You can't put a hamster in a cardboard box! It's more likely that the hamster will chew up the cardboard box! They can't live very long without supplies? What are you feeding them? It won't live long even if it eats human snacks and such.
@DuNiang: Each hamster has a pair of growing incisors, three pairs of molars, teeth type 1003, into a staggered trigonometry. The molars are rooted, or not rooted and can grow throughout life.
The various species of hamsters are basically small to medium-sized rodents. There is a wide range of fur colors. The body length is between 5 and 35 centimeters, and the weight is between 30 and 1000 grams. The body type is short and thick. Tail short, generally not more than half the length of the body, some varieties not more than half the length of the hind legs, and even basically can not see. The main food is plant seeds, preferring nuts, but also eat young plant stems or leaves, and occasionally small insects. Most do not hibernate and live on stored food in winter. A few species will enter a less active quasi-hibernation state in cold weather! Hamsters are mainly active at night and have poor eyesight. For this phenomenon, most players do not observe hamster activity at night, and more often start sleeping as it gets dark. Shapes can only be discerned vaguely. Color can only distinguish black and white.?
Life Habits
Hamsters are nocturnal, sleeping during the day and active at night. They usually to 19 ~ 22 points (part of 0 ~ 4 points) is the most active. So keepers need to give their rats a good rest during the day, and only play with them at night. Arbitrarily changing the habits of nocturnal animals can easily cause a short life span. Why do hamsters always hide? Because hamsters originally lived in burrows in desert areas, they would hide and sleep in their burrows during the day to avoid attacks from wild animals. It is their instinct to hide in the dark, and they believe that darkness is the only way to feel safe. However, hamsters become less alert after spending time with people and change their wilderness instincts to huff and puff anywhere...? Hamsters inhabit deserts and other areas. Nocturnal. Good at digging burrows. Like to hide food on the sides of their gills before walking to safety and spitting it out, hence the name hamster. Their incisors will keep growing, so their upper and lower incisors must constantly gnaw on something hard to sharpen their teeth, on the one hand, to avoid the incisors growing too long, hindering chewing, on the other hand, to maintain the sharpness of the incisors. They feed on weed seeds and insects. Hamster small and exquisite, lively and sensitive, very amusing, and odor is not strong, with ornamental value, suitable for pets kept indoors, so it is regarded as a pet in all parts of China.
Daily attention and choice1, your hands are stained with the smell of food. Hamster's sense of smell is very sensitive, so if you have taken the food it loves to eat, it is likely to smell out and think you are food so bite you. It is recommended that you wash your hands before and after touching your hamster.
2. Your hamster was originally housed in a pet store, and although young hamsters are not yet territorial, they often fight with other hamsters in the same cage, so they can be quite grumpy, and are wary and hostile to other creatures. It is recommended that you follow a schedule to get along with your hamster and eliminate its hostility.
3. You are not familiar with the hamster yet, but you are constantly manipulating it and scratching it with your hands, making it feel insecure. It is still recommended that you follow the time step by step to eliminate the hamster's hostility towards you.
4. The hamster's eyesight is not very good and it mistakes your fingers for food. When you touch the hamster to your hand, if your fingers are not together, the hamster will probably take a bite out of your finger as food. However, the bite is usually not too heavy, but just a "kiss". So it's best to keep your fingers together when you put the hamster in your hand, but not too tightly, as too tightly can snag the hamster's feet. It is also best not to tease the hamster with your fingers to minimize the risk of being bitten.
5. Hamsters have a strong sense of territory, so if you touch another hamster and get the scent of another hamster on your hand, the hamster will have no problem evicting the unfamiliar hamster -- your hand, in fact -- so touching another hamster and getting bitten by mistake is not uncommon. So, it is not uncommon to be bitten by mistake after touching another hamster. It is advisable to wash your hands after touching another hamster before touching your own. Many people have been bitten by hamsters, and they ask if they need to get a rabies vaccine. Hamster bites can also be infected with rabies (probably unlikely, but because the death rate of rabies is 100%), it is recommended to treat the wound as soon as possible and inject rabies vaccine, and human rabies immunoglobulin if necessary. Wound management of the skin: all bites and scratches should be rinsed immediately or as soon as possible (about 15 minutes if conditions permit) with soapy water/detergent and plenty of water, and if available, wounds should be coated with iodine-containing preparations or similar topical virucidal preparations [4]. Antitetanus treatment and antibiotics, if appropriate, should be administered for deeper, more contaminated wounds to control infections other than rabies virus. If the bite wound is red and swollen or has other uncomfortable symptoms, it should be checked in the hospital.
How can you pick a healthier hamster? Here are a few ways for you to refer to:
1. To choose a hamster with eyes that are bright and free of eye droppings.
2, see if the hamster has runny nose, don't pick it if it has.
3, whether the shape of the ear is intact, there is no trace of being bitten. If there is, it means the hamster is too weak or sick to be bullied and bitten by other hamsters.
4. The teeth are not sticking out, they are a normal yellow color, the fur is shiny, and there is no hair loss or tumors.
5, the tail must not have spots, and the vicinity of the stomach is not good, indicating that this hamster may have diarrhea.
6, walking is not normal, there is no feeling of stiffness, limbs healthy is also the focus. If it all looks good then there should be no problem.7, no urine stains on the buttocks, don't pick if there is. Don't pick it if you have any, because it's probably sick.
8, whether the nose is bitten, whether red, swollen or even bleeding. If there is it means that this hamster is not too healthy and strong to be bullied by other hamsters.
9. To choose a hamster that is bright and energetic means it is healthy. A floppy wilted poorly spirited mouse must be sick.
10, the hamster's nose should be pink and tender, ears of the same size, eyes watery, and the fur on the back has no signs of being bitten. You can also observe whether the hamster runs around energetically, if so, it means the rat has a strong body and is not prone to illness. The last thing you need to do is to choose a hamster that you like. Besides the color of its fur, you should also consider seeing if it will be close to people.
In general, Syrian hamsters and Carcharias are easy to get close to after a period of time, while Campbell's hamsters and Roborovski's hamsters are a little more difficult to get close to, especially since Roborovski's hamster is a very timid and sensitive animal, so it may take a little more time to gain its trust in you. After mating, the female will be grumpy due to her pregnancy, so it is best not to touch her at this time to avoid being bitten by her. Except if she is docile enough to listen to you, of course.
Don't put males and females together during labor. If you put male and female rats in the same cage, it may make the female rats nervous, leading to premature labor and other consequences.
Feeding Taboos
(1) It is forbidden to feed human food, which is too salty and seasoned, and will increase the body burden of the rats. Especially snacks and other foods. But unprocessed roughage can be fed, corn and barley are allowed.
(2) Prohibit direct contact with the sun, rats are very afraid of heat, summer is here, please use a heat sink or marble to cool them down. Being exposed to the sun is like being in the night and having someone throw a flashbulb at you.
(3) Washing hamsters in water is prohibited. It will give the hamster a cold, and in severe cases, it may die.
(4) Please know your own hamster breed, some hamsters can't be kept in a combined cage.
(5) If you are not mentally prepared or financially able to do so, please do not combine female and male hamsters in a cage, as the reproduction ability of the rats is very considerable.
(6) Prohibit the use of feed of unknown origin, please discard the worms or moldy, do not feed!
(7) Prohibit the rats from drinking raw water, please let them drink boiled cold water, or mineral water, pure water.
(8) Prohibit the use of bamboo chopsticks, popsicle sticks and other things to make the rats grind their teeth, please use commercially available rat-specific teething supplies and feed. (9)Please do not use newspaper or tissue paper as bedding material. Newspaper has too much ink and Kleenex contains bleach.
(10) It is prohibited to keep rats in a space that is too small, and the space should have at least a wheel, a drinking fountain, and other supplies.
(11) Try to avoid letting the hamster in the air-conditioned room (or fan) blowing directly, or the temperature difference is too large environment, so as not to cause the rat's cold. (12) Melon seeds, bread worms and other high-calorie food for rats love to eat, but can not be used as staple food, easy to cause fire, the staple food or the best brand food on the market. Keeping environment optimal temperature 20 ~ 28 ℃, avoid direct sunlight or direct wind blowing to the place, but pay attention to ventilation. Do not be too close to the TV, stereo, computer, hamsters can hear the sound of humans can not hear, should avoid radiation and noisy.
Summer: It's best not to turn on the air conditioner, because if you turn it off when you go out, and turn it on when you come in, the temperature difference inside the house will be too big, and the hamster is very sensitive to the temperature, and will easily catch a cold.
Winter: don't put it outside, hamsters will pseudo hibernate because it's too cold. Spread more wood shavings and other bedding materials, and configure a wooden or grass hut for the hamster to keep warm. Or give more cotton for the hamster to make its own nest. Skimmed cotton is fine, preferably natural cotton. The easiest way to do this is to put the whole cage in a cardboard or plastic box, but keep an eye on the ventilation. Don't give them items woven from cotton threads to use as nests. It's warm but hamsters are burrowers by nature and they will chew the woven cotton items out of shape and burrow into them to sleep. However, some unbroken threads can become entangled in the bare feet or other parts of the hamster's body, and some can become dangerously entangled in the neck, causing the hamster to suffocate and die. So don't put any woven threads in it. Checking the body
(1) Teeth: The incisors of rats and mice are constantly growing, and sometimes the teeth are too long, which can lead to inability to eat. At this time, you can cut the teeth by yourself, please use the small animal teeth cutting utensil, if you are afraid to cut, you can bring it to the doctor to cut the teeth.
(2) Aroma glands: male hamsters only have, in the middle of the abdomen, there is a yellow grain of something, that is the aroma gland. Bear hamsters have scent glands on both sides of their hindquarters, where the smell will be especially heavy when the male is in heat. Sometimes the scent glands get clogged up, so remember to clean them out with saline regularly! If there is too much, please take them to the veterinary hospital and ask the doctor to clean them.
(3) Eyes: If the rat is healthy, its eyes should be bright and shiny, but if they are red, oily, or have eye droppings, it's time to pay attention and bring them to the doctor.
(4) Poop: The rat's poop should be a little hard, the size of a grain of rice, black and odorless. Sometimes it will turn green or red, don't be too nervous, please think back to the rats' feed, whether there is green or red feed, if so, the green color of the stool is normal. If there is any green or red color in the rat's diet, it is normal for the stool to be green in color.
(5) Buccal sacs: Sometimes it is necessary to pay attention to the buccal sacs to see if the food has been eaten, and if it has not been eaten, please don't give it any more food. If the food in the bursa is rotten and smelly, it will easily lead to bursitis. Regularly monitor the cheek pouches for the odor of rotting food and help him to remove the food from the cheek pouches at regular intervals. Use a cotton swab to probe into the cheek pouches carefully and do not rotate it! Mouse will spit out all the food in the cheek pouches on his own. Or, using saline, use a feeding syringe (with the needle removed!) Stick it into the cheek pouch to rinse it out.
(6) COAT COLOR: Ratty's coat is usually soft and shiny. If there is any hair loss, please note if it is an allergy or skin disease and bring it to your doctor for examination as soon as possible.
(7) Body temperature: The body temperature of rats is usually higher than ours by touch, but it is not obvious. If you feel that your rat's body temperature is too high, please send it to the hospital immediately, as it may be the precursor of heatstroke!
Keeping thingsBathing rats and mice
Do rats and mice need to take a bath? To bathe! This is a good starting point, but for rats and mice, they can not enjoy bathing as much as humans. Because of the damp fur can easily cause rats to catch a cold or even die! So please use bath sand to bathe your rat ! Bear hamsters will take a slobber bath on their own, and their pores are larger than those of pygmy hamsters. Using bath grit can cause clogged pores and folliculitis, so bear hamsters don't need bath grit.
Hanging a sick call for your rat
If your rat gets sick, it's a sad and troublesome thing to do! Because pet medicine is still focused on kittens, dogs, horses, and other companions that have been with humans for thousands of years, rats and mice have only become popular in recent years. We still have a lot of research to do on rats and mice, but we only know the treatment of some major diseases. Rats and mice have a small body and fast metabolism, so it is difficult to detect signs of illness in the early stages, and usually by the time it is detected, the disease is already quite serious, which leads to treatment problems and may not necessarily be curable. What's more, for the above reasons, there are very few veterinarians who can treat rats and mice, and it is even more difficult to find a veterinarian who specializes in this field. Therefore, the best way is to do a good job of preventive health care in daily life, so as to prevent rats and mice from getting sick. If the owner is too lazy, the rat will easily get sick! If the environment is dirty, it is easy to breed bacteria, or attract flies, cockroaches and mites to visit, and then bring some germs as "companions", the rats will suffer.
It is best to clean water containers, feed bowls, and poop every day, change damp wood shavings, and clean cages weekly and sterilize them with hot water. Wash your hands before and after playing with your rat. Probiotics are necessary to maintain gastrointestinal health as domestic pets consume processed food for a long period of time, and the intake of various food additives will continue to disrupt the balance of the gastrointestinal flora in pets, making them susceptible to gastrointestinal disorders such as constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, gastroenteritis, etc. Probiotics are live microorganisms that can be used to maintain gastrointestinal health! Probiotics are live microorganisms that confer health and various benefits when consumed in sufficient quantities. Among them, Gudeng Probiotics uses Danish probiotics as the main ingredient to take care of the health of your pet's gastrointestinal tract and is more conducive to the full absorption of nutrients.
Nutritional balance and diversification of nutritional balance, diversified food to feed rats, can not be lazy to pour some ready-made feed on the matter, rats eat enough to eat well to have resistance to it! Drinking water is also an area that nest owners tend to neglect. Drinking water should be changed every day, or changed if it is contaminated. In areas where tap water is not safe to drink, please give rats drinking water for human consumption, as they don't drink much of it anyway. Stable temperature and humidityMost rats come from dry areas, so please note that the cage should be placed in a dry and quiet place to avoid moisture (so change the wood shavings often).
Rats are very sensitive to temperature. In the wild, rats live in holes in the ground, which have a natural thermoregulation function, so they should maintain a stable temperature, and in the weather with a big difference in temperature as well as in the winter, pay attention to warmth, in order to prevent pseudo-hibernation of rats. Generally speaking, domesticated rats will not hibernate, but will sleep longer than usual. Avoid stress and tension Rats are sensitive by nature (e.g. Roborovski's hamster is particularly timid), and when kept in an artificial environment, they will easily feel stress and tension, which seems to be the same as human beings, and stress and tension often lead to gastrointestinal discomfort, dysentery, and even gastric ulcers. Don't play too much with hamsters, such as chasing, forcing them to jump, throwing them in unfamiliar environments, etc. We may think it is fun, but the hamster may feel pain and fear. The first thing you can do to solve your hamster's stress problem is to provide plenty of space for exercise, by giving them a large cage, placing them on a running track, and letting them out to play every day.Three main meals
The main food must be professional rat food, which is available at common Taobao stores. If there is really no way, you can make your own rat food, materials: wheat wheat kernel shelled barley barley flakes oatmeal oatmeal rice sorghum rice buckwheat rice shelled buckwheat corn grains red corn wild lentils red sorghum green bean petals mung beans pumpkin seeds (a little bit) red skin peanuts (a little bit) (but the self-complementary food than the nutrition of the professional rat food is not comprehensive, please try to use the professional rat food) branded snacks common branded snacks brand has Makar, Junbao, Weta, Belgian food dosage recommendations. Kraft, Belgian food dosage suggests a small piece of each snack a week
Safety Hazards
Having a hamster is not without any hidden dangers, but as long as you ensure the hygiene and cleanliness of the hamster's residence, it is completely avoidable.
Bubonic plague: hamsters don't have bubonic plague, its physiology is different from rats. And the black plague is not some cold or something like that, it's everywhere.
Black Death virus only exists in the United States and a few other countries in the laboratory; but it should also be noted that the plague is not absent in nature, but the density of its pathogens do not meet the requirements for the occurrence of an epidemic, so a single rodent to get plague is still possible, but do not be afraid of the state of domestication as long as the probability of plague does not occur in contact with the wild species of rodents is almost non-existent.
Listeriosis: Listeria monocytogenes is widespread in nature, not easy to be frozen and thawed, can tolerate high osmotic pressure, in the soil, surface water, sewage, wastewater, rotting vegetables in the presence of the bacteria, so the animals are very easy to ingest the bacteria, and through the oral cavity - fecal pathway to spread. Therefore, it is important to maintain the hygiene of rats and mice and the environment in which they live, and this is the most basic common sense and requirement for keeping pets.
Hemorrhagic fever: there are many pathogens that cause hemorrhagic fever, one of them is usually first by the infected non-human primates (such as green monkeys) will be infected with the virus to people, and then infected by the patient to other healthy people, an example of which is the horror of the African "Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever", but rats and mice will not be such a disease, and the infected areas Only in Africa, and a *** on the occurrence of a number of times will not be in the outbreak; the second is the rat and mouse infected, which in our country in the 80's and 90's is still very common, for example, ate by the wild rodents (this rodent is the scientific name, that is, generally seen in the big rats, rather than referring to domesticated rats) contaminated food, but again, as long as to ensure that their own rats and mice do not have contact with the outside world of the wild rats, the chances of its is almost nil, it can be seen that, to maintain the The rat and its living environment is very important to maintain hygiene!
Rabies: Almost all warm-blooded animals can be infected with the rabies virus, but under natural conditions, the main susceptible animals are canines, cats, skunks, raccoons, rodents and pteropods, as well as certain livestock, including dogs, cats, foxes, wolves, jackals, leopards, raccoons, mongooses, skunks, bats and so on. So as rodents, rats and mice can be infected with the rabies virus, it's just that fully domesticated ones are relatively less likely to have it.
Children should be raised with the help of their parents: Parents who raise hamsters for their young children should not just let their children be happy and indulge them in all that they do to the rats and mice, but they should cultivate their children's love, care and perseverance in the process of raising pets. So parents should instruct their children on how to care for and pamper their rats according to the handbook for raising rats.
Basic Equipment
Cage: Large space (at least as big as a small organizer). The rat's feet can easily get stuck and cause fractures, or break out of the cage. And the paint that falls off is not safe for the rat (the rat has to chew the cage). If you buy an imported cage, used ones are usually between 50 and 100. Brand new ones range from 100 to 300. (Newbie recommended Lux) 30 to 50 dollars. Or some rat friends DIY organizer is also good, the whole set down to 100 can be done, of course, except for the beauty. Unless you have hands-on skills.
Rat toilet: rats will be scheduled to go to the toilet (rats are very like clean little animals, but not every good behavior Oh) to use their habits, clean up time will be much more convenient. Otherwise, it will make their urine everywhere, and the cage will be full of smell in a day or two. You can buy some plastic products filled with rat sand, or buy customized rat toilets for rats. In order to make rats develop the habit of defecating at regular intervals, you can use cotton swabs to put their feces in the rat toilet, rats are very sensitive to smell. This can cost anywhere from a few dollars to tens of dollars.
Water bottles and food bowls: a dozen dollars can be done. (Imported cages usually come with water bottles and food bowls.) Rollers: basically, they come with the cage. If you are a DIY rat lover, you need to buy your own, or make one yourself. Remember to buy a seamless one, never buy the kind with a seam in the center, the rat runs very fast. In case a calf is stuck inside, it is easy to fracture. Roller is generally divided into non-silent and silent two kinds, the price of this thing is also from five dollars to dozens of dollars ranging.
Hut: rats are nocturnal animals, so like to sleep during the day, so to prepare a hiding place to them as a place to sleep, from the small cardboard box (note: rats are generally not very honest, he will break out of jail, remember it is best not to use the cardboard box, he ran back to the bad) to the mouse customized for rats, fine mice house can be (some imported cages with a two-storey lattice floor, you can sleep and as a place to sleep). (some imported cages come with a second floor, which can be used as a sleeping place and a place to sleep). Prices range from a few dollars to tens of dollars.
Feed: imported feed a packet of about 30 to 60 yuan, can eat a long time. Some of them advertise the effect of removing urine odor. It is forbidden to use pigeon or feed store's own mix of grains, the nutrition does not meet the requirements of rats and mice. Don't think they can eat and absorb anything like house mice, the hygiene is not very good, there will be rice worms or other moths In order to prevent insects, the mouth of the mouse food should be tightly sealed, but if you really don't have the financial ability to buy too expensive imported feeds, please buy the regular mouse food on the market. Never give rats snacks for human consumption.
Padding: We recommend using wood shavings and paper wool in winter, and summer sand and cat litter (except crystal cat litter) in summer. Imported poplar wood is better but also more expensive. A package will be nearly 50 dollars. Pine wood many people use, from 5 to more than 20 yuan have, try to pick the amount of dust is small (that is, you change the wood shavings will not be snotty kind), other kinds of paper cotton, corn burgundy, wood shavings sand and so on. Cat litter has the function of sterilization, cooler, recommended for summer use. A small bag of 5 to 10 dollars. Bathing sand: a bag of about 5 yuan. It can be used for about half a year and can be recycled. It should be replaced when there is an odor, and if it is wet with urine just after a new one is put on, you can take out the wet area separately. Some people will use cat litter instead of bath sand, I do not agree with this practice, cat litter used as rat toilet sand works pretty well. However, the particles are too large for rats to get rid of the bacteria on their bodies. (Remember to never bathe rats with water, rats are naturally afraid of water. They may die after being washed).
Drinking water: use cool boiled water, it is best to feed pure water, if possible, you can also buy a water dispenser, so that the rat will not touch the water, the rat is afraid of water (female rats lactation should be fed appropriately to replace the milk).
Teething supplies: There are special teething wood and mineral salts for teething, but the rats may not like them, and teething snacks will be more popular. Prices range from $13 to $10, but please buy branded teething treats for hamsters. Don't use non-washable chopsticks, popsicle sticks and the like. ！！！！ Some rats will bite the cage to grind their teeth, but it will cause the rat's teeth to bite incorrectly, and if they accidentally eat the paint on the cage, they will be in trouble.
The living environment a reassuring environment a reassuring environment is needed for you to think in the position of the hamster, is it time to change the wood shavings? Is it cold? Is it hungry? If you can put yourself in the hamster's shoes, your hamster will be able to trust you, and you will be able to live happily with your hamster. Every hamster has a different personality, so it's important to keep your hamster in line with its personality so that it can live a good life.There are three types of hamster homes: cages (usually made of iron), plastic cages (or acrylic), and aquariums (glass). These types of cages are common and luxurious, and no matter which one they are, they need to be equipped with a hut, a drinking fountain, a food dish, and a running wheel, which are the most basic things you can't do without, or how can you let it eat and sleep properly? Bedding, running wheel safety first warm wood shavings or pasture is a good hamster warm supplies, summer can be used for small animals special pad sand. Excellent wood shavings, pasture and mat sand can deodorize and maintain a clean and hygienic environment.
Toy supplies, such as running wheels, preferably without gaps to avoid getting stuck in the hamster's feet, and huts (objects that can be used for settling down), teeter-totters, etc. .... You can choose a wooden one, which will not be a problem after the hamster gnaws it, and also prevents the hamster's teeth from overgrowing. Countermeasures for winter and summer seasons To make the hamster comfortable and live at ease you should always pay attention to the weather changes, especially in these two seasons you must make sure to make the hamster comfortable. For hamsters, the heat is worse than the cold. Hamsters originally live in the desert, so why would they be afraid of the heat? That's because hamsters rest in cool tunnels during the day and come out at night. In the summer, plastic cages or aquariums can become like steamers, so you can replace them with more ventilated cages.
Additionally, it is important to place the cage in a location that is not exposed to direct sunlight, such as a window. Hamsters in direct sunlight can cause dehydration, or other lesions, or even death. Pay attention to ventilation, but do not give the hamster air-conditioning, electric fans are fine. If you don't have such conditions, you can also provide cooling panels or an igloo to help the hamster cool down and spend the summer safely. In the southern climate of winter is not a big problem, as long as you pay attention to the warmth, and remember to add a sufficient amount of cotton wool on the good, the north and other cold winter places may be able to use the electric heater for small animals.
I don't think hamsters will be in the spirit of things if they can't be assured that they're well-equipped.