i read this from another forum...
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Hi xxxxxxxxxxx,
First of all, a very late congrats on your litter smile.gif what a huge litter you have there! The last time my hamster gave birth to only 3 babies tongue.gif
However, there are a few concerns that i would like to highlight to you:
1. Your hamsters are syrians. They are solitary creatures and you shouldn't put them together in one cage. Now they might not fight, but when they are older, and when their solitary instincts start to kick in, they will start to be more territorial and will turn on each other, EVEN a male / female pair or siblings!! You have mentioned that there are a few cases of your hamsters biting each other. Please give them each a cage ASAP!!
2. from your pictures, i can see that you are using pine shavings. Please note that pine shavings give out a type of oil called "phenol" that is harmful to hamsters. Read more about it here:
http://www.afrma.org/rminfo2a.htm3. I hope that you haven't in-breed your hamsters (mating a brother / sister pair). By doing so, you might weaken their genes and even make their future litters more prone to diseases. Also, certain breeds shouldn't be mating with certain breeds, if not, the lethal genes from certain breeds will cause the hamsters to be hairless, eyeless or stillborn.
Just giving some advice here. No offence wink.gif i'm sure you would like to provide the best for your hamus right?
her replyhahhaha.. no offense taken... biggrin.gif
i know that they need their own cage.. but then they only fight once in a blue moon... and its not very serious... my hammies are about 1 year old adee... tongue.gif
i use pine and aspen.... i usually mix it... there seems to be no problem... sometimes, i dun think its really that bad.. because if it is really bad then why do ppl still sell it? and i'm thinking that if u buy cheap pine, then u haf something to worry about...
ya.. i dun in-breed.. i dun want to make my hamsters "retarded" if u get what i mean lar... i read that they might be borned deformed and stuff....
i READ a lot before i decide to keep them.... and i definately recommend ppl to read and find out more before buying whatever pet... however, i also suggest talking to ppl who haf owned the pet to listen to their experience.. there are somethings in websites that are blown out of proportion.. and too generalized...
like for instance, they say not to bathe ur hamsters coz they might drown, catch a cold.. etc.... but its not true... IF u know the correct way to bathe ur hamsters, they will be fine.. one of my hamsters even likes the water... and i've had syrian hamsters for at least 6 years... and all of them haf not died because i bathe them... in fact there was once when i did not bathe my hamsters for 3 months, one of them got infected with some kind of thingy... so disgusting... its not because of their bedding because i change it every week...
there are lots of things that contain loopholes....
This post has been edited by neshie: Jun 18 2008, 09:18 PM