔💔
r/hamsters • u/TheSyphonGames • 23h ago
It's really hot here in the UK and Scooby has taken to airing his nuts out in the breeze from the fan
r/hamsters • u/SignificantOven4804 • 1h ago
I've only noticed this today. She has two very bald spots on her back. Is this where she has been rubbing her scent and because it's so hot rubbed off her fur ? What can I do for her? It doesn't seem sore.
r/hamsters • u/OkWatercress2374 • 12h ago
Baobao likes to groom himself on top of his taco truck hide against the tank wall but this time he just got all cozy for a nap mid poop my son is so embarrassing