either the problem is not visual or haven't arise yet .. or you just got lucky .. the others are right .. inbreeding is unethical and it will cause lots of genetic problems .. actually breeding should only be done if you really know both genetic background (gene problem, diabetic background etc) of the parents .. separation of male and female hamsters should be done when they're about 5 weeks old since they are sexually matured at a young age..

hamsters act by instinct, it is up to us, the owners to prevent this from happening ..

I known someone who had hamster babies because the mother was pregnant from the pet store .. and the babies died off one by one .. not due to being eaten but by gene defect .. born blind, born with 3 legs etc.

omg .. she's so cute .. there's those cute little black innocent eyes!! precious!

yes, dwarves are prone to diabetes as well so don't give them too many. maybe 3 - 5 a day, it should not be their staple food. hard to resist though, they LOVE them kuaci

another reason could be the cage is too small for them. like the others said, chewing the bar can cause brain damage. if possible, move them to a none bar cage. get more floor space cage. the other reason they could be biting is the need to trim. their teeth are constantly growing so they have to trim it else it will grow long inwards towards their mouth causing them unable to eat. don't get the mineral chew, I thought it was good until I saw my hamster avoiding it and later found out it's actually bad for their kidney. you can get those small chewing logs from the pet store. also, as a cheaper alternative, give them the toilet paper roll core - hamsters love those and it's okay for them, just make sure it's not from scented tissue. a hamster needs a wheel, hideout and chewing toys. if they fight over the wheel, it's advisable to get another as one might get territorial over the wheel. same goes to hideouts.

Ah, I got something like this from PLC. I think about RM6 only but the wood not so smooth la

My Hazieball


This post has been edited by starrynight: Oct 2 2012, 05:02 PM

Hi everyone!

how bad is your mom's allergy? can you possibly bring it back and put in your room?

twice a week should be okay as long as the hammie have food and drink .. but if possible, more often la .. in case things out of order .. i also pening .. dunno where to send my hammie for cny (still long way but need to think de)

just don't leave it alone too long .. duwan scare you la but my own experience made me vow not to leave my hammie alone for too long .. a day and half only i realize his bottle is faulty .. and the water had leaked all over the bedding ..

hi, what are you looking for? I usually visit pets lover centre .. they have quite a few things of habitrail

no, this won't work and will result in both female being pregnant. if your girls fought till there's cut, injury or blood, please separate them. they can't never be intro back again. it could be fatal as they both want to claim their space. do put their wellbeing first than feeling sorry for them as they will be fine by themselves.

where do you get that?

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Added on November 6, 2012, 1:25 pmhi there!

cute robos u have!

whats their name ?

This post has been edited by starrynight: Nov 6 2012, 01:25 PM

Hi, sorry I got this info a little too late. I had to ask an experienced owner from hamster forum to help me out.

Antibiotics will not help with getting rid of the fungal infection. The only reason that I can think of for her hammy being on an antibiotic is because one of the scabs from the fungal infection has become infected. If there is an infection, I would recommend that she stay on the antibiotic. I also hope she is giving her hammy a probiotic as well to keep her gut flora healthy while on the antibiotic, for example plain sugar free vanilla yogurt.

I had several of my hamsters contract a fungal infection and with the help of my vet I treated it successfully. Here are some pictures:

http://sites.google....urrobohamsters/

I would NOT cut off her fur at all and I NEVER had to cut the fur off my hamsters when they had a fungal infection. Tell her to leave the fur, skin, and scabs alone. My advice would be for her to see another vet, preferably a small mammal exotics vet. My vet prescribed Itraconazole for my hamster's fungal infection. It is an oral medication and it works within a few weeks (but it is a long term treatment plan). Here is a link to the medicine:

http://www.veterinar...ntent.plx?A=520

From what I can tell online, Itraconazole is available in Malaysia. I assume your friend lives in Malaysia as well. Does she need help with finding a good vet? If so, she should visit this site. The vets listed here specialize in exotics. Go to this URL and select Malaysia under country.

http://aemv.org/vetlist.cfm

There are two vets listed:


DR. JING TING CHAN
Global Pets Medical Center
16-18 Jalan Jati 1Taman Nusa Bestari
Johor 81300
+6016-7166526
www.globalpets.com.my

DR. JENNY HUONG LING
HAND N PAWS VETERINARY CLINIC
C-17G JALAN PJU 1/45 AMAN SURIA DAMANSARA
Petaling Jaya Selangor 47301
60378046539

I would stress to her that she should see these vets at either clinic and not another vet at the clinic. Many vets do not know how to care and treat hamsters. If she does not live close to either of these vets, please provide me with the closest big city that she lives to and I will see if I can find another vet to help. If her vet needs assistance with dosing the Itraconazole by weight for a hamster, please let me know. I can provide the formula used by my vet in the United States.

Please let me know if you have any more questions.

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Added on November 7, 2012, 7:37 am[quote=tjaime1984,Nov 6 2012, 04:03 PM]
I know...but i hard to get it here...

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Added on November 6, 2012, 4:08 pm
maybe i add some other food to finish the vitakraft guinea pig 1st. the problem is i hard to find good hamster food in kuantan. some ppl say harry hamster very good as they eat all without wasting it..

Yes, I heard harry/hazel hamster is by far the best mix available in the market but I can't seem to find it in malaysia.

A good hamster mix (this was from a research) should consist of 17 -22 % protein, 8 - 10% fibre, 4 - 6% fat but going to pets wonderland the other day, i couldn't find anything that suits all range, in the end I bought Bonanza Hartz which fits the fibre and fat intake but a little low on protein (15%).

This post has been edited by starrynight: Nov 7 2012, 07:37 AM

nah, i not expert .. i just read from those ppl who are really passionate about hamsters. those people actually research a lot. this is what i got from the experts :-

Vitakraft Menu Hamster

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (min) 13%
Crude Fat (min) 4%
Crude Fibre (max) 12%

Starting off by looking at the guaranteed analysis we can see that this mix is not good to start with due to the low protein percentage. Then looking to the ingredients we see that there are various ingredients that are not suitable for diabetic hamsters (the corns, carrots and peas). So this mix is not recommended for any species of hamster.

but here in malaysia we have so little food choice, i know we can't follow exactly 100% on research.

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Added on November 7, 2012, 3:58 pmi'll try to get back to you asap on this after asking them .. maybe tomorrow .. hopefully can get answer ya

This post has been edited by starrynight: Nov 7 2012, 03:58 PM

Not sure they have that brand on list but you can check here. http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/index.php?...opic=71864&st=0

I personally cannot find anything good enough in our stores so I usually pick through his food to get rid of sunflower seed, corn and fruits which are supposed to be given sparingly and not as staple food as they are fattening and sweet especially for dwarves.

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Added on November 8, 2012, 7:25 amone question I'd ask is if there are other hamsters in the same room
as this hamster? meticulous grooming can happen when hamsters
smell or sense another of the opposite sex... it triggers their "mating"
rituals!

there are other skin issues such as allergies, parasites and as you
know, the fungal diseases, that can cause irritated skin. has this
person checked the hamster's skin under the fur to see if there are
raw areas, flakiness or visible parasites?

what kind of bedding are they using?

note : pine and cedar beddings are very dangerous and should not be used as this can cause skin irritation and respiratory problems.

and the other lump scenario :-

the most important thing is the speed at which this lump is growing.
if it's growing fairly quickly, like visibly growing over the course of
the past couple of weeks, a vet needs to be involved now to remove
it. otherwise, it will continue to grow and, depending on its location,
interfere with internal organs.

This post has been edited by starrynight: Nov 8 2012, 07:25 AM

Hi babybb,

I would suggest changing his bedding to paper based bedding. Since that vitakraft bedding is in german, not sure about the wood they use so better stay away. Pine and cedar are harmful and since we don't have aspen here, that I know of - best to get paper based bedding.

I've been using Homefriends and Ultrapet both bought from PLC. I'm not sure whether it's the best brand in the market here but it should be much safer than wood shavings. The bedding might have something to do with it. Yes, it cost more too but for the sake of his health, I think die die also take out money to buy.

Tissue paper as temporary is fine but check regularly as they could get moldy when wet - pee, water etc. Unscented and uncolored tissue ya. I'll get back to you on the lump

This post has been edited by starrynight: Nov 8 2012, 10:17 AM

wow .. ants ah? scary nye.

homefriends i think about RM 38 and ultrapet RM 41. I do a mix of both but homefriends more la. Cheaper ma

you can also give them toilet tissue to nest. my silly hammie used it to make a nest for himself and sleep inside it. when you try to find him, he's somewhere inside. you can also give the toilet roll (the core of the tissue after the tissue is used) for them to play and chew. it's safe. highly unlikely they will eat it though - if they do, remove it but paper not too bad as it's digestable.

another thing to note, not sure if it's sold here but DO NOT use COTTON bedding. It could get tangled in their limbs ( cut circulation of blood, break their legs etc) and if swallowed, it could cause lots of problem. Read once someone's experience, the hamster constipated - few days no poo, bring to vet , try to flush out .. a long string of cotton came out .. the poor hammie swallowed the cotton .. luckily he's ok de. so please stay away from cotton bedding as well.

have you thought of testing your hammies for diabetes? just a thought since you said switch place de ants still come. they might be attracted to the pee.

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Added on November 8, 2012, 3:44 pmhave you thought of testing your hammies for diabetes? just a thought since you said switch place de ants still come. they might be attracted to the pee.

This post has been edited by starrynight: Nov 8 2012, 03:44 PM

Babybb, I'm not sure about testing for diabetes though. Try googling and I'll see what I can find out too.

I use homefriends since the beginning and yes, it's a little dusty. However I think my hammie like to mark his smell - busuk. Not pee smell, his smell.

Food wise, I'm even considering to ship in from spore - harry hamster but for now, I'm feeding him Bonanza Hartz - take out the corn, sunflower seed, fruit pieces .. left oni seeds ..

My hamster has a habit of eating only half of the seed, the other half keep later to throw at me or throw away

Just a note. Not everything sold in the pet store is good for hamsters. It's important for us to find out what is good or bad to put in our little furries cage as they wouldn't know any better.

Also don't trust shop employees word too much (not saying all). I got one or two who told me I can put two syrians together just because they want to make money.

Syrians are solitary creatures, they must not be put together in the same enclosure. It might look okay to us but it's very stressful for them to share their space. Even in the wild, they don't meet up.

Sometimes I listen to them but do self research. I met one nice employee before I bought my hamster. I was looking at wood shavings just to see option and she told me it's not good.

I'll try ask the other guy and see. He has some experience so hopefully can help you out.

Babybb and kitsune,

This is what I got from the skin infection experienced hamster owner

It might be worthwhile to switch to a new bedding temporarily. I don't know if they have access to Carefresh bedding, but that is a good bedding to use. They should not be using Pine, Cedar, and Cotton based bedding. These Pine and Cedar can cause allergic reactions and respiratory issues and the Cotton based beddings can be accidentally ingested and will end up killing the hamster because it will become blocked in their digestive system.

Here are some bedding links that back this up.

http://www.hamsterif...eddingguide.cfm http://www.nobodysha...d=116&Itemid=68

If after a couple of weeks on a new hamster safe bedding and the skin issue has not gone away, I would definitely recommend a trip to the vets. ringworm and mites are becoming epidemic in store based hamsters and other exotic mammal pets (ferrets, rabbits, etc.). Especially internationally! Tell your friend that not all mites can be seen, some are only visible under a microscope. If your friend is not in Malaysia and they need help locating a vet, let me know and I can try to do some looking around. Treatment for mites and ringworm should not cost too much in terms of the medicines used, so I hope they will take them to the vets if the situation requires it!

As for your other friend, that is great news about the recovery. The only vitamin supplement that I can recommend for small exotic mammals is

http://www.exoticdvm...ntGroup_id=125

I know of someone who uses this with his old hammy and he says it helped his skin, fur, and energy levels. It may be worth a shot.

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Added on November 16, 2012, 9:37 pmMy comment : take this advice as guideline for I know we are not accessible to a lot of things like them.

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Added on November 16, 2012, 9:41 pmhttp://www.exoticdvm.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=healx.collection&productGroup_id=126&parentGroup_id=125&

http://www.hamsterific.com/beddingguide.cfm

http://www.nobodyshams.co.uk/index.php?opt...d=116&Itemid=68

I recompiled the above links as they were not working

This post has been edited by starrynight: Nov 16 2012, 09:41 PM

I totally understand what you mean. My ham is about 7 or 8 months old, if I'm not mistaken. Sometimes I wish I could turn back time and look at the little ham that I brought home. Whom I took time to tame.

Sadly we can't fight against nature so the best we can did is ensure they have a loved life. My little ham too is always clutched in my hand and lets me stroke him to sleep. I also believe there's something so pure and innocent bout the way a ham eats. Really innocent.

Sometimes I do wonder if I'm such a hands on owner, spoiling him .. I think when I'm a mother, the baby will never be out of my sight lol.

Anyways the best compliments I got after I showed photos and tell stories about my hamster, 3 different friends told me they want to become my hamster and if they are hamsters, they want to follow me home.

For the sake of my little rodent, I research and read a lot from forum before and after I got him. Just to give him the best I could.

Happy birthday to your ham ham. Wish I knew when my ham was born XD