Be sure to check out the compressed shredded paper bedding. It’s similar to newspaper in its ability to absorb odors, and it’s soft and fluffy.
We had an orange and white hamster that my husband named “Lassie”. She once escaped her cage, made her way into the heating duct, and burrowed herself into the furnace filter. Thankfully we found her before the furnace cycled on. Later on, she escaped and was later found expired on our back doormat, deposited by one or other of our cats and dog.
At least make sure you get it from a breeder and not a pet store. A hostile/mentally unstable hamster is NOTHING but grief, and pretty much impossible to rehabilitate.
Some cages are very well built, knowing that hammies are excellent escape artists. First off, don’t get plastic cages; they chew through them. A good coated metal cage is great. Secondly, don’t get one with spaces between the bars any larger than their head. If they head fits through, their whole body will.
I’ve had my hamster for a year and she’s only gotten out once… and that was when my fiance forgot to close the cage after feeding her. We use this cage for her.
Richard, is that you?
Call me,
Julia.
ps Sorry for the OT post but it was funny inside my head.
oooh, yes! I used to have a 24"x18" cage with the same layout for my ratties and they loved it.
We have a dwarf hamster named Whiskey (because his whiskers were constantly vibrating…not cuz I wanted a drink 
). I’d like to say it was for my daughter but really it was my wife’s wish (she just turned 40). He is sweet and likes to be picked up and played with…when he sees you will run up to the glass and claw at it trying to get your attention. I think this is true because we handle him every day and he always gets treats when we do. Plus…sometimes when we take him out and then put him back in there are crickets in his cage! He loves them crickets!
However, dwarf hamsters are too small and too energetic to keep out for long. They never sit still.
Plus he keeps the cats interested. They will sit by or on his cage for hours watching him. (His cage is a 20 gallon aquarium with a fitted screen on top). He is nearly 3 now which I heard is extremely old in hamster years. When he dies we will probably get a 2 replacements as another amusement for the cats.
What I have read about dwarf hamsters (and this has been my experience, too) is that they are nice if you socialize them. If you rarely/never take them out of their cage/play with them, yes, they will bite when you try to do so. But try giving an obnoxious dwarf a little treat every day (they love raisins!) and see if it doesn’t get friendlier after awhile. After they start to warm up to you, you can easily pick them up, hold them, let them run up your shirt sleeves (ours love to do that!), etc. without biting you. But you have to play with them regularly!
Yes to the cat issue, too. My Ponch will sit on top of the lid of the cage, watching the little suckers, for hours. I refer to it as ‘kitty porn’! 
Yeah, you see, Harvey the Wonder Hamster wasn’t having any of that–picked him up every day, gave him treats from my hand, everything, he didn’t give a shit. Little fucker was so mean I’d hold out a raisin for him and he’d bite my finger first and then steal the raisin and run off while I yelped. It got to the point I’d bring him out with gloves to put him in his hamster ball for his cat-chasing routine in the afternoons.
Excellent … excellent … .
My dog could never decide it he was supposed to protect the hamster or kill it. I think it made his brain shortcircuit.
Yay for the new hamster! We had one for a couple years (as adults, no kids in the house) and loved our little Thor. He wasn’t cuddly, but he was funny. Hamsters are omnivores, and he looooooooved cheese and meat. And the best part? He was a hunter. We brought him grasshoppers during the summer and put them in the cage with him, and he’d go after them in this blur of hamster fur. Legs and a head would fly off, and then suddenly he’d be calmly sitting there eating it. OK so kind of morbid, but funny.
We have a gerbil now (had a pair of sisters but one died), and they were duuuuuuuuulllll. They run too fast so we can’t let them out where they can get away from us. And the cat, who was curious about the hamster but never chased him, is predatory towards the gerbils so we really can’t let out the remaining one. Plus she’s super skittish so we can’t even catch her to let her out in a box or other enclosed areas. So it’s just depressing seeing her in her cage all the time. Oh and despite the fact that gerbils are supposed to be diurnal, she runs on the wheel at night more than the hamster ever did!
Back to a hammy next time.
We demand pictures of the new tiny pet!
Speak for yourself! I politely request pictures of the new tiny pet. Clearly, I have better manners than you!
No, no, demanding is quite standard in these situations! All pet threads must feature photos of the new arrival! It’s in the SDMB Handbook. Which I wrote. 
Claiming a behavior is ‘standard’ as an excuse to be rude is. . .well, rude.
Are you sure you’re doing it right? Gerbils are completely different animals than hamsters. They’re supposed to be in tanks, not cages (they make tunnels and live in burrows). I’ve never heard of gerbils using hamster wheels before either. They’re not supposed to have anything of plastic. I can see why they would be stressed out if they’re living in a hamster cage…
My gerbils are probably the tamest small rodents I’ve ever had. I can literally just stick my hand in and snatch them up with a single hand from above. And rodents HATE that! Not that there’s any need, because they’ll all crawl right up my arm within seconds anyway. It can be a bit tricky to let them roam outside the cage because they’re so inquisitive and want to explore, but there’s a fairly simple trick to catching them. Also they’re afraid of any height greater than around 2 feet (even if the fall wouldn’t harm them in the slightest) so if I put them on the couch they usually stay there. Usually.
You’re clearly some deranged supervillian who lives in an impenetrable high-tech fortress in a dormant volcano or something. Just how much are you going to demand from humanity in exchange for not unleashing a plague of hamsters upon us—a billion? A million? :eek:
I think the little Roborovski dwarf hamsters are adorable… about the cutest little critters around. Last year, I got a little female. She was sweet and liked to be held, would sit up in the palm of my hand and accept treats. Unfortunately, one evening she was monkey-barring across the ceiling of her cage and she fell, landing on the edge of her ceramic bowl. In the morning she was dead… I assume internal injury. 
A couple months ago on CraigsList, someone was offering a male Robo free. I still had all the supplies so thought why not?
Why not indeed. This hamster (I named him Ninja) had not been handled or socialized, and he is evil, pure evil. Impossible to catch, if you do manage to get him in your hand he wil bite the living shit out of you and make a break for freedom. The last time he did this he threw himself out of my hand and landed on top of my dog, who was laying curled up next to me. Ninja dashed under Nick’s back leg and I made a blind grab, no idea if I was gona come up with hamster or doggie junk. Ninja is very lucky that Nick is so laid back, or I wouldn’t have to worry about the little bastard any more.
No… this will be my last hamster. I have had pet mice before that were totally delightful, happy to ride around in a pocket or scamper about on my desk, stealing my colored pencils while I drew. I would love a pet rat someday… the dumbos are adorable!
You give up on hamsters because a hamster that had never been handled or socialized turn out to be… unsocial? That’s pretty much to be expected.
REALLY???*
Believe me, I have tried to socialize Ninja. Tried everything I know how to do, and he is just not having it. The full sized hamsters are more easily tamed I think. And my mice were tame from day one.
Ninja? He won’t even come out to eat if he seems me anywhere near the cage. I just put a bit of whole-grain bread with peanut butter in the cage for him… the cage is a good 3 feet away from me, and he WANTS it… he’ll come take a nibble but if I move or look toward him he’s GONE.
That’s not a pet, to me. That’s simply a rodent living in a cage.