Wow, congratulations! You must have taken care of him well for him to live so long. What breed is he? What's his name? Got pictures?

@vanssny: Actually human food, even for us, is unhealthy. those store bought chicken rice? It's oily and fattening. Has not enough vitamins we need. Yet we eat it. Same goes with a lot of other human food.

And really think about it, if hams live in the wild, you think they got privilege to eat those chicken rice? It's an unnatural diet. The best way to keep a pet is to mimic their wild conditions as much as we can. So this includes raw vegetables, fruits, various nuts, occasionally insects or a bit of a dead animal. Rodents are sorta a opportunist after all.

So we are advising you to give your ham what he will get in the wild. It doesn't include human food. Feeding dogs human food give them bad breath. Giving hams human food must give other negative effects you're not aware of. Your ham might look chubby but it could be obese from all the oil it's taking. Their body is not designed to take all that oil, sal and sugar and so they will not be able to digest it fully.

This post has been edited by Jamien: Nov 4 2008, 09:01 PM

But rice is glutinous. Their main diet should be fruits, vege and nuts. As the doctor says, things that are nice to eat are often bad good for our health.

Despite that, vegetarians find their menu and their life enjoyable. At the end when they're older, they will have less pains and diseases than those who take meat and other not-so-good food. They usually have longer lives too.

And to take everything in moderation is a good moral. you cannot let a child eat all the junk food as much as they want like chocolates, sweets and snacks they like. they will not stop and they will not know when too much is bad for them. Our pets are like our children. because they don't know what's good for them, WE as their owners and people who care for them must monitor the food they eat so they will get all the beneficial vitamins and minerals. It is our duty.

Plain rice, I'm assuming you mean white rice. Do you know white rice has portions of sweetness in it? Too much may cause your ham to become obese. This is why diabetics eat brown rice, not white rice.

And rice is rich in carbohydrate. Your ham is not designed to take so much carbohydrate. what carbohydrate that is not used becomes fat. But hams have no need to store fat for winter. So it becomes useless. And the excess fat will make them obese. A string of other diseases follow obesity. So before your ham dies, it will suffer because you spoiled it too much. It will become your fault.

We don't have to tell you how bad all those food are for your ham. that ham is yours and nothing to do with us. But I am worried about your ham's health and if it died painfully, you will suffer in guilt. Please consider what's good for your ham in long term, not just what your ham enjoys now. Your ham's entire health and life depends on how you control its diet. If you really love it you will control its diet for its sake.

This post has been edited by Jamien: Nov 4 2008, 11:16 PM

Agree with Iced. Vassny, we discuss how to keep our hams in top health and which healthy food to give them here. Since you insist on your way of bringing them up you should keep it to yourself. It kinda disagrees with what we encourage and discourage here. We want our hams to build muscles and good fat and not become a container of transfat which is available in most human food.

If someone's ham died of stroke or obesity or something cuz they follow your method, are you willing to be responsible? I'm sorry if it sounds very mean but I know people who feed junk food to their hams and when end up got disease and stuff, they cry and cry say 'why i never listen to you' and 'i was so stupid'. Cuz the disease could be avoided if she didn't feed them junk food.

Maybe there are 1 or 2 hams who can manage a good health despite those food. but I'm not willing to bet my ham's life on it and neither should anyone. If feeding them healthy can let them stay with me longer, even if it's just a chance, I will do it. I want them to have long and healthy lives.

@Aeon: Just give her more portions of food and more protein food like egg whites. You can't stop her from eating her pups and you can't possibly foster them. The chances of survival in your care is lower than 10%. They need their mother. If their mum just can't take care of them then there's really nothing we can do.

Also, try to keep her in a dim and quiet place with her pups. Maybe less stress will make her less likely to eat her pups. Good luck!

OMG congratulations athirah!! Lucky you! The white face is male or female? Have you named it yet?

Two males? And 2 white faces??? What a jacpot. My white faces were named Pastel and Pammy. Something that reminds me of the color white. Maybe Mask and Joker?

Guys, I'm not sure if some of you notice but there actually are father hams who EAT the pinkies. They're a great source of return protein for the mum. So they're a great source of protein for other hams too.

Sometimes papa doesn't eat the pups and even helps care for the pups. Other times, mum chases dad out from the nesting area and away from her babies to protect them.

The first option is very nice but the second is tiring and even gruesome should the daddy decides he wants to do more than groom his kids. So the mama becomes tired and stress from having to care for her new kids and feeding them AND keeping the dad away.

Wild golden hamsters mate and leave in the wild. Only mama cares for the kids. If you force the daddy in the cage, he wouldn't instinctively know they're his kids. All he knows is hump and reproduce then be gone.

So to decrease the possibility of the mum being stressed out AND the mama and papa ham mating again right after birth, we separate the couple.

Just in case, guys, don't leave your daddy hams in the enclosure when mama ham has given birth. Even better if you remove before the birth.

Lol, Comot jealous is it?

Robos tend to sweat and their fur produces more oil under warmer conditions. If you keep them in an area that is not well ventilated they'll look like they're wet. Giving them a permanent sand bath also lets them roll and keep their fur nice and smooth at their own pace.

A long as they're alive then your mama ham is doing a good job. She could leave them alone to die or eat them after all.

When babies start moving around, each will be at a different place than the other. that causes them to be "all over the place". Some time of the day, your mama ham will go pick them all up and return them to the nest.

A mother ham who brings her pups up is a good mother ham. Trust in her la. The babies are her and she's the only one capable of caring for them.

They can take one or 2 as a TREAT and only once in 2 weeks or so (that's how often I feed my hams with cat biscuits. 1 each every 2 weeks. ). And only holistic ones that has no garlic in it.

You need to feed them proper hamster dry food for staple food ok?

aeon, I agree with iluv2zz, just tae a spoon, rub it all over with the shavings in the cage, scoop it up and silently return it to the nest. But don't frighten the mum and try to do it without mum panicking and stuff. Even better if the mum doesn't notice.

@odd_mochi: errr... Depends. I suggest you give your ham a few days to settle down in its new cage without being bothered. You just put it in an alien environment and it hasn't settles down.

How fast you can tame it really depends on what breed it is. What kinda hamster is yours? It's a good chance you'll get frustrated but that's the downside of loving a pet. Love = Patience + Sacrifice. If you love it, show it some patience and sacrifice some time daily to be with it.

Love=Patience+Sacrifice is the best theory that I use for all my pets. It works well.

@Aeon: It depends on the mum. If she was stressed out for some reason she can start eating her kids. Just leave her alone with her kids. You really can't save them if she won't care for them.

@odd_mochi: Syrians are easy to tame. The same as any breed, I use the bribe method. instead of chasing you ham, make him come to you. Put your palm on the shavings. Then put food at the tip of your fingers. Lay very still and eventually he will eat the food on your finger.

After a few times, move the food higher up your fingers. Make him step on your hand to eat the food. Continue going higher and higher. Then finally, when he's used to climbing on your hand to eat, move your hand a little off the shavings. If he escapes, let him. Then try again with your hand on the shavings. He'll get used to some movements.

Then he's tamed. Remember, give him lotsa patience, and understand that he is a hamster and you're much bigger than he is and he has many reasons to be afraid. put yourself in his foot.

Toph as in the earth bender in avatar?

david... Pets Wonderland is a section where you share information and love for animals. "hamster is cute" is not really sharing.

Do you have a hamster? maybe you'll be getting one?

wah. post pictures la. hat are their names? their age?how you house them?

Why you wanna breed them? What do you intend to do with the babies? I'm sure you know syrians are solitary and all have to be caged separately. You got that much space and that many cages for 5-6 babies?

Unless you're sure you can keep and care for all the babies or you can find good homes for all of them you better not breed. You have to be responsible for the birth and the lives of the babies otherwise better don't breed.

Please separate. They are hamsters. They don't have human compassion and don't feel like we do. The are solitary so they need to live alone. They will not feel lonely. It is in their nature. Like humans, it is our nature to need company from one another. It is cruel to take away our companion. Likewise, it is cruel to place the syrians together when all they really want is to be alone.

@hiroko: I think it's eye infection also but it's hard to tell from just description. It could also be that she ate something she is allergic to so her hair drop. Anyhow, for both options, you need to bring your XB to the vet just in case it's anything serious ok? An eye infection needs treatment or it'll turn really serious and ugly and your ham could end up dead in the end. *cross fingers* hope it won't happen of course. Vet ASAP ok?

@odd_mochi: i think it's an awesome name. Toph doesn't act very female anyhows. Super tough.

@ryo: I love button~~ And montee is so "manly"

This post has been edited by Jamien: Nov 10 2008, 01:00 PM

I don't think ants have a good sense of smell... They just managed to find your hams cage and found that it has a tonne of food.

You need to change the bedding (we wouldn't want ants biting your poor ham would we? ). Use vaseline to coat the bottom of your ant-free cage. Then the ants won't be able to get in your ham's cage. You can find vaseline in any pharmacy.

Is your other female lactating? The baby hams need milk. I never tried fostering hams to other females before but then again I don't have multiple breedings that result in multiple births.

Anyhow, your pups need milk. Only the mum can give. If your other female isn't lactating then there's no point. Plus it's an incredibly huge risk cuz the pups already smell like the mum. Other hams will most probably only see the pups as "rare protein source".