THE CHINESE HAMSTER
Scientific name - Cricetulus griseus

The Chinese hamster originally comes from Northern China and Mongolia. The Chinese hamster belongs to a group known as the rat-like hamsters.
The Chinese hamster is fairly uncommon as a pet. Even though the Chinese hamster has a very sweet temperament it can be very difficult to breed.
The Chinese hamster is 10-12 cm long and is grayish/brown in colour with a black dorsal stripe. There is a dominant spot variety of the Chinese hamster, but it is very hard to find.

CHINESE HAMSTERS AS PETS

The Chinese hamster makes a good pet for adults and children. Their needs are few and they are easy to care for.
Chinese hamsters, though usually sweet with people, they can fight with each other. We recommend that you keep them individually. The Chinese hamster is generally active both during the day and at night. They are quite happy to come out during the day for some playtime, as long as they get their beauty sleep in as well. With proper care a Chinese hamster will usually live 2-3 years.

HOUSING

A glass or plastic aquarium is best for the Chinese as they can usually squeeze out of most wire cages. Care should be taken if the cage has multiple levels, as the levels are usually made out of wire and a hamster can easily be hurt if its leg falls through the wire. It might be a good idea to attach cardboard to the wire shelves to protect their legs. The cardboard will need replacing occasionally. The tubes are a neat attachment for kids to watch their hamster running from place to place. Unfortunately, the tubes can be difficult to clean. The all-plastic cages have a very big drawback - poor ventilation. Without adequate air circulation the humidity level rises inside these plastic cages and they start "sweating".
Place your hamster cage in a spot that is away from drafts and direct sunlight. The drafts will chill them and they can easily be overheated in direct sunlight. This is especially true of the plastic cages as they can heat up and cook the poor hamster, just as fast as your car does on a sunny day.

BEDDING

Hardwood chip bedding, such as aspen is the best. CareFresh Pet Bedding or Pine bedding will also work as long as it is not dusty. The dust can cause upper respiratory problems. NEVER use cedar shavings, as cedar contains phenols, which can cause severe irritation to hamsters.

ACCESSORIES

Supplying a house for your hamster to sleep in is a good idea, just make sure that the house doesn't have a bottom, otherwise cleaning it is very difficult.
Nesting material should be supplied for their bed. Soft paper, such as toilet paper and paper towel, torn into strips works well. Shredded paper or fresh hay will also make suitable nest material. Cotton wool and the fluffy hamster bedding are not recommended. The hamster can get caught in these types of material, plus if the hamster packs them into its cheek pouches the material could get stuck in the mouth.
A hamster should have a wheel in its cage to get some exercise on. The wheel should be at least 5" in diameter. The wheel should be of the solid variety, as the hamster could injure itself if its leg falls through the wire wheel. If all that you can get is a wire wheel, then "weave" some heavy card paper (cereal boxes work well) through the wire to make a solid wheel. The card paper will have to be changed once in a while.
Hamsters need something to chew on. Their teeth are always growing and without something to chew on they will end up with overgrown teeth and they will not be able to eat. Small blocks of softwood, cardboard tubes (paper towel tubes, toilet paper tubes, etc), card paper, etc are great.

HANDLING

The hamster has very poor eyesight and is very easily startled. This can result in a nip or two if you just reach in and grab it. Always let the hamster know that you are there, and then, either scoop it up or let it walk into our open hand. If you grab a hamster from above it can be interpreted as a predator trying to "grab" it and it will probably will bite you.
Once you have the hamster out, be careful, as the hamster may "jump" from your hands (they can't seem to tell how far away the floor is). It is a good idea to sit on the floor or on a couch while you have the hamster out, this helps avoid any injuries from falling to the floor.
The hamsters sense of smell is very good, keep this in mind when you go to handle it. If you have just been eating, your hands smell like food. To a hamster, your finger smells like the potato chip you ate 10 minutes ago, and it may try to eat your finger! Don't worry, it usually realizes that your finger isn't food. If you have anything on your hands that give off an offensive odor, you may not even notice it, but the hamster will and it may bite in reaction to the smell. Always remember to wash your hand first. As they say "first impressions", well a hamsters first impression of you is your smell.

BUYING A HAMSTER

Whether you are buying a hamster from a pet store or a breeder, you should ask questions, even if you know the answers from your own research. This will tell you how knowledgeable they really are. If they don't know what they are talking about, buyer beware! If they don't want to give you any information or want to help you, buyer beware!
Check out their facilities carefully. Look for overcrowding, dirty cages, unhealthy animals, smell the air. If the animals are overcrowded and/or the cages are dirty, be very cautious about buying a hamster. There shouldn't be any sickly hamsters in sight, any good breeder/pet shop will have a "sick" room for any animals that aren't up to par. If the establishment/breeding facility has a very strong odor, be very careful, even if it looks clean, the smell is coming from somewhere. Any place, that has animals, will have a smell to it. The larger the facility, the stronger the odor. They just can't clean as fast as the animals do their business. But if the odor is overpowering, then there might be something else under the surface, use caution.
Check the health of the animal before you buy it and handle it. If they won't let you handle it before you buy it. They may be hiding something, WATCH OUT! Handling the hamster tells you how tame it is and you have a chance to check its health. Look for discharge from its eyes and nose, sneezing, wet rear end and firmness of body. If it has any of these conditions or its body appears thin, don't buy it. Don't even consider another hamster from the same cage as the other hamsters may also have the same problems. The hamster you choose should be bright eyed and interested in what is going on without being to nervous. There eyes and nose should be clear, the rear end dry and the body firm to the touch.
If possible, check references. Referrals from other satisfied customers will tell you a lot about that breeder's/pet shop's quality of animals, their care and concern for the animals well-being, their "customer service" and how much information they are willing to share.

DIET

A good quality rodent mix that has a variety of small seeds and grains in it, and is low on sunflower is good for hamsters. Hamsters can get quite fat on a diet that is high in sunflower. They can also be given rodent blocks as part of the diet. Some rodent blocks consider themselves as a "complete diet" for hamsters. There are a couple of problems with this. First, the blocks are boring and they so not fulfill the hamsters need to collect and store a variety of foods. Second, if they can't figure out a complete diet for humans, then how can they honestly say they have a complete diet for hamsters. The hamster should also get, on the occasion, hay, apple, carrot, broccoli, yam or dandelion. All of these should be fed in small amounts and only as a treat, too much green stuff can give them the runs.
The hamsters diet should be supplemented with a mineral stone as well as with a good quality vitamin supplement.

For more great information on the Chinese hamster check out our links page. There is so much fantastic information at these sites that it is silly for us to even try to duplicate them.

This page is for your information only.
We do not breed Chinese Hamsters.