3 Things to Consider Before Buying a Hamster

I have read in forums and books that hamsters are very fragile and sensitive animals and here are 3 things to consider before buying a hamster.

Are you committed to take care of it?
Will you love it?
Do you have the ability to take care of it?

1. Commitment: Having a hamster requires you to be committed in taking care of it. It needs fresh water and food every day. Besides that, depending on the hygiene of your hamster, you have to wash its cage regularly (about once every 1 or 2 weeks). It is a long term commitment of about 2 to 3 years and you have to ask yourself if you really want to do this. Thus you must be prepared and excited to take care of this little ‘baby’, that you are about to buy, for 2 to 3 years.

2. Love: Other than needing a lot of attention from you to take care of its basic needs, a hamster also requires love. Showing it love means doing things like talking to it, taking it out to play and feeling happy when you see it.

At the beginning of my article, I mentioned that hamsters are very sensitive animals. I read from a book that hamsters are able to sense the feelings of others when they are nearby. For example, if you do not love to play with your hamsters and feel that it is a burden, your hamsters will be able to sense it.

On the other hand, if you are happy to see your hamsters everyday and look forward to interact with it more, your hamsters are also able to sense it and it will help their growth and mood too.

3. Ability to take care of it: Having the ability to take care of your hamsters is a very important factor you have to consider. You know, although these rodents are known to be relatively robust and healthy, they may fall ill at times. You will have to bring it to the vet and the charges may amount to quite a bit. Other than that, you have to provide it with a good home and nutritious food which requires constant replenishing.

Rotastak Hamster Cage Buying Guide

Rotastak units for hamsters

Each of the Rotastak hamster cages comes with its own full colour assembly instructions. These plastic hamster cages are not as hard to put together as it may first look!

Rotastak units is based on a modular system which allows you to build on and create palace for your hamster pet friend.

Rotastak for hamsters

Each of the Rotastak hamster cages comes with its own full colour assembly instructions. These plastic hamster cages are not as hard to put together as it may look!

Dwarf hamsters, baby Syrian hamsters and mice may find it difficult to climb vertical tubes. You can adapt Rotastak fo hamster cages by fitting ‘mouse’ ladders to the inside of the tubes.  Securing these to the cage with wire is recommended

The Basic Units

The ‘Original Unit’, well known, round unit. Has been available for three generations. The ‘Starter Home’ is a single round unit with an attic bedroom – suitable for a single hamster, gerbil or mouse. These popular easy clean plastic hamster cages have a large easy access in the roof. Starter Delux illustrated.

The ‘Maxi Unit’, nearly double the floor area of a single original round unit. The smallest unit in this range is the ‘Maxi Mansion’ which comes complete with hamster exercise wheel, water bottle and attic bedroom. Suitable for a single hamster, gerbil or mouse.

Pod Units

The ‘Pod Unit’, a triangular sectional cage on two levels with a combination of plastic and wire bars. The smallest, also suitable for a single hamster, gerbil or mouse, is the ‘Cosmo Pod’ which includes feeding bowl and water bottle.

These are clear plastic with multi-coloured accessories in primary colours, red, blue and yellow.

Combination Units

All Rotastak hamster cages can be connected together with special sectional tubing. To help protect the ends of these tubes it is recommended that you use protective anti-gnaw rings.

Above are larger ‘Combination Units’ and ‘Themed Units’. i.e. Pink Palace (iIllustrated), ‘Adventure Zone’ and ‘Creepy Castle’. These are clear plastic with multi-coloured accessories in primary colours, red, blue and yellow or the theme may have a different colour scheme. 

Alot of people always ask the question are the stickers permanent?  No they are not they are transfers similar to the type you get on a tax disc.  They can stick anywhere on the clear plastic but just as easily be removed.  All the units start off without any stickers and its upto you where to put them or not!

All these units are available at net pet shop brand new and boxed with all packaging.  

Combination units are by far the most popular

Add on units

To keep adding and make your living space and fun space for your hamster even better rotastak has many add-on units and connecting tubes to do this.  Whether you want to combine main housing units or just add an extra wheel runner to your hamster home rotastak has the products. 

Spare and Accessories

To help you aaccomplish your rotastak ‘buckingham’ palace and to keep it in ship shape so that you always have the perfect safe home, Rotastak provides lots of spare parts and accessories, wheels, bottles, ladders (for dwarf hamsters), gnaw rings, covers, spare clips to keep hammy in.

Bowls and Bedding

Rotastak also provides bowls and bedding from luxury ceramic bowls to eco-friendly made from recycled materials  bedding.

Enjoy creating your hamster homes

Buying a New Hamster- How Much Does it Cost to Take Care of a Hamster?

You intend to buy a hamster but feel overwhelmed because you do not know exactly how much it will cost? Here is an expanded list with products your hamster needs and their average costs.

Hamster Shopping List:

-Cage: between $10-$40 .
The price varies according to the type of cage you want: wired, aquarium or bin and on the size of the hamster. If you intend to buy a Syrian hamster, be careful what cage you buy because sometimes they might get stuck in Criter Trail and Sam/penplax tubes.

-Bedding :$2-$10.
It has various purposes: lines the floor, absorbs odor, toilet place and allows your hamster to hide in it.You have to choose from wide variety of bedding: wood pulp fiber, recycled newspaper, aspen shavings, Kaytee Soft Sorbent, Eco-Straw Pellets and the list goes on . At pet shops you can find even bedding smelling like apples or strawberries.

-Paper bedding: this is optional and the price is very low . I use it because my hamsters love it. All you have to do is to put small pieces of toilet paper(1-3 squares) in their cage and they take it and use it as a blanket. Sometimes they use to decorate their room(house).

-Food dish: $2-$9.
Is better if the food dish is not made of wood or plastic because the small hamsters will chew it till there is nothing left. I bought mine a ceramic bowl which they love. This is a better choice because is kind of heavy and they can not move it or spill it.if you want to cut down some costs, you can use some small ceramic bowl you have in your kitchen.

-Water bottle: $2-$5.
It’s a must have for your hamster. The bottle is the best choice because your hamster can not spill it and make a mess in the cage.You have to be careful when you put this in the hamster’s cage: it has to be high enough so he can not chew the plastic part.

-Hamster mix: $2.5-$5.
This is the food that you should give to your hamster on a regular basis. Be very careful to buy hamster/gerbil mix and not rabbit mix because it’s toxic for your little hamster. The additional proteins and calories that the hamster needs should consist of fresh fruits and vegetables according to your hamster needs.

-Hamster toys: $1.2-$30 . This is the part I love most.
First, your hamster needs a wheel ($3-$5) so he can exercise.The hamster ball, all kinds of tunnels and chew toys can be bought later on. Instead of buying tunnels or other stuff that you may not afford at the beginning you can use a trick: don’t throw away your toilet paper rolls. Use them to entertain your hamster! You can even make some holes in it to be more fun for your hamster.

-Hamster book $1.99-$20
The books are quite informative and of big help especially if you are at your first hamster. There are books written for 9-12 years old, so pretty much everyone has his learning book about hamsters. Check out these hamster facts for more information about hamsters.

Insider’s tip: I recommend you to use a small bowl with sand. The hamster likes to have small sand baths and mine uses it as a toilet as well. I empty and wash it every morning. My hamsters first use it as a sand bathtub and then as a toilet.

After you have all this, the monthly cost are :

-bedding: I usually use one big pack of bedding (I change the bedding of the cage at least twice a week) – I use big packs and they usually are enough for a month: $10 per pack
-food: one or to packs – $5-$10

It is normal that the initial cost is quite high, but after you bought all the products your hamster needs, the monthly cost are quite low.