Hamsters are living critters, so please don't keep them blindly without enough psychological preparation
First of all, you have to answer the following questions:
1. Do you have some time to keep it?
2. Is your family against you keeping small animals?
3. Can you guarantee that someone will take care of the hamster when you are away for a long time?
4. Can you guarantee not to abandon it after the initial novelty has passed. Can you find a suitable adopter when you can no longer keep it?
If you are not very sure about the above points, it is recommended that you do not keep it.
How to choose a hamster
How can you choose a healthy hamster? There are a few ways for you to refer to:
1. Choose a hamster with good eyes and no eye droppings.
2, see if the hamster has runny nose, if so do not pick.
3. Whether the shape of the ear is intact or not, there is no trace of being bitten. If there is, it means that the hamster is too weak or sick to be bullied and bitten by other hamsters.
4, the teeth are not sticking out, the fur is shiny, and there is no hair loss or tumor.
6, the tail can not have spots, the stomach of the neighborhood is not good, that this hamster may have diarrhea.
7, walking is not normal, there is no feeling of stiffness, limbs healthy or not is also the focus. If it looks good, there should be no problem.
The last thing you need to do is to choose a hamster that you like. In addition to the color of the fur, you also need to consider whether it will be close to people.
Generally speaking, the Golden Hamster and the Carcharias Hamster are easy to get close to after a period of time, while the Campbell's Hamster and the Roborovski Hamster are a bit more difficult to get close to, especially the Roborovski Hamster itself is a very timid and sensitive animal, so it may take a bit more time to gain its trust in you.
As for whether it's better to have one or a pair, basically, if it's a Dovetail hamster, it's better to have more than two. If it's a golden hamster, it's better to keep one, but if you want to keep a pair of hamsters, it's better to keep them separately, and put the female hamster into the male hamster's cage when it's time to mate, and then separate them after the mating.
Ten hamster feeding taboos
(1) Prohibit the feeding of human food, too much salt, too much seasoning, will increase the burden on the rat's body.
(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.
(3) Do not wash your rat's body with water if it is not necessary.
(4) Please know the species of your rat, and do not keep them alone or in a cage with different species.
(5) If you are not prepared or can not afford it, please do not combine female and male rats in the cage, the reproduction ability of rats is very large.
(6) Prohibit the use of feed of unknown origin, please discard the worms or moldy, do not feed!
(7) Do not let the rats drink raw water, please let them drink boiled cold water.
(8) Do not use bamboo chopsticks, popsicle sticks and other things to make the rats grind their teeth, please use the special teething products and feeds for rats on the market.
(9) Prohibit the use of newspaper and tissue paper as bedding material. Newspaper has too much ink and Kleenex contains bleach.
(10) It is forbidden to keep rats in too small a space, the space should have at least a roller, water bottles, food bowls, small nests and other supplies.
Hamster rearing environment
The optimal temperature is 20-28 ℃, avoid direct sunlight or direct windy places, but pay attention to ventilation and air. Don't be too close to the TV, stereo, computer, hamster can hear the sound that humans can not hear, should avoid radiation and noise.
Summer: it is best not to open the air conditioning, because you go out when the air conditioning off, into the house and open the air conditioning will make the temperature difference between the house is too large, the hamster is very sensitive to the temperature, easy to catch a cold.
Winter: don't put it outside, hamsters will hibernate because it is too cold. Spread more wood shavings and other bedding materials, and configure a wooden or grass hut for the hamster for warmth. Or give more napkins for the hamster to make its own nest. The easiest way is to put the whole cage into a cardboard or plastic box, but pay attention to the ventilation.
Hamster basics
Cages In summer, please use a ventilated wire cage, or a half-iron, half-glue cage, such as a field cage. In winter, please pay attention to keep your hamster warm. A full rubber cage is better for winter.
★Do not use wire mesh on the bottom of the cage, as rats are prone to break bones and injuries
Food bowl
Most of the cages come with a food bowl. If you need to buy your own, small containers are generally available, as long as they are not easily knocked over and the edges are not too high for the hamster to climb into. Commonly used containers: glass cigarette jar, soy sauce dish, all kinds of small bowls, microwave oven box. Current price: $3-10
Drinker
Most cages come with a drinker, and it's a good idea to install one when DIYing, because hamsters need to drink. Drinkers are generally designed with a stainless steel bead on the front, so be careful to test for leaks when you buy one. Never take a bowl to hold water directly, because the hamster will wet its fur when drinking water, or swim in it, so it is easy to catch a cold and get sick. If you don't have it, feed your hamster more vegetables and fruits.
Toilet
An ordinary plastic box with cat litter is a simple toilet. Remove the clumped litter every day or change it all out, depending on your personal hygiene habits. People who love cleanliness raise cleaner hamsters.
Bathing room
Some hamsters will use cat litter to bathe in the toilet, which is unhygienic, but it is the hamster's preference, and at this point there is no longer a need for a bathing room. However, for some hamsters who love to be clean, the owner should buy a bathing room for them, and put in the bathing sand for the hamster to roll around, and play holes to its heart's content. The sand should be disinfected, or you can wash the sand yourself, put it in the microwave oven to sterilize and dry, and mix it with talcum powder to make bath sand. It's best not to use talcum powder directly because it's too irritating and can easily hurt your hamster's eyes.
Running Wheel
Most of the cages come with a running wheel, because wild hamsters run 20 kilometers a day, so the right amount of exercise is very important for hamsters, and without enough exercise, hamsters will be stressed out and fight with each other, bite the cage and other behaviors. So careful owners should give hamsters a running wheel. At the same time, because nowadays owners give hamsters very good nutrition, often make hamsters overweight, easy to make hamsters also get cardiovascular disease, so even hamsters should have a normal and healthy body. Be careful when you buy, you should choose the running wheel without seams, the hamster is not easy to be injured. Current price: $10-80.
Wood shavings
As the bedding material for the rat cage, many materials are available, but most people choose wood shavings because it is cleaner and easier to get. Be careful when using paper bedding, don't use printed paper, the ink is toxic and the hamster will be poisoned.
Teething stone/teething stick
Hamster's teeth will keep growing, so a teething stick is needed to grind off the overgrown teeth.
Hut
The hut has ceramic, wooden, grass, plastic, hamsters love it, because hamsters are animals that love to live in holes, if you have the condition, you should match a hut to your hamster. Current price: 10-45 dollars.
Timetable
When you bring your hamster home, as it leaves the environment where it has been living, leaving its mother and siblings, there will be a relatively long period of time to seem very sensitive, nervousness is lost, and sometimes there will be biting, dazed, refusing to eat, etc., and this is a critical period of time for you and your hamster to build up trust, and if you don't deal with it well, it'll be very difficult to build up a good relationship in the future! If you don't handle it well, it will be hard to build a good relationship in the future, and it's possible that your hamster will turn into a bad hamster that bites all the time! Here's a timetable for getting along with your hamster:
Day 1: Let it get used to its new environment, don't harass it at all, don't touch it, and don't take it to and from the house.
Day 2: Feed it with your hand and talk to it softly to familiarize it with your smell and voice.
Day 5: You can pick it up gently and put it in the palm of your hand (don't let it fall or run away).
Day 10: You can play with him as much as you like.
Note: Sleeping hamsters don't like to be disturbed, so make sure they are awake before you pick them up. You should spread their nests so they can see you, and then pick them up gently, and don't force them to do so if they don't want to.
Hamster food
(1) Please don't look at the rat is too cute, give too much sunflower seeds or high-calorie food, the rat is easy to get fat and unbalanced nutrition. Too fat rats, easy to heat stroke in summer, skin fat is too thick, easy to hair loss.
Sunflower seeds are enough for a Tuesday to four! It can be used as a reward food for training your rat.
(2) Please don't think that rats don't need to drink water! Water must be supplied and changed every two to three days.
(3) Please do not feed too much fruits and vegetables at once, as it may cause death by diarrhea. Most fruits and vegetables contain pesticides, so please wash them with water and wipe them dry before feeding.
(4) Match the snacks with the main food, increase the snacks and decrease the main food, don't give too many snacks, the fat rats will get sick easily.
(5) Please keep the feed and snacks in sealed cans, or put them in the refrigerator, and throw away any food that breed insects and ants.
Edible food:
Vegetables Green vegetables (e.g. Aoji-kai), carrots, squash (green and yellow vegetables are preferred) Seeds Sunflower seeds, peanuts, walnuts, pine nuts (don't give them too much) Fruits Apples, strawberries, cherries, bananas (may stick to the cheek pouches, so try not to give them to the rats), grapes (don't give them too much as they have a lot of sugar) Grains Chicken feed, dove feed, small bird feed, wheat and other food items. Feed for small birds, wheat, corn, millet Plants Clover, dandelion, kudzu, plantain (Please do not feed plants that may be contaminated.) Animal protein Beef, chicken, boiled egg white, cheese, milk, yogurt, worms, and small dried fish for pets.
Amount of food: It is easy to provide hamsters with more food than they need, because hamsters have the habit of storing food, and they will be very upset if there is less food. So, if you find the food bowl is always empty every time you add food it means the food is added too little, and you should also pay attention to clean up the uneaten food in time, especially the fruits and other things with moisture to prevent deterioration.
Feeding hamsters can use 50 cm square to raise tropical fish with a sink, above the wire mesh made of cover (easy to swelter in summer, to be noted). When using a wire cage, the hamster grabs the wire and climbs upwards, and there is a danger of falling, so it is best if the cage is not very high, and to remove the wire from the bottom of the cage and use it. Line the bottom of the cage with straw, hay or sawdust. The feeding bowl can be made of pottery, preferably heavier. Some twigs can be provided for gnawing to prevent the teeth from growing too long. Nest boxes can be made of wood or paper, etc. Bird nest boxes can be utilized in addition to those that come with the cage. Line the nest box with hay, sawdust, rags, etc. The sink will not scrape your feet, but it tends to accumulate moisture, so be careful to keep it dry. Also, the sink is deep enough to put in plenty of straw, hay, and other cage substrate that will allow the hamster to dive in, put in dirt, and then lay hay on top. Create a very natural environment where hamsters can dig holes for nests.
Drinking water can be done with a water feeder, mounted at a height where it is easy to drink, and add water to a vessel-type pitcher. In the summer, you can let your hamster play with water, but don't make the cage too wet. Hamsters have the habit of defecating in a fixed place. Put a potty in the place where it often defecates and put urine or feces in it to make the potty smell bad, so it will use it as a toilet. If you don't use the toilet, don't force it, just pay attention to clean the cage frequently.
Hamsters are omnivores, so you can give them yellow-green vegetables such as pumpkin, light-colored vegetables such as cabbage and lettuce, potatoes, beans, fruits, weeds, seeds, etc. There are also special food for hamsters. There are also hamster-specific feeding grains. However, it is important to pay attention to feeding some vegetables and fruits when the feeding diet is the mainstay. As a source of protein, you can feed it boiled eggs, cooked dried fish, boiled chicken and cheese, tofu, etc. You can also feed some dog food and cat food.
Hamsters have the habit of storing food in their gills. Be careful to change the water diligently. Wash the food bowl and water feeder every day and replace them with fresh food and water. Replace the nesting material as well. Check the nest box and leave some food such as fruit or solid feed for the hamster where it accumulates food. Change the cage bottom dressing once a week and clean and sterilize the cage 1-2 times a month.
The temperature inside the sink is easy to rise in the hot summer, and in summer, it is best to move to the cage to feed. Keep the cage in a well-ventilated place and be careful not to let direct sunlight. When it's hot, hamsters don't like to eat solid rations, and should be fed water-rich foods such as vegetables. Store food in the fall, and don't forget to check the nesting box frequently to prevent the hamster from going into hibernation due to low temperature. When placing it in a heated room, take care that the temperature difference between day and night is not too great. You can put a plastic bag over the cage or put the cage into a paper-shell box to keep warm.
Hamster Emotions
Compared to dogs and cats, hamsters are less likely to communicate with their owners. However, it is possible to understand the emotions of hamsters if you observe them carefully every day. And hamsters can express their emotions, so watch carefully to see what they are doing and how they are feeling.
Tidying up
When hamsters tidy up their body hair, they are in a relaxed state. Otherwise, it is a state where the hamster's own scent disappears after being petted by the owner, and it wants to apply the scent to its body again. Hamsters love their own flavor.
Turning over
When the owner's hand reaches inside the cage, the hamster will turn over. This is due to the state of being startled or feeling annoyed when the hand comes in. The hamster has almost no weapon against the enemy, so it will roll over and resist with all four legs. At this time, just go over slowly and reassure the hamster. Especially when the hamster is sleeping, don't scare the hamster.
Rolling up in a circle
At first glance, you can tell that this is the hamster's sleeping position, so keep your voice down. However, it will also roll up when it is not in good health, so pay more attention to it. When the weather is cold, it will also be rolled up, this time is to keep warm.
Cage biting
When a hamster gnaws on the wire of the cage, it may be that the hamster is trying to escape, and some hamsters will also rub the hairs on the top of their nose between the wires, making the top of their nose bald. This behavior is what allows the hamster to grind its teeth and control the length of its teeth.
Droopy ears
The easiest thing to see to understand a hamster's mood is its ears. If the ears are drooping, it must be when they are feeling nasty or scary, and they are also drooping when they have just woken up from a nap.
Stiffness
A hamster that turns on a wheel and then suddenly stops is trying to use the wheel to move farther away, and stops and stays still to make sure it's getting somewhere.
Standing up and shaking
Standing up is to understand the situation in the distance, feeling to observe the surrounding, paying attention to the sound, and also standing up when reacting to the sound of the feed bag.
Lying on the ground
When coming out of the cage, the body is located together, lying on the ground and sniffing around. This is a case of being nervous about a new place and wanting to sniff around. Don't make a lot of noise at this time.
Hiding in narrow places Hamsters were originally wild animals that lived in narrow tunnels. When playing indoors, the hamster will always look for narrow and dark places in order to rest assured, if the hamster runs to the corner of the room you should pay attention.
When buying:
1. It is best to use the same breed of hamster, because different varieties of hamsters are easy to fight.
2. As they are nocturnal animals, they sleep for 12-14 hours a day, and only move and eat in the evening, so it is best to buy them in the evening or at night, so that you can see the active side of the hamster.
3. Generally speaking, a healthy hamster is characterized by sound limbs, eyes, normal ears without secretions, average and soft fur, and dry, hard, granular feces.
4. Hamsters are also afraid of strangers, and when they first come home, they seem to be more sensitive, and need two or three days to get used to it before they can have "close contact" with you.
Hamsters are nocturnal animals that like to sleep during the day and come out at night, so don't wake them up when they are sleeping! Four-week-old hamsters are adults. Unlike rats, they have a short tail, or even no tail at all. The most interesting thing about hamsters is that they know how to hide their food in the sides of their gills and spit it out only when they are in a safe place.
Medical attention
(1) As long as the rat has any physical discomfort, please do not panic, do not rush to the doctor, try to shorten the time to send the rat to the doctor.
VIII. Precautions to be taken when the mother rat is in labor:
(1) During the period of pregnancy, remember to separate the cage from the male rat. Male rats sometimes eat the baby rats; the main thing is that the male rats may still be in heat at this time, and if you don't separate the cages, you will cause the female rats that are still in the nursing period to get pregnant again, which will affect the female rats' physical condition and even life expectancy. The female rats still have the ability to store sperm, and there is a possibility that one litter will be followed by a second litter. Therefore, it is very important to separate the male rats from the cage in time.
(2) Please help mother rats to have a good body tonic, the production is very hurtful, you can use flaxseed, nutrient cream, nutrient water, dried fish, breadworms, etc., so that the mother rats can increase the nutrition.
(3) Please try not to change the objects and padding in the mother's cage between the full moon. It is easy to scare the moms and cause them not to breastfeed their babies or recycle (eat the mice), so please don't touch the mice until they are full term!
(4) When the mice are one month old, they can leave their mother after their fur grows and their eyes are opened and they are weaned!
(5) It is best to wait until the mice are a month old before feeding them breadworms, which have a shell.
At this time, the baby's digestive system is not yet complete, please do not feed breadworms, as it is easy to get indigestion. Mothers will feed their babies on their own, so please do not feed them on your own.
(6) During the pregnancy, please remember to pick up the roller, sometimes the mother will neglect to breastfeed for the sake of playing with the roller.
Self-inspection
(1) Teeth: The incisors of mice and rats are constantly growing, and sometimes the teeth are too long, which can prevent them from eating. At this time, you can cut your own teeth, please use small animal teeth cutting tools, if you are afraid to cut, you can take it to the doctor to cut the teeth.
(2) scent gland: male rats only have, in the middle of the abdomen, there is a yellow grain of something, that is the scent gland, male rats in heat, the smell here will be particularly heavy. Sometimes the scent glands may be too much, so remember to use hydrogen peroxide mixed with saline at a rate of 1:10 to help them wipe it off! If you have too many, 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 very shiny and glossy, but if they are red, oily, or have eye droppings, then it is 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, red, etc. 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 stools to be green. If the stools are soft or have a bad smell, please send the rat to the doctor.
(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 do not give the food again. If the food in the buccal sacs is rotten and smelly, it can easily lead to buccal sac infection. Regularly monitor the buccal sacs to see if there is any odor of rotten food, and regularly help him to remove the food in the buccal sacs, use saline water to mix with water in a 1:3 ratio, and use a feeding syringe to insert into the buccal sacs to rinse out the food.
(6) Hair color: Rat's hair is usually soft and shiny. If there is hair loss, please note if it is an allergy and bring it to the doctor for examination as soon as possible.
(7) Body temperature: the body temperature of rats is usually higher than ours by touching, but it is not obvious, if it is obvious that the body temperature of rats is too high, please send them to the hospital immediately, which is very likely to be the precursor of heatstroke!
Advice to people who are ready to raise rats and mice
1, trust me, this is very important
2, my life is only a few short years, and every minute apart from you is painful, please remember this before welcoming me to be a member of your family
3, give me a little bit of time before letting me understand and letting me be the companion that you want.
4, Please speak to me when you have time, even if I can't understand your language yet, I can understand your voice when you speak
5, Don't scold me all the time and don't lock me up to punish me. You have your friends, your family, your career. But me, only you.
6, how you treat me, I will never forget
7, before you raise your hand to hit me, please do not forget that I have enough strength to bite you, but I would never choose to hurt you.
8, when I am aging day by day, also please make sure to take care of me well. Because you also have the day of aging.
9. When I face death, please wait by my side. Don't say "I can't bear to watch it" or "Let it go when I'm not there". With you by my side, I can face whatever comes my way.
Breeding cross-reference for ss
Triple line + Triple line = Triple line
Triple line + Triple line (with Purple Barn gene) = Triple line + Triple line (with Purple Barn gene)
Triple line + Purple Barn = Triple line (with Purple Barn gene) + Purple Barn
Triple line (with Purple Barn gene) + Triple line (with Purple Barn gene) = Triple line + Triple line (with Purple Barn gene) + Purple Barn
Purple Barn + Purple Barn = Purple Barn
Silver Fox + Silver Fox = Trilinear + Silver Fox + Purple Barn
(Note: Silver Fox is a (dominant) gene. When a silver fox is paired with a silver fox, the dominant gene will be absorbed by the mother, so it will reduce the chance of the mother giving birth to a silver fox, which will also affect the overall pregnancy rate of the mother).
Silver Fox + Triple Line = Triple Line + Silver Fox with darker dorsal line (Triple Line Silver Fox)
Silver Fox + Purple Barn = Triple Line + Purple Barn + Silver Fox with lighter dorsal line (Purple Barn Silver Fox)
(Remarks: If there is a Triple Line gene in the Silver Fox, it will be as shown in the above table. If not, there are only purple and silver foxes)
Pudding + Pudding = Triple + Purple + Pudding (the ratio can not be determined, Pudding's genetic situation should be similar to the silver foxes, that is, Pudding with Pudding will reduce the chances of the birth of Pudding!)
Triple line + Pudding = Triple line + Pudding
Triple line + Pudding = Triple line + Triple line + Purple line + Purple line + Pudding
Purple line + Pudding(with triple line gene) = Triple line + Purple line + Pudding(if there is no gene for triple line in Pudding, there will be only Purple line and Pudding)
Silver fox + Pudding = all Gakkalia coat colors.
Silver Fox + Pudding = all Galkaria fur colors, in varying proportions.
Milk Tea + Milk Tea = Milk Tea
Milk Tea with other breeds is equivalent to Purple Barn, Milk Tea with other breeds of Milk Tea is very rare, if you are concerned about the breed of "good", it is recommended that the Milk Tea with Milk Tea
Regarding the Golden Fox, the form is similar to that of the Silver Fox and the Pudding, so please refer to the table of the pairings of the Silver Fox and the Pudding! The above table for most people enough to use, here silver fox, pudding, and golden fox data is more complex, the following list of these three more detailed information.
(Note, because the silver fox, pudding, golden fox gene form is very similar. (Note, because silver fox, pudding, and golden fox are genetically similar, we use the term "platypus" to replace the above three coat colors.)
Triple platypus (with purple gene) + triple = triple + triple (with purple gene) + triple + triple + triple platypus (with purple gene)
Triple platypus (with purple gene) + triple (with purple gene) = triple + triple (with purple gene) + triple + triple + triple + triple + triple (with purple gene) + triple + triple (with purple gene) + triple (with purple gene) = triple + triple (with purple gene) + triple (with purple gene) + triple (with purple gene) + triple) + triple (with purple gene) Tri-line Paddy (with Purple Barn gene) + Purple Barn + Purple Barn Paddy
Tri-line Paddy (with Purple Barn gene) + Purple Barn = Tri-line (with Purple Barn gene) + Purple Barn + Tri-line Paddy (with Purple Barn gene) + Purple Barn Paddy
Purple Barn Paddy + Tri-line = Tri-line (with Purple Barn gene) + Tri-line Paddy (with Purple Barn gene)
Purple Barn Paddy Paddy + Tri-line (with Purple Barn gene) = Tri-line (with Purple Barn gene) + Purple Barn + Tri-line Paddy (with Purple Barn gene) + Purple Barn Paddy
Purple Barn Paddy + Purple Barn = Purple Barn Paddy + Purple Barn
Expenses of a lifetime of ss ownership
Basic equipment:
Cage: Large space (at least as big as a small organizer box), it is best not to buy a domestic one. buy domestic ones, they are cheap but not safe.
The rat's feet can easily get stuck and cause fractures or break out of the cage. Moreover, it is not safe for rats to paint off (rats have to chew the cage).
I know this very well, Pippi once got a piece of skin off his leg because I opened the door.
The day before yesterday, my sister was chewing on the cage by herself, and when she was chewing on it, she got her leg stuck, and she moaned softly for a while,
but still she couldn't get her leg out.
If you buy an imported cage, a used one is usually between 50-100. Brand new ones range from 100-300.
Or some rat friends DIY organizer is also good, the whole set down within 100 can be done, of course, except for the beauty.
The rat toilet: rats will be scheduled to go to the toilet (rats are very like clean little animals, but not every good behavior Oh)
Use their habit, clean up time will be much more convenient. Otherwise, you'll get their pee all over the place,
and the cage will be full of smells in a day or two.
You can buy some plastic products for rat sand, or buy a customized rat toilet for rats.
This can cost anywhere from a few dollars to a few tens of dollars!
Kettle and food bowl: a dozen dollars or so can be taken care of. (Imported cages usually come with a water bottle and food bowl.)
Rollers: basically come with the cage.
If you are a DIY rat lover, you need to buy or make one yourself. Remember to buy a seamless one,
Never buy the kind with a seam in the middle, the rat will run very fast.
Once the legs are stuck inside, it is easy to break them.
The roller is generally divided into non-silent and silent two kinds, the price of this thing is also from 5 yuan to dozens of dollars ranging.
Hut: rats are nocturnal animals, so they like to sleep during the day,
so we need to prepare a hiding place for them as a sleeping place,
from a small cardboard box to the mouse customized for rats and rats can be a beautiful mouse house,
(some imported cages with a two-storey building, can be used as a place to sleep and place). Prices range from a few dollars to tens of dollars